DreamWorks Animation SKG

[pppp]

The movie looks awesome, but that trailer seems to be revealing a little too much

 

I would like that woman being his mom and how his father reacts to it to be a surprise.

 

Say what you will about Disney's trailers, but at least their focus on the comedy reliefs helps keeping the plot a surprise.

 

Oh well, still looking forward to it.

[DarkLight]

Seeing Hiccup's mom and how she looks makes me think back to when the first one mentioned her only once, and that it was mostly for a gag about her breast plate being so big, it could be used as a shield for Hiccup. Yeah....

 

And thirded on the trailer revealing something that should've been a spoiler. At least trailers for KFP2 had the decency on primarily focusing on the comedy and action pieces and not anything on Po's past.

[Mogtaki]

It's really, really bad when the director fought to have the secret NOT shown in the trailers, but Dreamworks went ahead and showed it anyway.

[Big Panda]

OH MY GLOB, WHAT?!

[Gabz Girl]

Wow. I know it's not the first time this has happened in an animated movie (ParaNorman was the first one and it wasn't subtle about it either!), but it's still good to see that there's more characters like this even in children's films now. Hopefully this means Disney may introduce an LGBT character in the future too.

[Mania Pipe]

OH MY GLOB, WHAT?!

*Reads article*

O.o

Okay, um... I'm really not sure how to react to this...

[Mogtaki]

*Reads article*

O.o

Okay, um... I'm really not sure how to react to this...

I know how:

Whoopdedoo.

It was an ad lib for one and secondly, not sure why it's a big deal nowadays.

[Big Panda]

Your right, the line in and of its self isn't a "big deal".

The "big deal" is that people are finally realizing that fact.

[Mania Pipe]

I know how:Whoopdedoo.It was an ad lib for one and secondly, not sure why it's a big deal nowadays.

I'm not complaining. It was just that I was taken a bit by surprise. After thinking about it over, I just shrugged the whole thing off and just said "whatever".

[Mega]

I'd argue that it IS a big deal because western media still tends to view homosexuality as too "mature" for kids and family films. It's a bit too subtle to carry the same weight as, say, Paranorman, but it's still nice to see it there.

[Mogtaki]

I'd argue that it IS a big deal because western media still tends to view homosexuality as too "mature" for kids and family films. It's a bit too subtle to carry the same weight as, say, Paranorman, but it's still nice to see it there.

Probably more American media than European because we're pretty okay with it here in Europe.

By all means, it'd be a big deal if he was a parent too since those don't tend to exist much at all.

[Big Panda]

Well, he is somewhat of a parental figure. One of the major "taboo's" that still exists is the idea of gays and lesbians being teachers, and he trained Hiccup and the other kids to fight dragons and all.

[Mogtaki]

Well, he is somewhat of a parental figure. One of the major "taboo's" that still exists is the idea of gays and lesbians being teachers, and he trained Hiccup and the other kids to fight dragons and all.

A lot of people are seeing the news as a ploy to get people to see the film, another problem people are seeing is they're making it out to be something out of the ordinary. It shouldn't need to be seen as abnormal is what people are getting annoyed about.

[pppp]

So watched HTTY2 today. To start I'll say my thoughts on the original:

 

The first movie was really great. It had a big plothole that even Doug Walker pointed out(Why exactly don't the little dragons just run away from the big meanie while he thinks they're on an errand, or even better just join forces to kill him in their sleep or something) and I also didn't care for Astrid. Her only real purpose was just to be an unecessary love interest for Hiccup. Personally I don't really like how many animated movies have unecessary and rushed romances.

 

But aside from that, it was a great movie. The friendship between Hiccup and Toothless was fantastically done, the relationship between Hiccup and his father was also great and the music/animation was brilliant.

 

I'd also like to mention the Holiday Special, that did a great job adding even more emotional resonance to the frienship between the two.

 

So yeah HTTYD2 was absolutely fantastic. Like Toy Story 2 or 3, it did a brilliant job on building upon the themes of the original while also adding to it. The script is overall considerably better, it's consistently entertaining and more tightly written. It's heartfelt, it has great action, the humor is funny and the plot is overall really bold. I'll say why in this spoiler tag for the sake of future discussion:

 

I ADORED how Deblois handled the re-encounter between Hiccup's parents. I was ready for the cliche of both of them arguing about how she never said anything and stuff, but not only did they avoid that but pretty much gave a middle finger to that cliche since she herself expected it

It was much more effective to just have him instantly forgive her and kissing her right away.

 

Also, holy crap, I was surprised that they killed off Stoick   That was really bold on his part and it added a lot of depth to Hiccup's arc in the movie.

