The biggest problem with Pocahontas is that it's boring and predictable. How they managed to make a movie about colonialization and racism so boring is a mystery to me. And you can predict every step the movie takes from the romance to clash of the two parts and what triggers it.
The character development is one of the big sinners here, because the main characters and the villain are either boring or stupid. Mel Gibson's performance as John Smith just sounded monotonous and detached and his romance with equally dull Pocahontas just felt forced. And yet there are not very much more to them than that romance. But the way they ended it all was pretty well done. The villain was the generic money hungry white man. Ratcliff had some pretty cringe-worthy lines which made him sound really stupid. His singing voice is good, but the lyrics to his song-sequences are either just generic (Mine Mine Mine) or over simplified serious topic (Savages).
The animation is a highlight along with the songs. Colours of the Wind is an amazing song and delivers the most magic in the movie and Gibson's singing voice in Mine, Mine, Mine isn't half bad. But that is surface level aspects of a movie, and if a story isn't very engaging or exciting it ends up lackluster.
The list goes on, because aside from a couple of beautiful songs and eye-popping animation, Pocahontas has remarkable problems which makes it fall into the category of wasted potential.
The character development is one of the big sinners here, because the main characters and the villain are either boring or stupid. Mel Gibson's performance as John Smith just sounded monotonous and detached and his romance with equally dull Pocahontas just felt forced. And yet there are not very much more to them than that romance. But the way they ended it all was pretty well done. The villain was the generic money hungry white man. Ratcliff had some pretty cringe-worthy lines which made him sound really stupid. His singing voice is good, but the lyrics to his song-sequences are either just generic (Mine Mine Mine) or over simplified serious topic (Savages).
The animation is a highlight along with the songs. Colours of the Wind is an amazing song and delivers the most magic in the movie and Gibson's singing voice in Mine, Mine, Mine isn't half bad. But that is surface level aspects of a movie, and if a story isn't very engaging or exciting it ends up lackluster.
The list goes on, because aside from a couple of beautiful songs and eye-popping animation, Pocahontas has remarkable problems which makes it fall into the category of wasted potential.