How To Train Your Dragon 2 Review

How To Train Your Dragon 2

 

  I believe that some of the happiest moments in life can come tumbling down in a sudden landslide. But once that landslide is over, you have to rebuild and fix the patches that were damaged. It will not be easy, but it's the only way to see those happy moments in life again.

  How To Train Your Dragon 2 (directed by Dean DeBlois) translates this philosophy to the silver screen and achieves it (and its a kid's film!).

  This film follows the continuing adventures of Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and Toothless, the rare Night Fury dragon, five years after the original film. This time the humans of the Isle of Berk made peace with dragons and have lived with dragons ever since the first How To Train Your Dragon. However, there is a war waged by the vicious Drago Bludvist (voiced by Djimon Hounsou) who wants to capture all dragons and "train" (really brainwash) them into doing his bidding and taking over the world. Drago wants to do this because he wants to instil the fear of dragons in humans by destroying all dragons with his dragons. Now Hiccup known as the best dragon trainer in Berk (his hometown) has to convince Drago that dragons are humane creatures. On his way to talk to Drago, Hiccup and Toothless end up in an ice cave home to a bunch of dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider. With the help of the Dragon Rider and his/her dragons, Hiccup, Toothless, and Hiccup's human companions take down Drago, but not before catastrophic events change Hiccup's life forever.

  

  The inseparable Hiccup and Toothless create a stronger bond that I thought could not be accomplished after the first How To Train Your Dragon. Toothless' lovable and loyal personality combined with Hiccup's love and leadership make the whole movie by the end. The award for best factor in How To Train Your Dragon 2 is definitely the Hiccup and Toothless' devotion to one another.

  Subplots. Subplots are an issue. Not ones that lose you out of the moment, but unnecessary ones.

SPOILER ALERT!

 Hiccup's mother, Valka (voiced by Cate Blanchett), being finally introduced to the audience, did not further the story. Without her, the film still could have moved on and it probably would have ended the same. I am saying that her character specifically, the idea of Hiccup's mother being in the movie, did not need to be in the film. Her character could have been played by any other new identity. The fact that it was Hiccup's mother was not related to anything. It was just in for a cool factor because without the character, there would not have been some pretty cool fight scenes (which were engaging as hell).

  

  Eret (voiced by Kit Harrington) was an unnecessary character dragged along into the story for no reason. His only purpose was to free Hiccup's human companions and their dragons from the clutches of Drago, which happened around the middle of the movie. The rest is him helping the companions. The rest is kind of just for laughs.

 

  Let me just say that these unnecessary subplots did not hurt the movie. I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. There was not one moment when I checked my phone for the time.

  How To Train Your Dragon 2 is the event of the landslide. Before, during, and after. The price of rebuilding and fixing the patches after the landslide happens is massive. If you want to repair the bad things in life, there has to be a certain change. With support from friends, family, and even strangers, there will be satisfaction with one's self. It will not be easy, but you will eventually get there and feel happy once again.

Pro

• Hiccup and Toothless
• Action scenes
• New and really cool dragons
• Ups and Downs in life (valuable lesson)

Con

• Unnecessary subplots/characters

4.5/5

Watch the trailer here

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is on Blu-ray, DVD, and Netflix now 

   

Ant-Man Review

Ant-Man

 

 Ant-Man, directed by Peyton Reed, is the newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly and Corey Stoll. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a cat burglar that one day breaks into Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) house and finds a suit that can manipulate the space between atoms which shrinks the wearer into the size of an ant and makes him stronger, since an ant can carry 5,000 times it's weight. Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, with the help of his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), then becomes Scott Lang's mentor and plans a heist that stops Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from mass producing a similar suit called the Yellowjacket that also lets the user shrink in size and also gives the user super strength, in which he is the one who tests it out first.

 

 Now, I will tell you that I was very worried about this film because of all the changes it went through. Originally Edgar Wright was supposed to take charge of this movie by directing and writing it. He apparently left the project because of creative differences with Marvel Studios about the writing, thus handing the torch over to Peyton Reed. Changes were made to the script, some minor and some major.

 I walked out of the theater and was THANKFULLY relieved that this film was much better than I expected.

