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Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Rise of the Guardians - Because why not have a Russian Santa, Australian Easter Bunny, Hyper Tooth Fairy, Silent Sandman and a Depressed Jack Frost?
Rise of the Guardians, by DreamWorks Animation SKG, is a fun and exhilarating film, set in the world of children's beliefs.
Jack Frost is the fun and "icy" protagonist in this film, who has always sought out the answers as to why he is like he is - A guy that no one can see, except the Guardians, North, Sandman, Tooth, Bunny, and the bogeyman, Pitch. He soon finds out that the Man in the Moon has chosen Jack to be a new guardian to protect the children of the world, but refuses, but soon learns that sometimes friendship and a little responsibility goes a long way.
This is a great film, for starters, and I especially love the opening part, where Jack is sitting in the moon. This film has great special effects that wowed me when I first saw this film. Everything from the ice, to the fur on Bunny. This film is definitely pretty. But, the film has great voice talents, suiting the characters very well, and they suite the personality of each character well too. Viewers can tell that a lot of hard work had gone into the film, as everything, even the relationships between the characters, has been well established.
Alexandre Desplat is the music composer for this film, and has designed the music very well to fit the moods and areas of each part of the film. But, despite what a good job he did, I believe that John Powell may have done a better job, but, I understand that he was most probably working on the musical score for How To Train Your Dragon 2 at the time this movie was being developed/created.
This film is perfect for kids in the stages of believing in Santa, Tooth Fairy etc. as it is bubbly fun with these well known childhood figures.
Though this is an enjoyable film, it is aimed more towards younger audiences, and is more bubbly and fun than serious, and does not show as much of a lesson about friendship etc. as some of DreamWorks' other films, such as How To Train Your Dragon. I also believe they should have developed more on Pitch's character, especially around the time between when the guardians came, and the main part of the film.
Overall, I give this film 7/10 Stars, as I believe it is enjoyable, but could maybe have more of a moral to show for, and maybe suite all audiences better, rather than young ones.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
How To Train Your Dragon 2 - Did it top the 1st film?
How To Train Your Dragon 2, DreamWorks Animation SKG's exciting and amazing second instalment in the How To Train Your Dragon series, was recently released in the UK, nearly a month after the release in the US.
Set 5 years after the first film, Hiccup and the gang (20-19 year old's), now young adults, enjoy the simple and amazing life on Berk, and compete in the popular sport, Dragon Racing, whilst Ruffnut, now the only single female on Berk, must deal with the constant actions of Snotlout and Fishlegs as they try to win her heart. But, Hiccup is not one for the competitive sport, and is constantly out mapping out the world with his best friend and beloved Dragon, Toothless, and enjoy practising their flight sequences, and increasing their bond even more. However, on one outing with Astrid, they soon uncover a new foe, Drago Bloodfist, who intends to raise, and control a dragon army with only evil intents in mind, and when Hiccup set out to talk reason into him, he is kidnapped by a mysterious dragon rider, astride a four-winged dragon, but soon learns the rider to be his long lost mother, Valka.
After the first film, I was very amazed and excited to learn that 2 more films were to be created, and did not think it was even possible to top the first film. However, I was very wrong. The animation in this film is visually stunning, especially in 3d, with the environments very realistic, and every texture and detail as real as the actual things. The characters have been developed very well, both in appearance, actions, voice, etc., to show how they have aged since the first film, whilst using the same voice actors. Each character is displayed well, showing their personalities and relationships to others, such as Hiccup and his father Stoick, now 50, who act like old chums, but still occasionally have a disagreement. And the beautiful relationship between Stoick and Valka is... There's not a single word that can describe how beautiful it is, especially in the scene when the two sing 'For the Dancing and Dreaming', and when they were reunited, and Valka believed for him to yell at her for not returning. Instead, I believe DreamWorks created a beautiful relationship in just 9 words. "You're as beautiful as the day I lost you." Which actually made me very emotional, and I cried quietly for a good 5 minutes, and it really makes the ending all the more emotional, especially with the other character's reactions.
