My Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (7/10)

"Something is coming. Something you've never faced before."

I was a huge fan of the first film written and directed by Dean DeBlois thanks to its memorable characters and beautiful visuals. How to Train Your Dragon continues to be my favorite DreamWorks animated film, so I was highly anticipating this sequel. Although I really enjoyed this film, I felt a bit disappointed because I felt it wasn't up to par with the first one. I enjoyed the visuals and the characters once again, but I felt there was just too much action and too little character development. The film is very fast paced and I didn't find myself as absorbed by the story and the characters as I felt the first time. There are plenty of funny moments and kids will be satisfied with all the action scenes, but adults may get tired of the action overload at times. This is still a good film and perhaps one of the best animated films of the year as it does manage to keep the audience emotionally engaged and it has several funny scenes. The best thing about How to Train Your Dragon 2 is without a doubt the beautiful visuals which once again amazed me. It was a fun ride, but I would rather watch the first film over the sequel.

The film takes place five years after the original as we follow our hero, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) living peacefully amongst his people and dragons. He spends most of his time exploring new lands with his dragon, Toothless. His father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler) continues to be the chieftain of Berk, but he plans on leaving Hiccup as his successor. Hiccup however, doesn't feel like he was meant to lead the people and would much rather prefer to continue exploring unknown lands. During one of his explorations, Hiccup and his friend Astrid (America Ferrera) run into some men who are trying to capture dragons. They both escape, but Hiccup decides to return and try to convince these men not to capture dragons but reasoning with them is pointless. A mysterious dragon rider named Valka (Cate Blanchett) shows up and takes Hiccup to a hidden island. He later discovers that Valka is his mother and that she has dedicated her life to saving dragons from Drago (Djimon Hounsou), a man dedicated to capturing and using them for his own personal gain. Together, and with the help of the rest of his friends from Berk they decide to stop Drago and his men before he starts another war and hurts more dragons. 

Sequels usually suffer from not being as fresh as the original, and that is what happened here as the interesting premise from the first film was missing. I was already familiar with this world of vikings and dragons and the new characters didn't really resonate with me. It didn't help that it felt so fast paced either, but there were some strong emotional moments that I wasn't expecting from an animated sequel like this. There is some heart to this story allowing it not to rely entirely on the beautiful visuals, but I guess my expectations were just a bit too high because I wasn't blown away by this sequel as most people were. I really wasn't too engaged with the action, but I did enjoy the comedy. 

My Review: This is the End (8/10)

¨Seth, that's some of the better acting that I've seen in your last six movies. Where was that in The Green Hornet?¨

This is the End is probably the most fun I've had with a comedy all year; I laughed so hard especially during the first hour of this raunchy/bromantic/stoner comedy. This is the directorial debut for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg who have both written several screenplays together. Some of their screenplays have been hilarious (Pineapple Express, Superbad, and this one), while others have been a huge failure (The Watch and The Green Hornet). This film is actually based on a short they did in 2007, Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse. What I liked about the screenplay here is that they took a lot of risks and went places I`d never think anyone would. They weren't afraid of making fun of each other, some of their failures in movies such as The Green Hornet, but at the same time they also kind of played themselves (and one would imagine this is how they interact with each other normally). These guys were absolutely hilarious and I loved every second they were on screen together, but on the other hand I thought the film had a weaker second half containing some comedy/horror. It went too far for my personal taste, but I still have to give this film a lot of credit because it had me laughing during pretty much the entire first hour. There are a lot of movies and celebrity references that worked really well, and I can imagine that most of the dialogues here were improvised but that worked really well. The cameos were also used extremely well here and I thought they were all great. Some of the standouts here were Michael Cera making fun of himself, Danny McBride being ridiculously over the top with his antics, James Franco playing along with the gay rumors about himself and his pseudo artistic side, Jonah Hill being extremely nice but reminding us all he was nominated for Moneyball, Craig Robinson just being himself and singing along his hit song, Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel trying to maintain their friendship which has cooled off over time due to Seth`s new posies. There are just so many scenes that had me laughing out loud and so many funny lines that it is hard to pick my favorite moments. Emma Watson also had a great cameo and she looked lovely as always. Movie lovers will love all the references here and if you liked Pineapple Express than you are in for a treat as well as they discuss what the sequel would be about. If you've enjoyed Superbad and Pineapple Express than you`re guaranteed to like this film because it keeps some of the core elements that made those movies so funny: the bromance and the raunchy dialogues. 