 The thing I liked most about this movie was the creativity put into the scenes when Ant-Man shrunk. There is a part where he goes sub-atomic, which is explained in the movie as another dimension in the spaces between atoms. Its basically where you shrink so much that you become non-existent. The way it was shown was so mind boggling that I literally turned to my friend and asked him if he was also tripping out. Another big reason this film exceeded my expectations was the shrinking itself. I had never read an Ant-Man comic book and I didn't know what the fight scenes were going to look like with him shrinking all the time. My confusion faded away when I saw Ant-Man kicking butt. The best fight scenes were by far the scenes with Yellowjacket.

 Speaking of humorous, Scott Lang's friends, who also help with the heist, are very funny. Luis (Michael Peña), Kurt (David Dastmalchian), and Dave (T.I.) brought comedy into the mix which is not unusual for a Marvel movie but this one made me laugh the most out of all of them. 

 

 There were two main issues I had with the movie:

1. I felt like the acting during some of the scenes where special effects were used was kind of cartoony.

2. The main villain, Darren Cross (himself without the suit) was not very good.

 Some of the times when Scott Lang was shrinking I felt he wasn't expressing his emotions very realistically. I get that the idea of shrinking at that size is unrealistic but if that WERE to happen I would assume that the reaction would be much stronger than that of the movie. I don't know whether or not the actors did some of their voices in the studio for the moments that there are special effects but it's clear at those moments they did.

 The other fault was the villain. Not the Yellowjacket suit, which was really cool, but Darren Cross, who runs Pym Technology in place of the retired Hank Pym. He was that stereotypical villain that wants to create some sort of object to sell to the military to make lots of money. He didn't even have a character arch. He was evil throughout the whole movie. He really wasn't interesting at all and I would say one of the worst villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let me make this clear: I AM TALKING ABOUT DARREN CROSS, NOT YELLOWJACKET.

  All in all, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan of Marvel but I genuinely mean it. This is a great summer blockbuster and one you should definitely check out in theaters.

Pro

• The shrinking was very creative
• Sub-atomic level!
• Funniest Marvel movie yet
• Action/Fight scenes
• The Yellowjacket suit

Con

• Darren Cross
• Some acting in the special effects scenes

4/5

Watch the trailer here

Ant-Man is in theaters now 

The Revenant Trailer Review

The Revenant (Trailer)

 

 The Revenant is a time period film (1820s) directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It comes out December 25, 2015. This film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass and Tom Hardy as John Fitzgerald. So there isn't much context to this movie from watching the trailer. All that it shows is a man (Leonardo DiCaprio) fighting alongside his village when it gets attacked by other men. Then, Leo's character and Tom's character try to survive the harsh winter.

 Oscar contender anyone? So far from what I have seen and heard about this movie, I love it. The cinematography is gorgeous, the camerawork is fantastic, and the acting looks incredible. This is definitely a dark movie. A lot of violence and looks like it will contain heavy themes dealing with survival.

 I have never actually seen Leonardo DiCaprio in a action drama, let alone an action movie. I guess the closest film I've seen that's anything like this is Blood Diamond or The Departed, but even then this film looks like it will have Leo really emerged into war and violence. It looks like he has really REALLY put himself into fight or flight mode. I really hope this is the film that gets him his first Oscar.

 I thoroughly enjoyed this trailer. It's going to be one hell of a December for films. Here's to Leo for another Academy Award nomination. Maybe Tom Hardy too?

(Please) Watch the trailer here

The Revenant opens in limited release December 25, 2015 and in wide release January 8, 2016

50/50 Review

50/50

 50/50, directed by Jonathan Levine, is a dramedy (drama and comedy) starring Joeseph Gordon-Levitt (Adam) and Seth Rogen (Kyle) who play best friends. The basic storyline is that Adam gets the news very early into the movie that he has a rare form of spinal cancer. Then it just goes downhill from there. The movie is how he deals with life now that he has cancer, how he deals with chemotherapy, and how he deals with relationships.

 It is very rare that a movie makes me feel both happy AND sad at the same time, but this movie accomplishes that feeling with flying colors. The best part about this movie was almost all of the emotions the actors showed were realistic. Now, I'm not saying all of the situations in this film would be played out the same in real life but hey, this is a movie.