 

I also loved how they drew a parallel between Toothless being the new Alpha Dragon and Hiccup being the new boss of Berk.

 

The only real problem was that once again Astrid has no reason to really be in this movie, in fact aside from one moment where her tomboyish personality gives her a chance for a very good speech, she has even less to do than in the first one(The first movie rushed straight into the romantic flight, but it was still better than nothing.). I'm serious, you could write off her character from both scripts without any significant changes to the script and nothing would be lost. She's there so Hiccup has someone to make out with. Them being together doesn't resonate cause there's no build up or chemistry to make it believable.

 

But in the grand scheme of things, it matters little, this is without a doubt the best DreamWorks movie since The Prince of Egypt. Fuck that overrated Shrek tripe, this is the franchise DreamWorks should be known for.

 

I still think The Lego movie is the best movie of the year, but this is without a doubt a close second.

[Milo]

But in the grand scheme of things, it matters little, this is without a doubt the best DreamWorks movie since The Prince of Egypt. Fuck that overrated Shrek tripe

 

Check yourself before you shrek yourself mate (also the Kung Fu Panda movies would like a word with ya >:U).

 

Anyway, the Penguins of Madagascar are getting a movie! These guys were the best parts of the Madagascar trilogy and their TV show was pretty solid. And judging the trailer, the movie looks like fun. Shame they didn't get the guy who voiced Kowalski in the TV show though, his overtly deadpan voice was a lot funnier than the more mellow-sounding Kowalski VA they are using here (who also provided his voice for him in the Madagascar movies).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-SElhktQF0

[pppp]

Check yourself before you shrek yourself mate (also the Kung Fu Panda movies would like a word with ya >:U).

 

I thought the first Kung Fu Panda was just okay, but damn do I love the second one, what an improvement.

 

Also, I thought Puss in Boots was way better than any Shrek movie(Parodying Disney/fairy tale tropes is not new, Warner Bros. did that alot in the 40s.).

 

As for Madagascar, saw the first one, and it was so bad i refused to go see the others.

 

Why can't we just have HTTYD/Panda 2 and Peabody/Puss movies every year?

 

The resources spent on this Penguin movie could have been used for something much better.

[ionitron]

This was originally quoting PPPP in some parts but I really effed up with the quoting formatting ang blagh

 

So I'm just going to gush. 

 

 

But, Oh my GOSH.

 

When Stoick said "You're still as beautiful as the time I lost you" I lost my crap, and tears man. That was beautiful. Seeing the family together and dancing was also equally emotional and I really felt like Hiccup had a shot of being happy in a family, but my trope senses were going off and I knew something bad would happen. I 

honestly expected the mom to die, because it sort of seems like that's how a lot of things are set up. Then I thought "Would they really do that? I mean, I don't expect dreamworks to let that fly" but still had the feeling that something really bad would happen- and what do you know, they killed off Stoick. Again, I knew something might have happened, but that? Man. I don't think that could have been any better. And by Toothless? My god.

 

 

The movie had so many amazing moments.

 

I both agree and disagree with the Astrid thing. I kind of agree that she might not have /really/ had a point, I mean she did some important things. But, I really love the interaction between her and Hiccup. Like their gestures and communication with each other was just so genuine. I personally thought they had chemistry.

 

Man this movie was... really damn good.

 

Now, I'm incredibly biased, HTTYD is actually my favorite movie of all time. For multiple reasons beyond the movie itself, I might add. One thing I was incredibly concerned about was how they would handle Hiccup, because the gem of the first movie was his development from this dweeb to someone respectable. This movie handled it really well and he did in fact continue to develop, and as one reviewer put it: The first movie was about him meeting his best friend, and sticking up to and proving himself. This one was.. him becoming a man. By the end? Sheesh.

 

The animation in the movie was.... just unbelievable. The way the shots were composed, the renderings, like, the most cartoony things were some of the dragons designs. It was so interesting, but jeez... how beautiful. I watched it with my boyfriend, and having seen the first movie like a good 20 times at the least, I compared it to seeing like Mario Kart 64 to Mario Kart 8, lmao. A little dramatic? Maybe. But in four years the jump in quality with the first movie and second was really incredible. It was just amazing seeing a continuation of the world, like, I can't wrap myself around it.

 

And my favorite things about this one? The character interactions. Hiccup and Toothless was just beautiful to watch together. You really felt their friendship shine through.

 

The flying scenes? Oh my god

 

I can honestly go on for ever about the little moments that truly made me.. agfh.

 

Spoiler talk

 

I loved how they brought new tricks to the existing Dragons. I loved Toothless' eagerness to fly when Hiccups Mom (Vilka?) did the little trick and his scales popped up. Ogghhh I also loved the part when she met Toothless and she was just like "He's as old as you are!" agffh little things like that, man.  

