Beyond entertaining audiences wide or small, a desire of many a writer is that their works will live on for all eternity, hopefully in their original form, but least in the premise of their plots. One of those who wildly succeeded on both levels obviously was William Shakespeare whose comedies, dramas and tragedies are still kicking around in one way or another, 400 years after the fact.
Yet, and unless he somehow conferred with legendary soothsayer Nostradamus, it's highly unlikely the Bard could have foreseen his classic tale of star-crossed lovers being told in the form of a somewhat clunky animated movie featuring a winged princess, a know-it-all reptile-like teen with telekinetic powers, and a father voiced by someone who previously played characters known as Gator, the Bandit, Stick and Stroker Ace.
Despite that tease, "Delgo" isn't a Burt Reynolds pic (his character only appears in a prologue and then flashback), but it's certainly inspired by "Romeo and Juliet," not to mention "Star Wars," "The Lord of the Rings" and any number of fantasy flicks featuring otherworldly creatures and big, clashing, medieval style battle sequences.
What might truly surprise Shakespeare, however, is that it somehow took six screenwriters (two of them, Marc F. Adler and Jason F. Maurer, also serving as co-directors) to concoct this derivative flick that might entertain younger kids, but will likely bore most teens and certainly the vast majority of adults.
What's also surprising is that this long-in-production film -- reportedly begun way back in the late '90s and originally scheduled for release in 2003 -- doesn't sport the polished veneer or obvious benefit of the sort of high dollar and high powered computer horsepower required to kick out state of the art computer animation nowadays.
While the backgrounds generally look fine, the characters are still somewhat stiff in facial expression and other movement, with none of the fine detail found in the competition's best offerings. Granted, this pic doesn't have the backing of any of Hollywood's major studios, so a little slack should be cut. Even so, viewers -- even young kids -- don't really care about underdog tales, at least when they deal with behind the scenes matters.
If the story's done right, however, they will be hooked and ignore and/or forget about the less than state of the art appearance. The sextuplet of scribes do include a fair number of elements often found in kid-targeted entertainment, starting with the Disney animated standard of one or more dead parents.
That's coupled with supposedly funny sidekick characters (voiced here by Chris Kattan and Eric Idle, and you're either going to love 'em or find them greatly annoying) and related slapstick material, royalty based fairy tale elements (including a princess, king, and evil female power figure -- this time an aunt rather than stepmother), dimwitted hulks, and plenty of action and adventure. The problem is that none of it's new, and little if any of it's particularly interesting, at least for seasoned viewers.
The star-crossed lover bit has, natch, now been done so often that ad nauseam should probably accompany the description, the Jedi philosophy and telekinesis is obviously recycled, and if I never have to see two large armies race toward each other and then clash with swords, spears and such, I'll be a happy camper.
The vocal work is generally fine but otherwise unremarkable, although the assembled voice talent (including Val Kilmer, Malcolm McDowell, Louis Gosset Jr., etc.) is rather impressive considering the absence of an attached major studio. The one thing the film will be remembered for, however, is the last performance by the late Anne Bancroft who died in 2005 (thus showing how long this production has been in, well, production), but seems to have had fun as the over-the-top villainess.
Shakespeare may have written in "Hamlet" "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king," but it's doubtful this updating retelling of his other work will capture the conscience of most anyone, royal or otherwise. Not horrible despite its recycled and/or clunky elements, but clearly nothing remarkable or memorable, "Delgo" rates as a 4 out of 10.
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