Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2

(2014) Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera

The film's story begins roughly 5 years after the events of the first film and over the course of these years the Viking people of berk have made peace with the dragons and are living together happily. A great touch was that every dragon was similar to it's rider in someway and the constantly bickering twins Rufffnut and Tuffnut were on top form as always! So happily infact that the opening sequence is a head spinning rider/dragon race mixed with aspects of basketball involving sheep (yes they're back). The thrilling action of this opening scene combined with the gorgeous visuals Dreamworks has presented sets the tone things to come. I was really surprised at just how much the film crammed in to its 1hr 40min runtime, providing just enough backstory and also expanding on almost all of characters from the previous instalment. The incredible amount of detail on the facial/hair animation of the characters was a big surprise and some of the armour pieces of Hiccup's outfit were a treat for lovers of fine detail. There was a lot more emotion in this sequel and this make for a couple of heart in mouth moments, but even when the moments creep up the action and story never wavers. The pacing is just the right mix between character development, intense action and the occasional surprise. Amongst a few predictable plot points and the occasional flat joke I really couldn't find fault with this film and it was an absolute joy to watch.

The Verdict

This is a prime example of how to make an animated sequel, the film  delivered everything I loved about the first film and cranked it up to 11. The breath taking visuals, intense action sequences and surprising emotional weight made this one of the best animated movies of the year so far. How To Train Your Dragon 2 proves that Dreamworks can stand side by side with Disney as one of the giants in animation. A near perfect film for all ages and highly recommended.

4/5

Review: Safety Not Guaranteed

 

(2012) Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass

 

 

After seeing the trailer for this film I was instantly intrigued by its premise and overall style, the addition of Aubrey Plaza who I loved in Scott Pilgrim VS The World was another big selling point. The story centres around 3 reporters and a man named Kenneth, who claims to have built a working time machine and needs a willing companion to travel back in time with him. The 3 leads set off to find Kenneth after seeing his advert in a local newspaper, the other 2 members of the journalistic team played by Jake Johnson and Karan Soni are very 2d and have extremely predictable outcomes. One is the nerd who wants the girl and the other is the egotist that is desperately clinging to his college glory years, in fact Jake Johnson's character may well have stepped straight out of New Girl and into this film because I could hardly tell the difference in character portrayal. The on screen interaction between Aubrey plaza and Mark Duplass (Kenneth) is frankly heart warming and you really get a sense that she takes great delight in letting go of mainstream life and getting involved in this fantastic world Kenneth has created. This is an indie film and so therefore doesn't cater to all tastes in terms of humour or its overall message but I couldn't help biting my nails whilst going back and forth in my mind thinking 'has he actually travelled space and time or not!?'

 

 

Verdict



Safety Not Guaranteed was a breath of fresh air to me and had an extremely effective tone and a good payoff. Some may be but of by it's 'indie' tones and particular style of sarcastic humour. yes there are also a few character cliques and predictable scenario outcomes but I think this is a good film to take a risk on if you are looking for something abit different. 

 

3/5