They came for the gold... they stayed for the adventure
Welcome to Day 2 of DreamWorks Animation Week! Today we are watching The Road to El Dorado! I think I may have watched this movie when I was a kid, but I have to recollection of it, so it will be a first all over again. Let's start!
"This could be our destiny...our fate!"
We open in the year 1519 in Spain, where a leader, Hernan Cortes, gives a speech about conquering a new world on top of his horse, Altivo. Panning out from Hernan we see a wanted poster for two men, with a reward for 100 Doubloons, we then meet the two men, Miguel and Tulio. Miguel and Tulio are gambling on the streets of Spain, luckily for them they have loaded dice. They're opponent wants one more round, this time the prize is for a map of El Dorado, Miguel wants to take the bet, but Tulio doesn't. Either way they take on the challenge, but this time they have to use the opponent's dice, they end up rolling a 7 anyways. The opponent then uses they're dice and sees that the dice are loaded, they manage to avoid capture and get away by hiding in barrels.
"On three we jump out and head to the dock!"
The Barrels are then boarded onto a ship, with Miguel and Tulio, the ship is headed by Cortes, where they are heading to the new world. They finally end up getting caught as stowaways and put into confines, then into a cell under the deck. Miguel manages to lure Altivo over with an apple, and bribes him to get a pry bar in trade for the apple, Altivo ends up bringing them the keys instead. Sounds like a smart horse to me! Miguel and Tulio steal one of the row boats, Altivo goes with them, and they encounter a lot of obstacles before they reach an island. Miguel realizes it looks just like the one on the map, which he still has from the game in Spain.
"All in favor of getting back on the boat say I"
They start exploring the island, meeting an armadillo named Bibo along the way, and they find El Dorado, which appears to be just a big rock. A women, Chel, comes running from behind the rock, with men who have spears running after her. Miguel, Tulio, and Chel are captured and taken behind a waterfall where the real city of El Dorado is located. Tulio and Miguel meet Tzekel-Kan, a high priest, and Tannabok, the Chief of El Dorado, Tzekel-Kan thinks that Miguel and Tulio are gods. Tzekel-Kan asks them to show them a sign that they are the real gods, Miguel and Tulio turn away to discuss how they could show them since they aren't actually gods. At that moment, a volcano in the distance starts to erupt, unbeknownst to Miguel and Tulio, Tulio yells stop, and the volcano stops erupting.
"It could be possible...and it is!"
Tzekel-Kan and Tannabok show them to they're temple, Tzekel-Kan says he will prepare a ritual for them, while Tannabok prepares them a feast. At this point I should mention that Tzekel-Kan is a bit crazed, while Tannabok, is very welcoming After being left alone, Miguel and Tulio talk about how much money they could steal from them, Chel comes in and she know they really aren't gods. Chel agrees to keep they're secret up if she can get in on the gold they are going to steal and to go back to Spain with them, they agree. Miguel and Tulio change into more godly clothing and head out to the feast, and song breaks out. I wasn't aware this was a musical.
The next morning is the ritual, which they will be getting a tribute, Miguel and Tulio think it's going to be gold, but Tzekel-Kan is sacrificing a human for tribute. They end up saving the tribute, Tannabok brings out tons of gold and asks if they want the tribute to be sacrificed to they're god, who is at the bottom of the ocean. Miguel and Tulio freak out that the gold is going in the ocean and not to them, Chel manages to get Tannabok to stop so they can bask in the tributes they have received. Tulio realizes they can't keep doing this, and him and Miguel head to Tannabok to ask for a boat to leave, he tells them that it will take at least 3 days.
"We were merely demonstrating the traditional first avoidance maneuver"
Cortes arrives on the island with his me, and follows the footprints in the sand. Back at the temple, Miguel heads into the city to explore while Chel puts the moves on Tulio, he tries to deny her, but eventually gives in. In the city, Miguel sees that they're is no one on the streets, he asks one of the guards what's going on, and they guard tells him that the city is being cleansed, so the year of the Jaguar can begin, on his request. Obviously Miguel, nor Tulio, asked for the city to be cleansed, turns out Tzekel-Kan is making up request for them. Miguel gets the cleanse stopped, we go through a montage of things that he starts to do, and see him start to fall in love with the city.
Tzekel-Kan goes to convince Tulio to have a mass offering, Tulio tells him he needs to consult with Miguel first and leave with Chel in tow. Tzekel-Kan ropes them into play a game of ancient basketball, they end up winning, only by cheating using Bibo, as he looks just like the ball. Since they won, Tzekel-Kan tells them that the losers are willing to sacrifice themselves, I'm starting to think he has a bit of a human sacrifice kink. Miguel gets the sacrifice, and that now that the gods are here, they can speak for themselves, without Tzekel-Kan's help. The boat is now ready, however Miguel makes up excuses so he can stay longer, Tannabok sees through him and tells him he can stay as long as he wants.
Tulio and Chel discuss how much gold she gets out of the deal, they wind up forgetting about it and making out. Miguel was eavesdropping, and hears Tulio say 'forget Miguel' and gets mad they end up fighting about it later. While they were fighting Tzekel-Kan ends up summoning some type of rock demon, and unleashes it on the city. Tzekel-Kan confronts them after a long chase, Miguel and Tulio do they're old scheme, and Tzekel-Kan and rock demon fall in to the whirlpool. Turns out the whirlpool leads to the rock from the beginning, Tzekel-Kan pops out and theres Cortes. Miguel decides to stay in El Dorado, Tulio says his goodbyes and begins to leave, when Altivo sees smoke.
"That's what makes it interesting!"
The smoke is the oncoming attack of Cortes and his men, which are being lead be Tzekel-Kan. Tulio comes up with a plan to crash the boat into the gates to block out Cortes and his men. They're plan doesn't go as smoothly as they hoped, and Miguel helps by jumping on the boat, which means he can't stay in El Dorado. They make it out of the gate cave in time for it to collapse and close, and for Cortes and his men to arrive. Since the gate is blocked by the collapsed debris, Cortes takes Tzekel-Kan as hostage. Upset that they can't get back to El Dorado, and that all the gold was lost, they boys and Chel ride Altivo into the sunset.
The End.
This was a really cute movie! I loved Altivo, I am a pretty big fan of movies where the animals have they're own personality even though they don't talk. Chel's outfit was a bit too risqué for a kids movie, and Tzekel-Kan was a bit to crazy, but overall I really liked it! Tell me what you thought about the movies in the comments, on Twitter (@ohmyskittles13) or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SilentToHughes) Feel free to join in, and tomorrow we will be watching Monsters vs Aliens!
Hope you all have a great day!
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