How To Train Your Dragon 2
Directed by Dean DeBlois
Starring Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, and America Ferrera
It may not mean much for me to say How To Train Your Dragon 2 is one of the best animated sequels ever made. The likes of Disney direct-to-video aside (Not quite done talking about those by the way), many are quickly pumped out of a studio for a cash grab, and are often a significant downgrade in quality compared to their predecessors.
Regardless, I still say How To Train Your Dragon 2 is one of the best. If I had to list the top 3, it would definitely go Toy Story 3 and 2, and then Dragon 2.
Set a few years after the first film, the village of Berk has fully accepted dragons into the community. While many vikings enjoy the sport of dragon racing, Hiccup (Baruchel) and his dragon Toothless are out exploring the world outside their island. Hiccup's father Stoick (Butler) is eager for his son to take over his place as chief, but Hiccup would much rather be out with Toothless.
It's while out on one of these explorations that he and his girlfriend Astrid (Ferrara) are ambushed by a gang of dragon hunters, led by the dragon trapper Eret (Kit Harrington). They soon learn of Eret's employer, Drago Bloodfist (Djiimon Hounsou), and his plans to take over the land with an army of dragons. Hiccup and Toothless set out to confront Drago. It is then they uncover a secret dragon oasis, protected by Valka (Cate Blanchett) who is revealed to be Hiccup's long-lost mother. I'm not spoiling that by the way. They haven't made any effort to hide it in the trailers.
Dragon 2 goes bigger in emotion and action, and the animation is once again spectacular. You'll be on the edge of your seat, while at the same time reaching for some tissues. The story isn't too heavy, and it continues the "coming-of-age" tale that began in the first film. It's the characters that really drive the script. They're well-crafted and performed. This is one of the best voice casts I've ever seen in an animated film. Props to Jay Baruchel and Gerard Butler for being as incredible in their roles as they were the first time around. Once again Craig Ferguson as Gobber is one of the funniest things in the film.
One thing brings the film down though, and that's its villains. Eret is a very annoying character. Maybe it's Kit Harrington's voice, maybe it's how he was written, but I didn't like him nor did I see any real purpose for him in the film. Drago, is a weak villain. While he does do some horrible things that make you hate him, we learn virtually nothing about him. There's a few lines of expository dialogue in a scene with Hiccup, but it's not enough for the audience to connect with the character.
Weak villains aside, I still give How To Train Your Dragon 2 a 9 out of 10. It's a more than worthy successor to the original, and builds wonderfully off the foundations it set. It is definitely one of the best animated sequels ever made, and maybe even one of the best sequels ever made, in general.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Film Review- "A Million Ways To Die In The West"
A Million Ways To Die In The West
Directed By Seth MacFarlane
Starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, and Neil Patrick Harris
I guess you could say in the debate of wether to like or dislike Seth MacFarlane, I lean more towards like. I lost interest in Family Guy a long time ago, although I do enjoy the older episodes. Ted is one of my favorite films, I thought his album "Music Is Better Than Words" was good, and I know I'm in the minority when I say I thought he was good hosting the Oscars.
However, I know that MacFarlane can do as much bad as he does good. I'm looking at you The Cleveland Show, American Dad, and short-lived Fox sitcoms Dads and The Winner. After the success of Ted, combined with my love for Blazing Saddles (The original western-comedy), I had high hopes for his next feature film, A Million Ways To Die In The West.
It goes without being said, but A Million Ways is no Blazing Saddles.
The film centers around Albert (MacFarlane), a sheep farmer in the old west. After chickening out on a gunfight, his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) leaves him for mustache aficionado Foy (Harris). Shortly afterwards, the wife of an outlaw (Theron) comes to town. She takes a shine to Albert, decides to teach him how to shoot, and hopefully win his girl back. Of course they start to fall for one another, which of course is a problem, seeing is how Anna's husband, outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Neeson), is on his way to town.
It's a unique enough story for the western setting, but what about the comedy? Where Ted was charming, outrageous and crude, A Million Ways is outrageous and crude, sans charm. A lot of the jokes seem like they were scrapped from an episode of Family Guy. There is plenty to laugh at, but I found throughout the film I was chuckling and smiling to myself, more than laughing out loud.
At some points, MacFarlane is definitely at his crudest. I never thought I'd see a Neil Patrick Harris take a dump in a hat, or a sheep's penis in a film, but there it is. That's not a spoiler by the way, no, that's a warning. Speaking of spoilers, while one great cameo was given away in the trailers, there a few more that are just fantastic.
This is an impressive cast as you can probably tell. The big problem is they aren't really given the chance to exercise their funny bones. Most of the comedy is given to MacFarlane, who as a leading man, is just okay. Charlize Theron get some laughs. Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi get their fair share of the comedy, but others like Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried are criminally underused.
A Million Ways To Die In The West is not Seth MacFarlane's best, but it's also not his worst. The good outweighs the bad, and you'll definitely laugh. But the cast isn't giving the performance you'd hope they would, and the script isn't as well polished as Ted was. If you see it once, that's probably enough. If you don't see it all, no big deal.
Directed By Seth MacFarlane
Starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, and Neil Patrick Harris
I guess you could say in the debate of wether to like or dislike Seth MacFarlane, I lean more towards like. I lost interest in Family Guy a long time ago, although I do enjoy the older episodes. Ted is one of my favorite films, I thought his album "Music Is Better Than Words" was good, and I know I'm in the minority when I say I thought he was good hosting the Oscars.
However, I know that MacFarlane can do as much bad as he does good. I'm looking at you The Cleveland Show, American Dad, and short-lived Fox sitcoms Dads and The Winner. After the success of Ted, combined with my love for Blazing Saddles (The original western-comedy), I had high hopes for his next feature film, A Million Ways To Die In The West.
It goes without being said, but A Million Ways is no Blazing Saddles.
The film centers around Albert (MacFarlane), a sheep farmer in the old west. After chickening out on a gunfight, his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) leaves him for mustache aficionado Foy (Harris). Shortly afterwards, the wife of an outlaw (Theron) comes to town. She takes a shine to Albert, decides to teach him how to shoot, and hopefully win his girl back. Of course they start to fall for one another, which of course is a problem, seeing is how Anna's husband, outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Neeson), is on his way to town.
It's a unique enough story for the western setting, but what about the comedy? Where Ted was charming, outrageous and crude, A Million Ways is outrageous and crude, sans charm. A lot of the jokes seem like they were scrapped from an episode of Family Guy. There is plenty to laugh at, but I found throughout the film I was chuckling and smiling to myself, more than laughing out loud.
At some points, MacFarlane is definitely at his crudest. I never thought I'd see a Neil Patrick Harris take a dump in a hat, or a sheep's penis in a film, but there it is. That's not a spoiler by the way, no, that's a warning. Speaking of spoilers, while one great cameo was given away in the trailers, there a few more that are just fantastic.
This is an impressive cast as you can probably tell. The big problem is they aren't really given the chance to exercise their funny bones. Most of the comedy is given to MacFarlane, who as a leading man, is just okay. Charlize Theron get some laughs. Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi get their fair share of the comedy, but others like Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried are criminally underused.
A Million Ways To Die In The West is not Seth MacFarlane's best, but it's also not his worst. The good outweighs the bad, and you'll definitely laugh. But the cast isn't giving the performance you'd hope they would, and the script isn't as well polished as Ted was. If you see it once, that's probably enough. If you don't see it all, no big deal.
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