 The best part of the movie was definitely the chemistry between Adam, introverted and shy, and Kyle, extroverted and outspoken. These best friends have known each other since high school and even work at the same radio station as researchers. When Adam tells Kyle that he has cancer, Kyle only tries to help him live life to the greatest, that being smoking weed and hooking up with women. Although Adam doesn't really like the idea of him using his newly found cancer as a way to hook up with women at bars, Kyle urges him to try it. This is an example of Kyle trying to make Adam's life a little better, even though he is doing something that Adam disapproves of that, Kyle is doing it with the best intentions. He is your jerk friend who tries to help.

 Another relationship I enjoyed play out was Adam and Katherine's (Anna Kendrick). Once Adam is diagnosed with cancer, his doctor suggest he goes see a therapist. Enter Katherine, a young psychology student aiming for her doctorate, also a love interest for Adam. Since she is a student and young, she does not have much experience with dealing with such crises. How she deals with Adam exactly what therapy is like: people who try to look for a scientific reason to why you are upset. It honestly took me back to my therapy appointments.

 The whole supporting cast was excellent. From Anjelica Huston playing Diane, the needy and overly protective mother of Adam, to Philip Baker Hall playing Alan, the elderly friend of Adam who also undergoes chemotherapy with him. The acting was phenomenal from everyone.

 I personally didn't have any gripes with this movie. However, I can see how people would not understand some of relationships in this film such as Adam and Katherine's relationship as therapist and patient. In general people might not understand what it's like to actually have cancer. Maybe they know somebody with cancer, but they don't have it, therefore not understanding some of Adam's decisions. I personally do not get what it is like to live with cancer, but I do know what it's like to live with an illness and I can see myself in some of these situations.

 All of Adam's relationships take a downturn and at some points it literally seems like there is no hope. However, since this is also a comedy, the film has to look at some sort of bright side. 50/50 is ultimately a film about dealing with the darkness of cancer with an upside and a smile on your face. I cried. I laughed. I hoped. 50/50 made me feel hopeful for everyone who do not only have cancer but also organ failures, depression, Tourette Syndrome, and all other kinds of complications with the body and mind. If you want to see a real life critical situation that is taken in a happy and hopeful light, see this movie.

Pro 

• Acting (from literally the whole cast)
• Adam's relationships
• The thought of cancer in a lighter view
• Real life situations

Con

• None really (maybe not personally understanding what it's like living with cancer)

5/5

Watch the trailer here

50/50 is on DVD and Blu-Ray now 

Jurassic World Review

Jurassic World

 "They're moving in herds. They do move in herds" - Dr. Alan Grant

 The dinosaurs are back in this major summer blockbuster event, Jurassic World. Jurassic World is directed by indie film maker Colin Trevorrow and this time around, The park is open. Actually, the park has been open for around 10 years to be exact. Jurassic World has an all new cast and an all new dinosaur called the Indominus Rex.

  Two brothers, one a preteen with dinosaur smarts, Gray (Ty Simpkins), and the other a hormon driven teenager, Zach (Nick Robinson), are sent by their parents to go visit their workaholic aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who happens to be the head honcho of (you guessed it) Jurassic World on the island of Isla Nublar. This is basically a subplot. The main plot is that the bosses of Jurassic World wanted to "up the WOW factor" thus creating a new species called the Indominus Rex. The Indominus Rex eventually grows up and escapes to cause chaos throughout the island with people still on it.

So, is Jurassic World good?

 We go to the movies to what? I'm guessing a lot of people will say "to have a good time." Well I had a blast. It definitely brought me back to those nostalgic moments of me watching the original Jurassic Park. I also really liked the Indominus Rex. It was not, however, without flaws. :(

 I will start off by listing my favorite things about Jurassic World. Chris Pratt who plays Owen is definitely numero uno when it comes to things that I like about this movie. He is such a character when he is on screen, whether that is the big silver screen or the TV screen. He brings a likeable vibe to anything. Chris is a great up and coming actor. He has worked with people from Amy Poehler to Brad Pitt. He can definitely carry a movie. Chris also brought a lot of humor to the movie (he is very good at that). The other thing that I liked was the Indominus Rex (as I said before). This thing was scary. Every time it left the screen, I was aching for it to just come back and ensue damage.

