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| Courtesy of DreamWorks Animation |
How to Train Your Dragon 2
(Rated
PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor.)
Who’s
in it: The voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Craig
Ferguson, America Ferrera and Jonah Hill.
What
it’s about: Five years after young Hiccup (Baruchel) befriended a dragon named
Toothless – enabling Vikings and beasts to live together in harmony – a new
threat is encroaching on their village. A ruthless enemy is gathering a dragon
army, with the intention of using their power to achieve world domination. And
the only people who have the courage to stop him are Hiccup, Toothless and his
friends.
The
good: How to Train Your Dragon 2 should be the blueprint for how filmmakers
approach a sequel. Instead of just retelling the original story with a bigger
budget, Writer/director Dean DeBlois expands the world of the narrative.
Viewers discover that neighboring lands have different beliefs about dragons, which
range from heartwarming to alarming. Most importantly, the characters are
allowed to grow, change and (surprisingly, in today’s franchise-heavy,
play-it-safe studio system) put others’ safety above their own.
The
animation is vibrant and colorful, the many flying scenes are breathtaking and
the film utilizes 3D in wonderfully creative ways. I hardly ever recommend
paying extra to see a movie in the expensive format, but it’s a must for this
one.
The
not-so-good: Nothing comes to mind. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is one of the
best films of 2014. However, parents of small children should use caution and
take the PG rating seriously. There are a few scenes in the third act that
might upset some viewers – but that’s the point. The story emphasizes that standing
up for others often comes with consequences, but it’s worth the sacrifice.
Grade:
A
 |
| Courtesy of Sony |
22 Jump Street
(Rated
R for language throughout, sexual content, brief nudity and some violence.)
Who’s
in it: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube.
What
it’s about: After taking down a high school drug ring in the first movie, it’s
only natural that undercover cops Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko’s (Tatum) next
assignment sends them to college. However, they begin to grow apart after their
work forces them to infiltrate different groups on campus.
The
good: At this point, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller must feel invincible.
They’ve had nonstop hits with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump
Street and The Lego Movie, all flicks that should have been awful in theory
but were wonderful thanks to the filmmakers’ comedic voices and creativity. So
if they were going to fall on their faces, it would be with 22 Jump Street. An
unnecessary sequel to a movie that nobody thought would be good in the first
place? Has to be a disaster, right? I don’t know what voodoo sorcery these guys
discovered, but their winning streak continues.
The
movie is fun, inventive and absolutely hilarious thanks to its overt mocking of
sequels and their tendency to remake the original, only more expensive. The
film point-blank tells the audience that the premise is the exactly the same as
the first one, only in college instead of high school. Once again, Tatum is the
MVP, earning most of the big laughs. Hill admirably plays the straight man,
setting up the jokes so his co-star can spike them. Ice Cube, as the guy’s
frazzled chief, gets more to do this time, which is a big plus.
The
not-so-good: The movie’s not as good as the original, but it’s shockingly close.
It’s a bit long at almost two hours, but I can’t really complain since the
chemistry among the cast is so strong. And any minor complains are offset by
the closing credits, which take care of any lame sequels that might happen in
the future.
Grade:
B+
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| Courtesy of 20th Century Fox |
The Fault in Our Stars
(Rated
PG-13 for thematic elements, some sexuality and brief strong language.)
Who’s
in it: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern and Sam Trammell.
What
it’s about: Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, 16-year-old Hazel (Woodley)
meets Gus (Elgort) during a mom-mandated support group meeting. They share a
distinctive view of the world that eschews the typical, sappy terminology that
often comes with cancer. Their friendship quickly turns into love, but – as you’d
imagine – complications arise.
The
good: Shailene Woodley above all else. The young actress first caught my
attention as George Clooney’s daughter in The Descendants and my admiration
grew even more after her solid, understated performance in last year’s The
Spectacular Now. Her work here, however, is on a whole different level. Hazel
could’ve easily been a clichéd character – despite the effort author John Green
took to avoid that hazard in the original source material – but Woodley’s
natural charisma makes her a real person, not a smiling Hallmark angel who
suffers in silence.
Elgort
isn’t quite as strong as Woodley, but the two of them have decent chemistry,
which makes the film’s final half hour more emotionally engaging than it should
be. Dern and Trammell are also great as Hazel’s parents. Despite a limited
amount of screen time, they’re able to convey the pain, foreboding and small
victories that accompany navigating life with a terminally ill child.
Screenwriters
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (who also wrote The Spectacular Now)
deserve credit for improving on the novel by letting the air out of Green’s
literary pretentions. The novel is beloved by hardcore fans all around the
world, but it’s full of passages that point to the author showing off rather
than doing right by his characters. Neustadter and Weber chip away at all that
and focus on making Hazel, Gus and the people around them seem like they would
exist in the real world. Yes, the teens speak in heightened, “we’re smarter
than everyone else” dialogue that Kevin Williamson made famous in Scream and Dawson’s Creek, but don’t most teenagers believe that anyway?
The
not-so-good: The film admirably avoids the schmaltz typically found in the
“doomed lovers” genre for two-thirds of its running time, but pours it on thick
in the last 30 minutes. It results in scenes feeling overdone when they should
actually induce sobbing. Also, some of the book’s most memorable elements don’t
really translate to the screen, but they’re included anyway for the sake of fan
service. I’m thinking specifically of the ridiculous cigarette metaphor.
Grade:
B
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