John Powell, the score composer for the first film, has also written the soundtrack to this film, and combined the tune of How To Train Your Dragon with the voice talents of Jonsi to create the song 'Where No One Goes' which features at the start and the end of the film. Jonsi had previously written 'Sticks and Stones' for the ending song of the first film, with one of the verses being sung in Icelandic, and 'Go Do', another one of his songs had been used for one of the adverts for the film. I am very glad DreamWorks had asked him to create songs for the film, as they fit perfectly due to how the songs have been written and performed. But other than Jonsi, John Powell's soundtrack fits the film absolutely spot on, and fits the emotion and atmosphere so well, it made the emotional scenes even more emotional, such as when Stoick and Valka were reunited.
Packed with a new kind of adventure, lovable characters and daring storyline, How To Train Your Dragon 2 has definitely received my vote for Animated film of the year, and I am glad the third film is due to be released in 2016, and I believe on June 17th in the US.
In one of the TV adverts, 3 quotes used to describe the film were: "Braver than Brave", "More Fun than Frozen" and "The Mother of All Animated Sequels", and I couldn't agree more, as this is not just aimed at children, the way it has been created has made it suitable for all audiences due to the fact that it has it's laughs, but also the beautiful relationships shown between Stoick and Valka, and Hiccup and Astrid. I believe this film also teaches a valuable lesson about courage and friendship, as it is strongly shown throughout this film.
However, I believe that DreamWorks should have developed more on Drago Bloodfist's story, as I believe they did not develop his character as well as they could. Also, DreamWorks seemed to be self-confident about the idea of the release, and I believe they released to many clips of the film, giving away a lot of spoilers, though, they did alter them slightly so they weren't exactly the same as in the film.
Overall, I am rating this film 9/10 Stars, as I believe it was worth the 4 year wait, and the entirety of the film was breathtaking, and worth my time and money, and definitely recommend it.
Frozen (2013)
Frozen - Is this film overrated?
Frozen, Disney's Oscar-Winning 2013 animated film, is a fun, family adventure, with lots of laughs, and sing-along fun.
Elsa and Anna, two sisters who were inseparable when they were children, Anna, a normal enough child, whilst Elsa was born with the power to control snow and ice. But, after an accident when they were children, and Anna had to forget about Elsa's powers, she was forced to shut Anna and everyone out in order to protect them. Several years later, at Elsa's coronation, Anna gets engaged to someone she believed to be her true love, but, unfortunately, Elsa had mixed feelings about it, and accidentally lets loose her powers, and freezes the Kingdom of Arendelle as she flees for the Kingdom. Anna must team up with Kristoff, a stubborn man who sells ice for a living, his reindeer Sven, and a talking snowman Olaf in order to bring summer back to Arendelle.
I must say, this is a very pretty film, with the special effects they have done, especially in the 'Let It Go' sequence when Elsa builds her ice castle, and creates her ice dress. Viewers can tell the amount of attention to detail that has been done to create this movie, from the animation itself, to the casting of the characters. Each casted actor/actress fitted their designated character perfectly, both when needed to sing, or just talk. Olaf is the character in the film that makes the most jokes, and is also loving and caring, and dreams of when summer will one day come... But, this film was created by the people that also created 'Brave', 'Wreck-It-Ralph', and 'Tangled', and there are easter eggs between those films. When Anna is singing 'For The First Time In Forever' and she goes out the gates, if you look carefully you can see Rapunzel and Eugene! The 'Wreck-It-Ralph' reference, is that when Anna says "I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face", in the same song, the chocolate is from 'Wreck-It-Ralph'! The Brave reference, is that Merida's mum, Eleanor, has a white strand of hair, just like Anna!
Christopher Becke has created the soundtrack from the film, and has created good songs that go well with each scene in the film, and suite the mood and atmosphere very well, especially at crucial moments.
This film has got stunning voice talent, witty humour, and an amazing storyline, that will want the audience wanting more... If they like singing that it.
In the film, I believe that the space between some of the songs were too short, as it was only about 5 minutes after 'For The First Time In Forever' and 'Let It Go' was then playing. Also, this film is more for younger audiences, and can get quite boring at times, so, I do think it is overrated slightly, though, it's still a good film to watch.
Overall, I award this film 6/10 stars, as it was fun to watch, but the songs childish target audience, and childish jokes got boring quickly, and, knowing Disney, they're going to milk that thing dry for the money.