 Now to some flaws. Thankfully this film wasn't the worst sequel of all time due to the fact that, for me, there weren't many flaws. Most of the secondary characters were kind of cartoonish in a way. What I'm saying is that a lot of them were stereotypes of their specific character (i.e. villain or the hero). The worst culprit was Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio). He is where the other subplot lands. Without giving away spoilers, Hoskins is on the Jurassic World island to convince Owen to let him use the Raptors for "some kind of" use. There were also some plotholes here and there where I was watching and I said to myself "whaaaaa? How?" The plot was OK too.

 Jurassic World is clearly the best sequel out of the three of them. It is a cinematic experience. There were a couple of mess ups but overall I enjoyed it and I think based on the entirety of the movie, I say that you will have fun seeing this movie.

Pro                                         

• Chris Pratt
• Indominus Rex
• Action
• Nostalgia

Con

• Secondary characters were kind of cartoony
• Sublots
• Plotholes

3.5/5

Watch the trailer here

Jurassic World is in theaters now 

Suicide Squad Trailer Review

Suicide Squad (Trailer)

 Suicide Squad is the new DC Comics movie directed by David Ayer. This film tells the origin story of the ne'er-do-well team of Harley Quinn (Margo Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and some other Batman villains that no one really knows or cares about (at least I don't).

The trailer starts off with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) talking with some other associates about putting together a team of bad guys to do good stuff. The reason behind this logic, she says, is because they are bad people and if they mess up their mission, then the blood is on the hands of the bad guy. Now cue the montage!

 The rest of the trailer introduces some of the characters and some action scenes with the Bee Gees song "I Started A Joke" sung in a much slower and darker tone. A great song by the way. Even though this trailer enforces a strong direction towards the characters in the squad, there are other moments in this trailer that many comic book nerds, even regular movie goers, will feel a sense of excitement. The most prevalent moment and most anticipated is definitely at the end of the trailer when this guys is shown....

^   Same Person????   ^

 Jared Leto as The Joker....Wow. What a treat to put this moment at the end of the trailer. Jared Leto got so immersed in playing The Joker, he wouldn't break out of character on set even when he wasn't filming. He even sent random "Joker-like" presents like a rat to Margo Robbie and bullets to Will Smith. But other than the immersing into the character, he LOOKS like an younger version of the Joker.

 The Suicide Squad trailer definitely has a dark tone. It seems like the acting will be spot on (Jai Courtney...maybe not so much). The only con I have to say about the trailer is that it may have given away too much about what characters will be in it. But other than that, this is a movie I will definitely check out. I hope Jared Leto's Joker portrayal is good! :)

Watch the trailer here 

Suicide Squad hits theaters August 5, 2016 

Inside Out Review

Inside Out

 The new animated Pixar movie Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter, is about a young preteen named Riley who emotionally deals with the move of her quaint town in the Midwest to the big city of San Francisco (maybe some of you know the feeling). This film is about the 5 emotions that one faces on a day-to-day scenario, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust.

 Honestly, I can remember almost crying a couple of times during this movie, and I'm 21! The movie deals with the 5 major emotions but the two characters that this movie focuses on crucially is Joy and Sadness. These two emotions could not be any more different. Their adventure into the mind of Riley is somewhat of an obscure adventure. Actually, no. It IS an obscure adventure. But who doesn't imagine up weird stuff once in a while. Seriously, this movie delves deep into dreams, fears, and literally into the unconscious. Sadness and Joy's relationship with each other starts out as completely opposite, as what you might imagine, but by the end, it will have you thinking very differently about how you feel about how emotions work in general.

 

 This isn't to say that the other characters such as Anger, Fear, and Disgust do not have a role in this film. They are very important to the Riley's thinking and most importantly, the movie. While Joy and Sadness are off on their adventure inside Riley's mind, it is up to Anger, Fear, and Disgust to take over. Suffice to say, things do not go well.

  One of the best characteristics this movie brings is it choice in voice actors. Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) are all voiced by great actors. 

 I mentioned before that this movie almost made me cry a couple of times. That's because this movie, like most Pixar movies, make a person feel all of these emotions. Whether it's Joy or Fear you feel at a moment, it doesn't matter because it makes you feel. All of these things that I am saying doesn't only apply to kids. This movie also targets adults with it's kind of themes and some of the humor. This film is definitely a one of the best, if not the best, Pixar film of all time. It's my favorite film of this year so far and I recommend that you go see it with a parent, a sibling, or a child.

5/5

Watch the trailer Here

Inside Out is open in theaters now