By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Brad Pitt provides the voice of Sinbad the Sailor (left) | ZOOM |

Sinbad the Sailor has been dealing out thrills and chills for hundreds of years, and he keeps his streak alive in the new animated adventure Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.

Of course his newest incarnation bears very little resemblance to the folk legend that arose in the ancient Middle East. (According to the old stories, he was born in what is now Basra, Iraq.)

The folks at Dreamworks (still determined to give Disney a run for its money in the animation game) don't pay all that much attention to 1001 Arabian Nights, the best known written version of the legends. Instead, they plunk the part-time pirate, part-time hero into an imaginary universe borrowed from sources as diverse as Greek myth and J.R.R. Tolkien.

MOVIE REVIEW

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (PG; adventure action, some mild sensuality, brief language) Voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joseph Fiennes, Dennis Haysbert. Directed by Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson. 82 minutes. AMC 20, Cinema 10, Danbarry Middletown, Great Escape 14, National Amusements, Rave West Chester.

Their biggest inspiration, however, seems to be that venerable old movie genre, the swashbuckler.

The new Sinbad - directed by Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson with a screenplay by John Logan - is a boisterous, witty blend of action, fantasy and romance, bound up in a classic moral dilemma to keep things interesting.

The plot pits Sinbad against Eris, the goddess of chaos, who frames him for the theft of a precious book. Its loss threatens the kingdom of Sinbad's childhood friend, Prince Proteus. Proteus volunteers to take Sinbad's place on the executioner's block if the pirate fails to retrieve the book from the mystical realm of the goddess, far across the sea.

The filmmakers gambled on high-end movie stars for voice talent, and their bet pays off. Brad Pitt provides a winning voice for the irreverent, thrill-seeking Sinbad; Catherine Zeta-Jones smolders nicely as Proteus' fiance Marina, a fiery princess who stows away on Sinbad's ship to make sure he returns. Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a deliciously slinky sound for Eris. Joseph Fiennes speaks for noble Proteus, and Dennis Haysbert is Sinbad's crony Kale.

Even though most recorded their lines alone in various studios, the actors make the dialogue snap and crackle.

The animation blends computer-generated and traditional styles, to generally very good effect. The layered style is especially strong in big action scenes, as when an enormous squid attacks Sinbad's ship, or when Sinbad and Marina must dodge a gigantic snow owl on a mountain of ice.

There are moments when the movie looks a little flat, and some scenes come across as stagnant or too obviously recycled from other animated fare.

But, flaws aside, the movie is a lot of fun.

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas may give headaches to classical scholars, but for fans of rousing family fare, it's a winner.