How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Year: 2014
Running Time: 102 minutes
Director: Dean Deblois
Writers: Cressida Cowell ("How To Train Your Dragon" book series), Dean Deblois (screenplay)
Cast: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Kit Harrington, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig

Although How To Train Your Dragon 2 does not feel quite as significant as it's 2010 parent, it avoids the usual sequel pitfalls and makes for a fun and entertaining watch. The film manages to do what so many animated sequels fail to do and that is to admit that it's lead character is growing up and develop him accordingly. There is unsuspected emotional depth during the film, but the majority of revelations that occur during the film don't meet the same level of originality that they do in the original film.

The film meets up with Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his faithful dragon, Toothless four years after the two first united and proved to Hiccup's village Berk and his chieftain father, Stoick (Gerard Butler) that Vikings and dragons could live together in peace. When Hiccup and his girlfriend, Astrid (America Ferrera) encounter a dragon hunter by the name of Eret (Kit Harrington) and his crew, they find out that an enigmatic and old enemy of Stoick, Drago (Djimon Hounsou) is assembling a dragon army. With Hiccup feeling the pressure to take over as chieftain of Berk from his father, he feels that he must step up and convince Drago that dragons and humans can live together and stop him from declaring war.

How To Train Your Dragon was a whole lot of fun, and How To Train Your Dragon 2 brings more of that fun. The story itself is more serious, yet because the revelations in the film are not that dissimilar from the original it misses out on feeling as significant as what it could. In the original film, Hiccup tries to convince his elders that dragons are not the evil creatures they believe they are and in this film he is trying to convince another group of people of this. Of course the ways which he achieves this are different in the two films, but those who have seen the first film will feel like they have just seen a different version of the first rather than a new adventure. However, the similar storyline is disguised as the characters have grown and developed, particularly Hiccup. Many sequels (animated sequels in particular) will present their characters as not far gone since the last film, but Hiccup and his friends have grown up and are now adults rather than awkward adolescents. It is refreshing to see that the main character has developed with time passing rather than it be the same character with the same attributes that we knew before. Hiccup's basic personality traits remain unchanged, but you can absolutely tell the difference the time passed has made.

One thing that How To Train Your Dragon 2 does more than it's predecessor, is that it is a more emotional experience, especially at a particular moment in the film. As a result of this and the maturing of the characters, this sequel does feel like it is not as much directed towards children as the first film. The lack of younger characters in the film make it harder from children to relate to the situations in the film, but Toothless and the other dragons still do enough to keep younger audiences attention. The story itself isn't complex enough to categorise it as a film for adults. It wavers somewhere in the middle, which is more an observation than a positive or negative as the film is still entertaining. The animation is impressive and the final dragon battle scenes spectacular.

When one is familiar with Jay Baruchel's work, How To Train Your Dragon 2 does not seem like he has really stretched his boundaries. He doesn't do a great deal with his voice, as was also the case in the first film. Listening to him as Hiccup is basically listening to Jay Baruchel as he is in every other film. Yet, besides the lack of versatility to Baruchel's vocal performance, there is no denying that he is Hiccup and any other voice wouldn't add to the character the way his does.

Gerard Butler and Kit Harrington do vocally what they are best at. Butler is being a heroic Viking who strives on action and glory and Harrington is a adventurer on a quest to protect. Cate Blanchett's vocal performance is quite intriguing. Playing Hiccup's long lost mother, Valka, her accent can come across as a strange mixture of several dialects. However, what she does do with her voice is perfect for a woman who has only had dealings with dragons for decades. She is hesitant and slightly restrained as she comes to grips with speaking to humans again, which works very well for her character.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 may not reach the heights which the first film does, but it is still entertaining and fun. It's originality lies in it's character development from one film to the next rather than in it's storyline.

7/10

The Bounty Hunter

The Bounty Hunter
Year: 2010
Director: Andy Tennant
Cast: Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston, Christine Baranski

In My Own Words
I try not to take too much notice of other film reviews before I see a film myself and can form an opinion myself. I don’t like to feel as though I have been persuaded to feel a certain way about a film. But the reviews for “The Bounty Hunter” were pretty hard to ignore, who can ignore the declaration that this is the worst movie of 2010! I was not looking forward to seeing this film for that reason. Maybe I wouldn’t have seen it at all until it came out on DVD unless I had a free ticket. Walking into the cinema, I was definitely prepared to see the worst movie I would see all year. It’s funny how a film that has a stigma attached to it as being a really, really bad film can sometimes make people want to watch it. I was actually curious to see it to make an educated decision as to whether it really is the worst film of the year, and to see really how bad it was. Almost like when I wanted to see “Gigli” with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and Al Pacino, just to see how horrible it really was.

Well, it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t the worst film I had seen this year at the cinemas. I believe “Old Dogs” takes that prize thus far. So it’s probably the second worst movie I have seen so far this year. I am pretty sure that minus the film’s two main stars, the film would have been a B grade, straight to DVD film. One good thing did come out of this film though. I wasn’t a big Jennifer Aniston fan before this film, but she was probably the best thing about this film and I was impressed that she could carry such a bad film.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“The Bounty Hunter” is just silly. That is the best word to describe the film. It is over the top and completely predictable. Even by looking at the poster for the film, you can tell exactly what the ending is. The concept is not one which is meant to be serious in the first place and does seem to be perfect for a comedy, but could have been toned down far more than how it was presented. Every ex-husband out there will toy with the idea of taking their ex-wife to jail and do so with glee, but the presentation of it as an on screen comedy just doesn’t work. Milo (Gerard Butler) is an ex-policeman who makes his money by being a bounty hunter. He is over the moon when he finds out that there is a warrant on his ex-wife, Nicole (Jennifer Aniston). Milo becomes mixed up with a story which Nicole is researching for her paper and it turns out he is not the only one after his ex-wife.

