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How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Amazing movie! Can't say enough about it!
In 1982, Universal Pictures brought us E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In 1999, Warner Bros. brought us The Iron Giant, by far my favorite 2D animated movie of all time. Next in a long line of a-boy-and-his-whatever stories was DreamWorks Animation's instant classic, How to Train Your Dragon.
I was finally able to see this movie by myself on DVD on my XBOX 360 on Christmas Eve, and I loved it.
This would now have to be my favorite DreamWorks animated movie ever.
This visually incredible movie tells the story of a teenage Viking named Hiccup (played by Jay Baruchel) who is seen as kind of an outcast by his tribe. One night, Hiccup designs a device that can shoot down a dragon. And sure enough, the dragon he manages to catch is the Night Fury, the most mysterious and the most feared out of all of the other dragons. Hiccup is wandering through the woods the next day, and he finds the dragon still trapped in the net, and Hiccup attempts to kill this creature, but he can't bring himself to do it and instead frees him. From there, a friendship is formed, reminiscent of the relationship formed between Hogarth Hughes and a 50-foot-tall giant robot in The Iron Giant. Back in HTTYD, Hiccup actually learns that dragons are friends, not foes; and he also comes to realize that "Everything we know about them (the dragons) is wrong."
I thought this was a wonderfully done animated movie, and DreamWorks deserves either a pat on the back, a fist pound, or a round of applause. But there are some scenes in this movie that remind me of scenes from other animated movies. Like, for example, the opening scene where we first see the dragons attacking the village. That scene kind of reminded me of Titan A.E., when the Drej attack Earth and the people try to evacuate. There are a lot of scenes from How to Train Your Dragon that remind me much more of The Iron Giant. And Hiccup, to me, looks very much like a teenage Hogarth Hughes that, when he was still the young nine-year-old kid we all know him as, must've slipped through a wormhole and went back in time to the time of Vikings and Dragons and sort of became this character over about seven or eight years.
There are some other great characters in this movie, like Gerard Butler plays Hiccup's dad, Stoick the Vast. America Ferrera kicked butt and took names as Astrid. Jonah Hill, only about eight months before he starred as the bad guy in Megamind, is at his comedic best as Snotlout. I also noticed that Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin') lent his voice to this project as Fishlegs. T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig are also in this movie as the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who are comical and sassy, but still very funny. Oh, and don't forget Craig Ferguson plays Gobber, Hiccup's mentor at the blacksmith shop and of course, I guess you can say, he is also a "teacher" at Dragon Training class. P.S.; How come all these Vikings have Scottish accents? That really makes no sense to me, but still...
Overall, I thought that this movie was visually stunning, and I think if I would've wanted to see this movie when it was first out in theaters back in March, I would've seen it in 3D because it just would've been cool to see it in this big format. How to Train Your Dragon is not just a movie for kids, but it's also something that the entire family will enjoy. Go ahead and buy or rent this movie on DVD and watch it with your family. I promise you won't be disappointed once you see it. This movie will make you laugh, make you cry, and it'll keep you on the edge of your seat, especially near the end. This movie is, in a word, "amazing." It's by far, to me, the single best animated movie that DreamWorks has done, and I hope they have the same thing for the sequel, which is scheduled for release in 2014. This animated movie "soars" over any other 3D animated movie ever made, and I recommend it to anybody, parents and children alike, who wants to be blown away just like I was.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
My Review of How to Train Your Dragon 2
Way back in 2010, a little gem from DreamWorks Animation - a studio previously known for comedic blockbusters like Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda - both literally and figuratively spread its wings with critics and audiences alike, and it unexpectedly made me a fan just like that. The original How to Train Your Dragon still remains my personal favorite DreamWorks animated movie of all-time, and tied for my favorite cartoon movie not made by Disney. In fact, I really regret not seeing the original movie in the theater, but this sequel more than made up for that. Four years of hype and anticipation surrounding this movie made the wait, for me, more and more antagonizing, but I can say with a big, fat smile on my face, that it was well worth it.
Five years after the events of the first movie, Hiccup (again played by Jay Baruchel) is now 20, yet he still retains the charm and spunk from the original movie. Hiccup not only has maintained his friendship with Toothless, the rare Night Fury, but has also strengthened it exponentially. Because of this new peace between Vikings and Dragons, the rest of the dragon riders from the first movie are now having competitions with their dragons, and these dragons have also become integrated into these guys' everyday lives.
Hiccup is being groomed to become the next chief of his tribe by his burly and brawny father, Stoick (again played by Gerard Butler), while his relationship with Astrid (again portrayed by America Ferrera) has also grown - they're now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Hiccup and Toothless mainly like to explore new lands and discover new dragons, but one of their discoveries leads to them coming upon this ice cave, and then our young Viking hero gets to meet his mom...who happens to be a mysterious Dragon Rider named Valka (played by Oscar winner Cate Blanchett)! Valka shows her son some hidden secrets and abilities that Hiccup, until now, didn't even know they had, and she reunites with Stoick and they decide to pick up right where they left off from when Valka was whisked away from Berk by Cloudjumper, her dragon, which she likes to ride like a surfboard! Turns out that she's even more experienced with dragons than even Hiccup! But soon, the normal ho-hum dragon-integrated lifestyle of Berk is soon threatened by Eret, self-proclaimed "greatest dragon trapper alive" (played by Kit Harington from Game of Thrones), and also Drago (played by Djimon Hounsou), who actually is the elite Dragon Trapper, and the film's primary villain.