This is the End is a film where every actor plays himself. I would say some play complete opposite personalities than the ones they actually have, or exaggerated versions of themselves, and they play along with the way critics or fans have tagged them. The film begins with Seth Rogen receiving Jay Baruchel at Los Angeles airport. Jay doesn't like LA very much, but Seth always makes him feel comfortable at his home. After a warm reception, Seth invites Jay to come along with him to James Franco's housewarming party. Jay doesn't really want to go because he doesn't get along really well with his friends, but goes anyway. At Franco's home there are several celebrities such as Rihanna, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Krumholtz, Aziz Ansari, Jason Segel, and many others who are all getting wasted and stoned. Seth introduces Jay to his closest buddies: Franco, Jonah Hill (who is extremely nice to Jay, but this just makes Jay feel awkward), and Craig Robinson. All of a sudden there is a big earthquake and a gigantic hole in the ground begins swallowing people. The apocalypse seems to be among us. Jay, James, Seth, Jonah, and Craig seem to be the only survivors at the house and they decide they must stick together and wait for rescuers to come and save them. The next day, Danny McBride shows up after having passed out during the party without having no clue of what happened. Now the six friends must find a way to survive and get along with each other if they want to make it through the apocalypse. 

I know the plot doesn't seem all that exciting, but it really is hilarious to see these guys together. The narrative isn`t the strongest thing about This is the End, what makes this film special is that the guys aren`t afraid to take risks and they take the classical stoner comedies to another level. The movie isn't really about the apocalypse, it is actually more about friendship and self-parody (the guys are extremely narcissist at times). If you want to know what the true definition of bromance is then by all means go see this. The narrative may not work too well in the second half of the movie, but it really has to do with the dynamics between these characters who will do what it takes to survive. Despite the ridiculous plot, it is just so fun to watch these characters interact with each other and make fun of the things we`ve made fun of in their bad movies. The film can be very tasteless at times, but it is really funny. The comedy and horror was well balanced as well so I would have to admit this is the funniest movie of the year so far despite some ridiculous moments.

My Review: Goon (5/10)

"Everybody loves the soldiers until they come home and stop fighting."

Goon is a Canadian sports comedy directed by Michael Dowse who has quite a big cult following in Canada due to his 2002 feature film, Fubar. Goon was received really well by critics due to its slapstick and vulgar style of comedy, but I really found this film rather dull. I don't remember laughing once and despite having a strong performance from Seann William Scott (probably the best of his career) I couldn't manage to feel a connection with this sports film. I am a huge sports fan and tend to like these films despite the cliches, but Goon lacked something and it failed to draw me into the story or make me care for these characters. The violence in this comedy is way over the top and the hockey sequences were pretty great, but aside from that I didn't enjoy most of this film. It was just OK but nothing I would be recommending. Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg (who has written much funnier work with Superbad and Pineapple Express) adapted the screenplay from Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith's book "Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey." The film is loosely based on Smith's hockey experience as a minor league player and there are a few other references to some other hockey players for the more enlightened hockey fans. Despite not being a huge hockey fan I do like the sport, but this film worked more as a crude slapstick comedy than an actual hockey drama. I wanted to laugh, but I just never found this film as hilarious as so many others have. They've gone as far as calling this the Slap Shot (Hill's classic 70's film) of this generation, but I don't even think this ranks among the top 10 sports comedies I've seen this decade. The only thing it has in common with that film is the sport. The film is ugly and bloody, and I never found those scenes funny. This isn't your typical William Scott sort of comedy, it is very different, and despite this being his best work I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted to. I thought the love story between him and Alison Pill's was pretty heartwarming, but I would've liked to see some more of that relationship. 

Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) works as a bouncer in a small bar which is an underachievement considering he comes from a family of doctors. His father, Dr. Glatt (Eugene Levy), is not very content with his decision of not wanting to attend college and he is always comparing him to the rest of the family. But Doug knows he isn't smart and doesn't seem to find his place in life. He loves hanging out with his best friend, Pat (Jay Baruchel), a foul mouthed hockey obssesed fan, and the two of them enjoy watching hockey goon, Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber), who they really admire. One night, at a local minor league hockey game Doug gets in a fight with one of the hockey players and the coach of the Highlanders decides to invite him to the tryouts. Despite not having any hockey skills whatsoever, he catches the coach's eyes thanks to his great fighting skills. He also catches Eva's (Alison Pill) eyes in a bar one night and they become romantically involved. Doug seems to have finally found his place in life, but becoming a minor league hockey player won't be an easy ride. 