The major problem with this film is that everything is completely exaggerated. Perhaps the most irritating exaggeration is the music in the film. The music does not compliment the scenes, it overpowers it. There is no such thing in this film as background music and a subtle musical score, it is in your face the whole time and is just plain annoying. The characters are also extremely exaggerated. Maybe not the characters of Nicole and Milo, but the characters around them just seem to have way too much character. It is almost as if director, Andy Tennant is trying too hard to make “The Bounty Hunter” into a hilarious and successful film. Maybe if he didn’t try so hard, it wouldn’t have come across as such a mess.

Gerard Butler definitely does not give his bets performance in the film, but he is definitely not one of the striking bad points in the film. There isn’t a great deal of acting or even effort that goes into his performance. Jennifer Aniston does not do a bad job either. However, the role is much like other roles which she has done in the past and is a role she does well. These two stars save the film from being a complete waste of time.

“The Bounty Hunter” has attracted interest purely for its main stars, there is no other reason to see this film. There are no moments in this comedy which will make you laugh out loud, but rather have a bit of a giggle at certain moments. Not the worst film of the year, but not far off.
3/10

How To Train Your Dragon

How To Train Your Dragon
Year: 2010
Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson

In My Own Words
Finally a film that makes me believe that 3D may actually be all it is cracked up to be. “How To Train Your Dragon” really made me believe that 3D does definitely have the ability to add to the movie experience. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that 3D shouldn’t be flaunted and used in every single film that is either animated or has action sequences. Take “Alice In Wonderland” for example. The film did not need to be in 3D as there was very little in the film which actually benefited by it. Falling down the rabbit hole was pretty impressive, but that is the only part I can even remember in 3D. Truthfully during “Alice” I had forgotten it was in 3D and was getting annoyed with having to wear glasses. “How To Train Your Dragon” was the complete opposite and I am so glad I saw it in 3D rather than in 2D. I came out of the cinema in complete awe of what I had just seen. And I do believe,that if you are in a cinema filled with children under 10 and you forget that they are these as they are so quiet, you have seen something truly captivating.

I really, really enjoyed this film. I loved the childlike nature of it, but how there was also so much emotion in it. As my fiancé said when we were leaving the film “It’s funny how an animated film can sometimes provoke more emotion than a non-animated film”, and he is completely right. Is it because animation has really come that far? I think not. I look back at the early Disney movies and some of those films can make me sadder than some recent films that are supposed to be tear-jerkers. Who will ever forget Bambi losing his mother or even Lady rejecting Tramp? Animated or non-animated, it all comes down to the talent of the filmmakers and their ability to stir up the emotions of the audience. That’s what great filmmaking is.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
Welcome to the world of “How To Train Your Dragon”, where Vikings rule and slay dragons to show their strength and dominance. The newest animated release from directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders is sure to be a favourite for people of all ages, not just children. Unlike many other films, it has the ability to combine an air of playfulness with an action packed adventure while tugging on your heart. This combination is one which so many films struggle to achieve, let alone animated films. Hiccup ( Jay Baruchel) is a black sheep in his Viking hometown, and his father, Stoick (Gerard Butler) has no problem telling him so. It is a Viking’s duty to slay dragons, so when Hiccup captures one, instead of killing it, he befriends it. The dragon, which he names Toothless, becomes much like a pet to him and teaches him that their violent ways are merely survival instincts, a revelation in Viking society.

“How To Train Your Dragon” is more than just an animated film for children. Children will definitely enjoy it, but adults will enjoy how the film mixes fantasy with reality. The main attractions of the film are the mythical dragons, but it also has some very real issues. Many of people will see parts of themselves in Hiccup, who is the underachiever who fails to live up to what society and his family want him to be. The film also has the underlying theme of “Never judge a book by its cover”, as the dragons are perceived as being murderous beings, but are misjudged. The film, like many animations, does lean towards a happy ending, but it does also show that human beings (and cartoon characters) are not invincible and indestructible. These themes allow “How To Train Your Dragon” to stir up many emotions inside the audience and therefore how successful a film it really is.

The visuals are absolutely beautiful in this film and, whether the film is viewed in 3D or not, some of the shots are absolutely breathtaking. The characters are very well constructed and the majority of the dragons, especially Toothless, are extremely lovable. Many people will come away from the film wanting a dragon that acts like a domestic dog or cat of their own. There are many different types of dragons and each type is extremely well constructed and original. The film is almost like a dragon handbook, if dragons did actually exist. The dragons make the films content completely original and great fun to watch. The only downfall of the film is that the musical score did not seem to fit in with the film. It felt like there was almost a lack of a score, but the movie didn’t need to much help from background music to add to the emotion as the story and characters did this themselves.

“How To Train Your Dragon” is a rare animated film which is funny, sad, suspenseful and even romantic at times. Although fantasy, it can be extremely realistic at times, which may seem like a challenge, but the filmmakers pull it off and do so with style and subtlety. The best animation of 2010 thus far.
8/10