 

OH LOL If anyone remembers the first movie, the part where the Alpha in the climax like, launched his tail and was about to smash Toothless and Hiccup, Hiccup said something like "Oh, not again" in reference to the first movie. The exact same thing happened, but this time it was averted because of those aforementioned extra scales. The scene really got a laugh out of me, though.

 

But finally, I also loved the juxtaposition of Hiccup becoming cheif and Toothless becoming alpha. It really brought me back to the ending of the first movie, when they Juxtaposed Hiccup's leg and Toothless' tail- signaling how they kind of depended on each other from there on out. And amongst the entire movie, there was this really great message about finding yourself, and your place, and knowing your responsibilities. It sounds cliché, but it was handled quite maturely

 

There were a couple of things I had problems with myself, I wasn't soooo into that subplot with Astrid and the other Teenagers as much as I would have liked. I also felt the Mom thing was a little unnatural and kind of strange to do in a movie, but, for what it was, it was really well handled. I just found it kind of strange, I dunno.

 

I really need to formulate my thoughts more but I really did enjoy the movie. I really felt like its themes, characters, and execution cater more to an older audience than one would really expect.  

[Mogtaki]

Since it's not on this thread yet, here's the trailer for Home:

That's Rihanna doing Tip and Jim Parsons doing Oh, by the way.

[Mega]

I'm irritated that the pet cat is a boy because it's a calico and male calicos are incredibly rare. :| Also, why does the cat have to be a boy?

This is incredibly petty and nitpicky, but I'm just throwing that out there. Not sure what to make of the movie yet.

[SilentDoom]

I saw HTTYD2 today and I was going to create a lengthy post about how I adored it but ionitron echoed my thoughts pretty much perfectly. The only difference was that I don't rank HTTYD1 as my favourite animated film. Don't get me wrong though, it's a damn good film just not one of my tops. But this....might even top the Toy Story trilogy for me and that's a massive feat.

One thing I will make note of though is just how jaw droppingly beautiful this film is. The subtlety of the movements, the detail of the characters, the masterful cinematography, the spectacle of the more kinetic scenes and the overall expressiveness of the world really come together so eloquently. This isn't just a good animated film. It's not even a great animated film. It's a film that pushes the boundaries of animation as an art form.

DreamWorks have created something truly special here and I can only encourage everybody to see this.

[Mogtaki]

I'm irritated that the pet cat is a boy because it's a calico and male calicos are incredibly rare. :| Also, why does the cat have to be a boy?

This is incredibly petty and nitpicky, but I'm just throwing that out there. Not sure what to make of the movie yet.

Because male and female cats have very diverse personalities with the males being incredibly laid back compared to the female and this cat is very laid back.

HOWEVER, saying that, in the book the cat is indeed female, so whether they wanted it to fit the personality a little more or the 'he' is very generalised, I have no idea.

[Mega]

I dunno. I've seen some incredibly laid back female cats. It just seems like a very weird change to make.

[Johnny Boy]

Ok I saw HTTYD2 today and here are my thoughts

While I was mad that they gave away the reveal of hiccups mom in the the trailer, this film still managed to surprise me. Killing off Stoic? I honestly did not see that coming! That was a really ballsy move on Dreamworks part and I applaud them for it. It's sad but it was a really good way for Hiccup to mature his way into becoming a cheif.

The only things that dissapointed me was the crush that Ruffnut had on the dragon napper, which got old pretty fast IMO. That and I was dissapointed that the villain didn't die, but given that look Hiccuo gives towards the waters at the end of the film makes me feel that Dragur is gonna be back for the inevitable third film.

All in all, I loved the hell out this movie. And when How to train your dragon 3 comes out, you can bet I'm gonna be there.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

The only real thing I saw from Dreamworks were the Shrek movies. And...yeah. The first one was fantastic, no complaints there. Everything else though...just kinda falls flat on it's face. The second one was meh, I didn't really like the story or the idea of ogres becoming human, I guess. I don't think we need to say anything about how awful the third one was, but the fourth one...was actually rather good. I liked it well enough, but all the sequels fell into the problem of references versus jokes, and I just didn't have a fun time honestly. But the worst part, the thing about the Shrek franchise that just pisses me off is the weird memetic shitty thing it's become on the internet. Stupid fan pairings, weird psychopaths worshiping it, it's just fuckin' annoying. Ugh. I just...ugh.

[Big Panda]

Still waiting patiently for Dragon 2's UK release...

In the meantime, Kung Fu Panda 3 got a logo while we whern't looking.

...or "Kung Fu Panda III", whichever works for you >_>