The film does follow the familiar sports cliche where the lead character's team slowly begins climbing its way to the top after a disastrous start, but it is a very different kind of comedy. Scott gives a credible performance as this simple minded athlete. Liev Schreiber and Alison Pill both give strong performances in their secondary roles and I wish they would've been a little more involved in the story. Goon is a raunchy and bloody comedy that fails to deliver what is most important in a comedy: laughs. Scott plays a character who happens to be extremely polite despite his aggression, and in a way I guess that contrast is what was appealing to the people who liked this film. Somewhere under all that violence and cursing the film had something sort of sweet in Doug, but somehow that never appealed to me. 

My Review: The Sorcerer`s Apprentice (4/10)

¨I have been searching all over the world for you. You're going to be a force for good and a very important sorcerer. But for now, you're my apprentice ¨

From the producer of Pirates of the Caribbean, Jerry Bruckheimer, and the director of the National Treasure franchise,  Jon Turteltaub, comes The Sorcerer`s Apprentice, a film with big names, a great amount of CGI visual effects, but little imagination. The movie is loud and stupid; it reminded me a lot of Dragon Ball Evolution with all the fire balls and the dumb plot. I don`t understand how a film like this with so many good actors, with such good visual effects, powerful producers, didn`t take time to hire a decent group of screenwriters. The story just didn`t live up to my expectations and the cast did what they could to save the movie. Nicolas Cage was probably the best thing about the movie, the visuals were decent, but it takes a lot more than that to make up for the terrible plot. I actually enjoyed the National Treasure franchise more than this film so this was a step back for Turteltaub`s career and hopefully he will stay away from a sequel. The introduction alone explaining the history of the sorcerers and their rivalry was so weak that I knew I was going to have to lower my expectations during the remainder of the film. My favorite scene in the movie was the one from Disney`s Fantasia in which the mops and brooms come to life to help clean the lab, but that was perhaps one of the few positive things along with some funny scenes from Cage that I can say about this movie.

And now it`s time to explain the plot, my least favorite part about The Sorcerer`s Apprentice. The movie opens with a Lord of the Rings style narration in 700 AD where Merlin, the greatest sorcerer ever, is teaching his three apprentices Balthazar (Nicholas Cage), Horvath (Alfred Molina), and Veronica (Monica Bellucci) the secrets of the sorcerers. Horvath betrays Merlin and joins Morgana (Alice Krige), his greatest enemy. Morgana plans to awake all the dead evil sorcerers so she can destroy the world, and in a battle with Merlin she kills him with the help of Horvath. Balthazar and Veronica try to fight off Morgana, and Veronica is able to absorb her soul although she is so powerful that Morgana starts to possess her from inside. That is when Balthazar has to imprison both of them inside a grimhold, which is a Chinese nesting doll. Before Merlin takes his last breath he gives Balthazar a dragon ring telling him that it will come to life when he finds his successor, the Prime Merlinean. Centuries pass and Balthazar doesn`t find the kid until we arrive in modern day New York City. Balthazar finally finds the successor and decides to recruit and teach Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel) how to become a sorcerer before Horvath comes to destroy him. Meanwhile, Dave begins to get a little distracted when he runs into his old childhood sweetheart, Becky (Teresa Palmer), and Horvath find an apprentice of his own in entertainer and magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell).

The plot is very silly and really doesn`t work in a film that invested so much in the visuals and in the cast. Nicolas Cage does what he can to save this movie, Alfred Molina is also a good villain, Jay Baruchel probably wasn`t the right choice in a movie like this, but his character was silly anyway, Teresa Palmer played the girl of his dreams and she was alright, and the surprise in this film was Toby Kebbell who had a pretty funny role as Molina`s apprentice and entertainer, but he had very little screen time. The movie really suffers from little imagination because if you have the resources to make a film about sorcerers several entertaining things can be done, but the story is pretty simple and we`ve seen most everything before. Someone said why have sorcerers chase each other in cars when they could fly all over the city. It made a lot of sense; they went for the simple instead of the spectacular. I really hope they don`t make a sequel for this movie even though the end of the film gives the possibility for one. This was a pretty bad movie and one you should skip.

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