How to fix Sinbad
Or, some the problems My fan sequel would fix
Sinbad is a guilty pleasure for me. While i enjoy the animation and characters I feel like this is one of Dreamworks weaker movies and should've gotten the same depth Prince of Egypt and Shrek got.
Make it a musical! its very rare for a musical animated movie with a plot not about princesses or talking animals. A musical sinbad forms a trilogy with Prince of Egypt & El Dorado and stand out from other action movies of its time. We would get more bangers and a memorable story. So in my fan sequel I would imagine the songs inspired by Arab, African, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern genres. Imagine starting the movie off with a powerful sea shanty by Sinbad's crew; or a love duet between Marina and Sinbad; a bittersweet ballad for Proteus or a wickedly cool number by Eris.
Develop Sinbad x Marina futher: let's not lie sinbad and marina was a forced relationship that rarely provided any tension. Like she realises he's her true love despite their only true interactions being yesrs ago where he saw her an not actually know her? In a rewrite i would've had it where they meet where they were teenagers and became friends but had to break things apasrt when Marina had to focus on matters on the nobility and becoming a bride to Proteus. This spurs Sinbad to join a pirate crew to avoid confronting his feelings. Well, we cant rewrite past in my sequel so instead, i devote a good time towards developing their relationship, such as showing more of Sinbad's vulnerable side, Marina being his match physically and intellectually, quirky omantic gestures etc.
Give Proteus more screentime - in a rewrite, I wouldve had it where Eris visits proteus in jail to manipulate him into hating sinbad, however his faith in sinbad refuses to break and he begins to suspect that she had the book all along. We go back in forth between Sinbad's journey and Proteus thinking of a plan to expose her all the while pretending to be on her side. Also his relationship with marina gets more weight say he never romantically liked her and beleived her to be a beter fit for sinbad but still needed to complete his royal duties. In my sequel he plays a more active role in the story by joining sinbad's crew, and even gets his own romantic arc with my oc Princess Kaya, putting in end to the unsolved marriage plot by giving him someone he genuinely likes AND an important political ally.
Have the crew show off their skills more ie. One thing in my fan sequel the crew gets more action sequences to rekind yall thay this IS an adventure movie and i love seeing the heroes kick monster butt! Explore the characters unqiue skille such as Sinbad's cunning, marina's navigational prowess, proteus's swordsmanship.
Develop the rest of Sinbad's crew. One of the biggest missed opportunities were getting to know Sinbad's crew as individuals. When did they join? Why are they so loyal to him? It doesnt have to be directly in the movie it can be in supplementary material like videos or blog posts. You can pull a shrek and have them be inspired by other fictional seafarers like one crewmate is based on Captain Ahab, another based on Jim Hawkins etc. Just give them more personality beyond being cheerleaders.
Explain the Macguffin: okay so when the Book of Whatever is stolen SHOW the effects of the kingdom, ie, people slowing getting sick, buildings start falling apart, growing tensions among the populace and nobility. Dont just tell us that stealing the book would cause chaos SHOW US. Also why would eris need to steal a book when she's literally a goddess cant she just put a hex on the kingdom? Imy rewrite, i try to show the damage my oc villain Nazar has caused ie. The sea becoming full of algae which is turn begins to send nearby popularations to starve, in turn forcing to concede to the villains rule just to survive. Kaya experience trauma from almost getting kidnapped but with help from her friends andnlove interest she overcomes it to stop the villain.
DONT make it dark and edgy. While i wouldn't completely sanitize it I also want to remind the audience that it IS a kids movie. And the last thing i need is corporate cynicism in my colorful fantasy movie!!
Bring more story influences - Im not entirely familiar with the stories of sinbad but I'd like to incorporate more of its lore and Arab/Swana culture since its rarely explored in a positive light in western media. Like, maybe thus sinbad is the son of the sailor from the original stories follwing in his footsteps and previous escapades alludes to actual legends from the book. In my sequel the villain Nazar has a giant snake as a reference to the 2nd Voyage. As for culture, maybe have have more deities like egyptian and Persian gods, Sinbad wearing Iraqi attire to reflect his origins, and in Kaya's case she's an african mermaid.
In my sequels use other villains - As cool as eris is i wouldnt want to use her over and over again. I'd have more antagonists like the Demon worshipers from the seventh voyage, or a rival crew, or evil ghost royalty coming back for revenge etc. Dont rehash the same scheme either. That's why i created Nazar, he's a mostly human antagonist who is a sea conqueror and has his own crew of sailors trying to poison the world's oceans.
Give sinbad flaws: while he had flaws they werent always addressed in the story. Have the other characters call out his reckless and odd chauvinism. Have him experience failure or a situation where he can't solve everything. Make him RELY on his crew.
