Reel Life, Retro: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Prior to the computer animation, 3-D-obsessed society we currently inhabit, Dreamworks was already starting to get animated in its quest to de-throne the Disney dynasty. "Prince of Egypt," Dreamworks' second, and in some ways best, foray into the world of feature-film animation, has since been forgotten with monster hits (pun intended) like "Kung Fu Panda," "Megamind," and, of course, the Shrek franchise.
But, despite the popular and critical accolades of "The Prince of Egypt" (Roger Ebert described it as one of the best-looking animated films ever made), only a handful of traditionally-animated films have followed from Dreamworks (or Disney, for that matter).
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is one of them. It's immediately discernible as a Dreamworks animated, with the characters' styles looking eerily similar to Miguel and Tulio from "The Road to El Dorado." And, like other Dreamworks animations, Sinbad ditches the traditional fairy tale template and goes for characters who are sassy, silly, and sometimes somewhat lewd. You have Sinbad (Brad Pitt), the mythical sailor, who is a rogue and a pirate, but of course, not a bad guy. You have his first mate, Kale, and the ever-loyal crew of pirates. Pirates aren't loyal, you say? They are to Sinbad...mostly
The hero meets his old friend, Prince Proteus (Ralph Fiennes). He tries to steal the Book of Peace from Proteus, only to be foiled by a large sea monster sent by the goddess of chaos Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer), who also wants the book.
Eris convinces Sinbad to steal the book for her. But, then, she steals it herself and frames him for the crime. When Proteus offers his life instead of Sinbad's for the necessary execution, Proteus' fiance, Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones) sets out to make sure Sinbad recovers the book instead of running away and letting Proteus die in his place.
He doesn't want her on his boat. She doesn't like him, much, either. The crew loves her, more, though, so Sinbad puts up with it.
Sometimes the characters are unique. Spike, Sinbad's dog, has more personality than most of the crew members, except for one exceptionally creepy fellow named Rat. Marina, though not incredibly original, is fiesty and likeable. Sinbad is supposed to be conflicted and sympathetic, but, as tends to happen with the Hollywood hotly pursued, having Pitt's recognizable voice was distracting at times. (Rewatching the film now, the same happened with Kale when my sisters discussed, "who is that?" "oh! it's that 'you're in good hands' insurance guy.")
They travel through extreme conditions to recover the book. Along the way, fantastic obstacles and a little humor keep the imagination going. The conventions of it are fairly predictable, you've seen the story before: two people who can't stand each other are forced to spend time together and realize they have some things in common.
The end is a little anti-climactic; one would expect more from a goddess. Then again, all it took was a few inches of careless on Thetis' part to lead to the downfall of Achilles.