The Road to El Dorado
Metascore
51 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 29
  3. Negative: 2 out of 29
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    It has a jokey irreverence that keeps it from teetering over the edge to absurdity.
  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    Bright and zesty.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Ends up taking enough detours to keep DreamWorks' latest animated epic from striking cinematic gold.
  4. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    67
    The DreamWorks team continues to give Disney a run for their money.
  5. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    63
    Proves there are some things cartoons can't do better than live action after all.
  6. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    Pretty much a road to nowhere.
  7. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    63
    This is one Road whose gold apparently got paved over.
    All this critic's reviews
  8. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    Less than memorable.
  9. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    63
    The one thing most sorely missing is movie magic.
  10. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: F. X. Feeney
    60
    A snappy, delightfully balanced bit of historic whimsy.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    60
    A pleasure.
  12. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Cody Clark
    59
    Feels like it was pulled out of the freezer and hastily microwaved about 10 minutes before you arrived at the theater.
  13. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    58
    Its animation is simply glorious, but its story and characters are trite.
  14. TNT RoughCut
    Reviewed by: Morgan Fouch
    55
    Has neither the charm, plot nor visual splendor of its predecessors.
  15. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    The package would be more enticing if it didn't fall so squarely into overused Hollywood formulas.
  16. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Stack
    50
    Glitters, but it's not pure gold.
  17. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    50
    A lazy, torpid piece of animated tourism.
  18. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    50
    A loosely woven crazy quilt of other, better movies.
  19. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Robert Horton
    50
    A very silly film.
  20. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    50
    Reasonably diverting, but don't count on it lingering in your memory.
  21. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    50
    Little more than a sanitized blend of nonsense and adventure and just a teeny bit of romance, interspersed with the occasional pop song.
  22. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    42
    This trip down The Road to El Dorado proceeds under the speed limit all the way.
  23. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Steve Simels
    40
    An often spectacular but ultimately rather tedious musical/adventure/comedy.
  24. Film.com
    Reviewed by: John Hartl
    40
    Cobbled together from so many sources that it never develops a narrative drive of its own.
  25. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Sean Means
    40
    A too-familiar road.
  26. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: Andrea C. Basora
    40
    May only be remembered for featuring the first homoerotic nude bathing scene in children's animated movie history.
  27. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    40
    A strained and pallid concoction that won't fire the collective imaginations of modern children.
  28. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    30
    Obnoxiously dull.
  29. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    30
    The movie itself may be a species of Montezuma's revenge.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. grandpajoe6191
    7
    "The Road to El Dorado" is like watching a animated Indiana Jones (2 of them) flying around and arousing traps and entertainment to the audience. The movie may move quite linear, but in the end its zesty and thrilling.… Full Review »
  2. MovieLonely94
    10
    an excellent cartoon movie for kids
  3. SarahJ
    10
    It's one of my favourite cartoons and I can't find any significant flaws in it.
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