Drago has a plan - to control the humongous Bewilderbeast, and in turn, controlling the rest of the dragons so that he can destroy Berk. But all Hiccup wants to do is just talk some sense into him, but as we see in this movie, it's easier said than done. From that point, the battle lines are drawn, sacrifices are made, and relationships are pushed to the ultimate test in a movie that is sure to resonate with people young and old just as much, if not more, than the first one did way back when.
In a word, it's amazing how far DreamWorks has come ever since making the original hit, and you can clearly see why here. The visuals are top-notch, the decision to make our heroes older is risky but it pays off big time, the music that got John Powell an Oscar nod still retains familiar cues from the original movie and also ups the ante, and on top of it all, the movie still has the spirit of the original movie, along with, I daresay, a Dark-Knight-esque kind of atmosphere that really made the first movie work, especially towards the end of this movie.
These characters feel real - they have real emotions, and these actions that our main heroes take sometimes have real consequences, for better or worse, and you really feel like you're a part of their world. All of that is what made the original one work, and it remains here. Oh, and if you're wondering about the humor, it's still there to keep the kids giggling and engaged throughout, along with some funny lines provided by Gobber, again played by Craig Ferguson. Those moments are still there, even with the heavy emotional moments packed throughout the movie.
Overall, I expected big things out of number two, and it certainly does not disappoint. This is a movie that absolutely met my expectations...and also set them even higher for No. 3 in the summer of 2016. Go ahead and see this movie with your whole family, because I know they'll all have a, pardon the pun, high-flying experience.
Despicable Me 2 (2013)
Not perfect, but still funny and entertaining
In 2010, Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment brought us the critically-acclaimed animated comedy, Despicable Me. I originally was not a fan of it, but in anticipation of number two, I went ahead and saw it on DVD. While far from my favorite animated movie of all-time (I think you already know which two are my favorites), I really enjoyed it and there were some parts in the movie where I actually chuckled and laughed. As they say in the trailer for this long-awaited sequel, "Guess who's back?" Despicable Me 2 re-introduces us to Gru (again played by Steve Carell) as he takes care of his three kids - Edith, Margo, and Agnes. One day, Gru is recruited by secret agent Lucy Wilde (voiced by Kristen Wiig, who also lent her voice to the original movie) - and yes, even "lipstick-tased" - to join the Anti-Villain League as a new villain resurfaces. Eduardo, the owner of a Mexican restaurant (voiced by Benjamin Bratt from "Law & Order"), has developed a serum that turns the minions into purple "basically-anything" eaters. Before Gru is "kidnapped" by the A.V.L., he finds out Agnes desperately wants a real mother along with Gru as dad. And also, Dr. Nefario (Gru's right-hand scientist, played by Russell Brand) is "retiring" in order to find a more suitable job for himself, where he can "do evil again", only to come out of retirement and help Gru defeat evil in a surprising, yet also entertaining, fashion.
Gru notices Eduardo is actually a famed masked thief named El Macho, who, 20 years earlier, faked his own death by doing a "Dr. Strangelove" kind of stunt - riding a shark into a live volcano with dynamite strapped to himself. Gru's grudge against Eduardo grows even bigger when Margo - one of Gru's three kids - falls head-over-heels with a young boy named Antonio (voiced by Moises Arias), who just happens to be Eduardo's son. This subplot actually adds to the hilarity of the whole movie, in my opinion. And at the same time that happens, Gru himself falls for Lucy! (Who would've thought?) Can Gru and Lucy work together to stop El Macho from taking over the world with his evil minions - who are actually Gru's minions after the dose of the serum - and save the day? After the 2010 original, I had pretty high expectations for number two, and the guys at Universal nailed the comedy aspect of the movie - IN SPADES! Like the original, it takes a while, but as the movie progressed, the jokes got funnier and funnier, and I laughed harder and harder. I was just basically laughing out loud at the very end! Gru is NOT the only big star of this hilarious sequel. We get more screen time for all the supporting characters, and of course, we can't forget about the minions! Those little guys "bring it" with the comedy, and they're slightly funnier than in the original! While still far from an animated classic, Despicable Me is getting more and more popular, and the minions themselves have all become iconic characters - so much so, that we got a Minions spin off this past summer! Look out for a long - yet also hilarious - 3D gag during the end credits that sets up that said spin off.
Again, not nearly my favorite animated movie of all-time, but the comedy is off-the-charts in this long-anticipated sequel. Go ahead and see this over-the-top and entertaining animated adventure with your family!