# Anastasia (1997)

### reviewed by
E. Benjamin Kelsey

    ANASTASIA
    (G)

    Directed by Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
    Running Time: 94 minutes
    Originally Released: November 21, 1997

    Reviewed by E. Benjamin Kelsey

    * * * * (out of four)

It's obvious that any motion picture studio would have a field day kicking Disney butt with a full-length animated masterpiece, but it's also very understandable. In my own little way, seeing Disney fall flat would be a bit of a treat for me. But it's becoming more and more so everyday that people complain Disney has gone too commercial, and this has been very apparent with each summer "classic" they release. Still, even as Disney's grosses (and quality) begin to dwindle, they have remained ruler of the animated celluloid realm. Then ANASTASIA comes along. Absolutely beautifully animated, wonderfully scored (by David Newman), and brilliantly brought to life, ANASTASIA is better than any of the last four Disney animations combined. Michael Eisner, eat your heart out.

Based very loosely on the actual Romanov family legend, ANASTASIA begins in 1916 Russia where young heiress Anastasia (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) lives happily with her royal family. An evil spirited monk named Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) plans to put an end to all that, however, and even sells his soul for the ability to do so. Narrowly escaping a feast of mayhem, grandmother Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Lansbury) flees with young Anastasia at the aid of an unknown kitchen servant and initiates a departing train as the means of escape. It is during an attempt to board the already moving train that Anastasia and her grandmother are split up, the young child falling back into the crowded streets, leaving the Empress on a lone refuge to Paris, France.

Ten years later, the same unknown kitchen boy, Dimitri (John Cusack), is now an adult setting his goals on making a small fortune for himself. How? It seems the Dowager Empress is offering a reward to anyone who can find her long lost granddaughter. With insider knowledge gained thru his years as a dutiful servant boy, Dimitri plans to cast a young woman to play Anastasia, train her in all the royal ways, and pass her off as the authentic heiress. At about the same time, not too far away, a strong-minded, independent young woman is being ousted from her orphanage for acting a bit too queenly. It isn't long before Dimitri and Anya (Meg Ryan) soon find each other and, both wanting to get to Paris, team up to pull off the ultimate hoax the world has ever known. After all, as Dimitri defends the morality issue behind the plan, it's possible Anya is the real Anastasia. With no memories of her childhood intact to prove otherwise, the two set off for Paris along with Dimitri's assistant Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer), none of them realizing Anya is in fact Russia's forgotten princess.

During the long trek from Russia to Paris, Dimitri trains Anya to behave like a true heiress, but is she learning, or merely remembering? The interaction between the two is superb. Never have animated characters seemed to talk, move, react, and respond so realistically, particular notice going to Cusack, who gives Dimitri a heavy sense of believability. Ryan, who comes off more Meg Ryan-ish than ever before, has never been so likeable, turning her typical flightiness into a strong, sophisticated young woman. This is perhaps the best animated ensemble Hollywood has ever offered, full of likeable, unique, and refreshing characters who genuinely come to life on the screen. Even Rasputin, who plays a surprisingly small role in the film, is a return to a more classic kind of cartoon villain. The problem is he was also the most uneven aspect of the film, disappearing after some initial scenes, then returning for the out- of-nowhere, way-too-supernatural climax. It would have been much better had Rasputin never even been used, or at least been portrayed as a mortal character.

But small quips aside, ANASTASIA returns us to classic fairytale territory, brimming with hope, dreams, a sincere love story, and a surprising level of action. The train derailment scene was more intense than many live-action action flicks! Even the songs far eclipse Disney's past several projects. It seems as though Fox may have had double meanings behind one of the film's final quotes. When the Dowager Empress Marie's lady in waiting calls it "the perfect ending", Empress Marie replies, "No, it's the perfect beginning". In terms of ANASTASIA kicking off Fox's attack on animation heavyweight Disney, no other words could be more accurate.

    March 21, 1998

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews