Kane20

My Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)

I missed the theatrical release of the first How to Train Your Dragon film in 2010, but I eventually saw it on DVD, and I loved it. It has since become one of my favorite animated films, and one of my all-time favorite films in general, and, in my opinion, it is a completely flawless film. So, naturally, I was a bit apprehensive when I found out that they were going to make a sequel. Not so surprisingly, I didn't think How to Train Your Dragon 2 was as good as its predecessor, but it is still a good movie.

The film is set five years after the events of the first film. Instead of killing dragons, the Vikings of Berk now welcome dragons into their village. The chief, Stoick the Vast, plans to retire soon and have his son, Hiccup (now twenty years old), take his place as chief, and even Hiccup's girlfriend, Astrid, thinks he has great potential for the job­. Hiccup, however, prefers flying around with his dragon Toothless and mapping new lands, and is rather averse to his father's wishes. One day while out exploring, Hiccup comes across a group of dragon catchers, who work for an evil warlord, Drago, who wants to assemble a dragon army. Hiccup, against his fathers orders, sets off to try and peacefully reason with Drago, but is waylaid by the mysterious Dragon Rider, Valka (voiced by Cate Blanchett), who turns out to be Hiccup's thought-to-be-long-dead mother.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is, for the most part, an example of a sequel done right. It further develops and expands upon its universe and underlying themes, and it actually takes the story in a new direction rather than essentially repeating that of the first film. Also, while it's still fun, endearing, and family-friendly like the first film, it's also darker and more mature, and a bit more complex. It doesn't shy away from some dark themes, such as war and death, and it doesn't have that feeling that everything is inevitably going turn out alright in the end. There are even few good twists in the film's third act (which I found to be the most emotionally powerful part of the film).

The first HTTYD film was a simple and straightforward but extremely touching story about friendship, loyalty, acceptance, and family. Its emotional core consisted of the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. This relationship is still crucial to the story in HTTYD 2, but it takes a back seat until the film's third act. The primary core of this film consists of a couple different elements. One of them is the reuniting of Hiccup's family. The other, more important element is the coming of age element. Yes, more than anything else, HTTYD 2 is a coming of age film for Hiccup.

The animation in this film, as expected, is spectacular. The characters, dragons, and scenery are excellently designed and visually pleasing, and the flying and aerial battle scenes are very good as well. John Powell, who composed the fantastic soundtrack for the first film, has returned and composed it for this film as well, and he still did a very good job. The soundtrack even contains a very good song that ais worth mentioning: 'Where No One Goes'. Also, the voice acting is very well done, especially Jay Baruchel as Hiccup.

Unfortunately, while I thought the first film was flawless, I cannot say the same about this film. This film has some pacing and plotting issues, a few contrived moments, a one-dimensional villain, and some underdeveloped supporting characters (the main characters are well developed, though, especially Hiccup). Additionally, the film is a bit weaker than the first film in terms of comedy, and a few of the comedic moments fall flat. Nonetheless, the film does have several humorous moments that do work.

Despite its slightly messy pacing and plotting, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is, in my opinion, a good sequel, and a good film for anybody of any age, and I'm glad I got to see it in the theater (twice – and I actually liked it a little better the second time). It is emotional, heartfelt, and humorous in areas, with some strong messages about family, friendship, forgiveness, loyalty, coming of age, and living to one's potential. Kids will enjoy it as long as they can handle some of the darker and more mature content. There is also plenty of content in the film for adults to enjoy. HTTYD 2 is one of my favorite films of the year so far, and it may very well end up being my favorite animated film of 2014 – if nothing else, I hope it receives a nomination for Best Animated Feature.

My Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)

Frozen opens up with rhythmic chanting through the Disney and WDAS logos and the opening title. This is immediately followed by a scene involving a group of ice harvesters slicing ice from a frozen lake and singing about ice, fear, and frozen hearts. This opening sets the right tone and foreshadows some of the film's underlying themes. It also has something of an ambitious feel to it, as if this film were daring to aim for the level of Beauty and the Beast and some of Disney's other best films. In my opinion, Frozen is not as good as these films, and it is not a masterpiece by any means; and frankly I think it's overrated. But I still found it to be a good movie.

Frozen is the story of sisters Anna and Elsa, the princesses of Arendelle. Elsa has magical powers to create ice and snow. These sisters were very close when they were little, until an incident where Elsa almost kills her younger sister with her powers. Their parents take Anna to some trolls who save her and erase her memories of Elsa's powers. After this, the sisters are separated and grow apart over the years. Years later, their parents die at sea, and three years after this, Elsa reaches the age at which she can become Queen. On coronation day, Anna meets Hans, a prince of another kingdom. She falls in love with him and wants to get engaged – that same day. In the ensuing argument with Elsa, Elsa inadvertently releases her powers. She then flees, unintentionally leaving the kingdom in a magically induced winter. Anna goes after her, along the way acquiring the help of an ice harvester, Kristoff, and his reindeer, Sven.

Despite the immense hype surrounding this film, some negative reviewers have claimed that the film is shallow, simplistic, messy, and empty. In my opinion, however, not only is it not, but it's also heavy with subtleties, symbolism, and subtext; and I found it to be relatable and thought provoking to a considerable degree. I will admit that the storyline itself is fairly simple and predictable. But overall, I found the story to be decent and effective, with some valuable morals including, but not limited to, the true meaning of love, overcoming one's fears, and accepting people for who they are.

The primary factor that makes the story work is the characters. The relationship between Anna and Elsa is what constitutes the film's emotional core. I was able to relate to both both of these characters, and Kristoff, to some degree. The animators really took the time to craft these three characters, giving them well-rounded, well-nuanced personalities, genuine emotional depth, and excellent physical appearances; not to mention the superlative voice performances by the cast. The animators even paid excellent attention to all of their mannerisms, tics, facial expression, and other details (even very small ones). These three characters felt to me like real people, and not two dimensional stereotypes.

Another strength of the film is the music. Christophe Beck did a good job composing the score; and Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez did a good job writing the songs, my favorites of which are "For the First Time in Forever," "Let It Go," "Do You Want to Build a Snowman," and "Frozen Heart." The songs are not excellent, but they are pretty good, and they help develop the characters and move the story along pretty well.

Some modern filmmakers, especially Michael Bay, could really learn a thing or two from movies like Frozen. I cannot deny that the animation in Frozen is very good, and the film would not have worked without it. Fortunately, however, directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee actually care about other things as well: character development, relationships, heart, storytelling, and so forth. The film actually has a warm, genuine heart of its own under all of that digital snow and ice. Also, instead of just serving as a flashy distraction, the animation is actually used to service the script (not the other way around).

Now, again, I honestly think the film is good, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. In addition to myriad missed opportunities, this film has its flaws. I found the film's second act to be a bit insipid and a little too heavy in comedy. Sure, it was funny, but it occasionally upset the comedy/drama balance, thereby preventing the second act from having the same emotional punch that the first and third acts have. Also, I felt that the story was slightly rushed and compressed. In fact, the film contains enough material for a TV miniseries. The film is solid and coherent as it is, but I still think a slightly longer running length would have done it a lot of good. Oh, and the villain is pretty weak - contrived and paper-thin (yes, there is a villain, but he is secondary to the primary conflict).

Personally I think Frozen is the best of the five Disney Revival films so far, beating out Tangled by a whisker. Disney has successfully moved into the 21st century. For the most part, they have succeeded in combining their older elements with modern ones.

Frozen is now the highest grossing animated film to date. At the same time, it's also receiving the harsh backlash that films this successful often receive. I personally think Frozen is overrated, but it's still good – charming, heartfelt, humorous, emotional, and overall entertaining - and it's one of my favorite films of 2013. Disney may not have the charisma they used to have, but at least they still know how to make a good movie.

For more reviews, and my full review of Frozen (what you have just read is a truncated version of it): visit my blog: http://robertsreliablereviews.blogspot.com/

Alright, imagine if you are living an ordinary day; and then the next suddenly you find your life torn away from you, and you are thrown into a different life, full of misery, despair, oppression, and brutality, possibly for many years. Well, this is exactly what happened to Solomon Northup, a free black man who, in 1841, was kidnapped, beaten, and sold into slavery. And he remained in slavery for twelve years, until he has rescued in 1853 from a plantation he was working on in Louisiana. In fact, Northup only one of the numerous people to whom this actually happened, but he was one of the only ones who regained their freedom.

Shortly after regaining his freedom, he published his story in a book titled 12 Years a Slave, which I read prior to seeing the film, and which director Steve McQueen has now adapted into said film, with the same title. Many reviewers have already summarized essentially how I personally feel about this film, so I apologize if this review feels redundant to you readers. Rather than just trying to grab money and capitalize on the market, McQueen brings to the screen an honest, accurate portrayal of the harsh conditions and life of slavery. And it old through the eyes of a man who was not born and raised as a slave, but a free end educated man who ended up having experience in both the slave and free worlds. As for the cruelty and brutality, the film doesn't tone any of it down. In fact, some scenes were difficult to watch, they were so disturbing. This film actually allowed me, to a considerable extent, to experience a bit of antebellum Southern United States slavery as it actually was. IT could also be argued that the film offers a strong view of how cruel and evil humans can be, and have been at times in the past.

The performances in this film are excellent. The script doesn't give Northup much "development," but Chiwetel Ejiofor gives his character depth and humanity through his powerful, superlative performance. He reached out grabbed by emotions strongly, pulling me into his experiences, from a free man, to his abduction, and through his experience as a slave, during which he kept the fact of his freedom mostly silent but nevertheless remained determined to someday get it back. I especially liked the way he conveyed so much emotion though facial expressions, and especially through his eyes. I predict an Oscar nomination for Ejiofor.

All of the other performances were highly commendable as well. Not all of the white people portrayed in the film, however, are cruel. A counter example is William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). Cumberbatch's character in the film is a 180 turn around from his performance as the evil and menacing Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness. His character, Ford, while blinded by the social and cultural mores of the antebellum South, treats Northup with unexpected kindness (and I look forward to future performances by Cumberbatch). Another such counterexample to the common white cruelty of the time is Bass (Brad Pitt), who eventually helps Northup to escape. As for the not-so-kind people, there are two who reflect the general beliefs and unpleasantness of many southern whites. They are Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a plantation owner and one of Northup's owners, and John Tibeats (Paul Dano), a worker for Ford. And yes, Fassbender and Dano's performed well.

While scenery is certainly not the primary draw of the film, I want to give a thumbs up for the film's cinematography and visual aspects, and Hans Zimmer's music score, which helped enhance the experience. As for the screenplay, John Ridley did a good job adapting the book into a screenplay. He did make a few minor tweaks and condensed the story a bit - in fact, there are one or two particular scenes that I think should have been included in the film, and I think that they would have made the film even better - but other than that the film is true to the book and the events.

If I were to criticize anything about the film, it would be that I really think that the feeling of twelve years passing, while effective, should have been stronger. In fact, while I liked the film and the way everything was handled in it, I felt that everything could still have been stronger - more intense, more vivid, more horrifying, more suspenseful, more gut-wrenching, more emotionally powerful, etc. But again, all of these aspects, and more, were still pretty strong in the film.

So, overall, 12 Years a Slave wasn't great like I wanted it to be, but it was good, and one of the best films of 2013; and it is an experience that I will not be forgetting anytime soon. Solomon Northup himself would have been proud of this film.

My Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)