Stars (vocally) Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Craig Furguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, TJ Miller, Kristen Wiig with Djimon Honsou and Kit Harrington Directed by Dean DeBlois As the credits rolled at the end of the movie, this is what went through my head. First - What the hell is Pixar’s movie this year? Then - Kung Fu Panda 3 has a LOT to live up to now. I’ve always preferred DreamWorks Animation features over the Pixar films. Oh, the Pixar films were great in their time, most are just so good, but I just preferred the features from DreamWorks Animation. They take risks and treat animation more as a medium to tell stories and to entertain. It’s a concept I find that doesn’t sit very well with American viewers, so the DreamWorks animated features don’t make as much as the safer family friendly product of Pixar or Disney. But let’s focus here. Set five years on from the first movie, the village of Berk is now a very different place. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is now twenty and his father, Stoick (Gerard Butler), is ready to have Hiccup take over as chief of the village. Although he’s grown, Hiccup isn’t the man his father is, and he knows it. This is basically Hiccup’s journey within this story and there are several other events along the way. If you’ve seen the trailers, you know what they are. I’m not spoiling that here. While the first movie is very much a father and son story, this is very much Hiccup’s coming of age tale. Just know that as the characters have grown and matured, so has the story - and that’s a brilliant move. Many of the original cast is back, joined by three new talents; Cate Blanchett, Djimon Honsou and Kit Harrington (because of Game of Thrones and Pompeii that he’s added to another medieval adventure with dragons? yeh- that's an unfair assessment, sorry). They do well to fit in with the established cast, but it’s Baruchel who does the heavy lifting here. His scenes with Butler ring true based on their previous performance while Blanchett adds a new dimension to the trio. She conveys the complex emotions of her character very well indeed. The core characters each have their individual motivations and purpose in relation to each other, and that gives each of the vocal cast moments to shine. A delicate balancing act with the number of talent here. As each of these animated features emerge, the quality of the animation improves and the bar is raised; it’s no different here. The first thing that pops is the hair. Stoic’s beard is far more refined than the matted mess of the first movie. The surfacing and texture details are incredible, although that may be contributed by the IMAX screening. The cinematography and landscape shots that were so beautiful in the first movie are even more gorgeous here. Roger Deakins (cinematographer for Skyfall) returns to consult, which helps the depth of the 3D presentation. I also noted Guillermo DelToro and movie poster artist extraordinaire Drew Struzen listed in the credits as well. And there are so-many-dragons. The dragons swarming definitely benefits from the IMAX format as does the Alpha. And of course, John Powell’s amazing score that builds upon the themes that have come before. As like before, there are scenes where the music simply soars to tell the story. AND there’s a song within the story! Beautifully placed and used as a story device, not just some ditty thrown in. The directorial decisions by writer and director, Dean DuBlois, cater to serve the story. Fellow co-director of the first feature, Chris Sanders, is listed as an executive producer, so don’t know how much input he had here. Whatever his contribution, as with the rest of the cast and crew, the end product is one truly amazing feature to behold - and the one to beat for the summer. I’d dare say that this is The Empire Strikes Back of animated features! The best that DreamWorks animation has delivered in their storied history. They celebrate 20 years, and if this is the direction they’re heading… well, Kung-Fu Panda 3 has a lot to live up to when it finally comes out and this Dragon saga has one more chapter to go too. Uh… what does Disney/Pixar have out this year again? Rating: ****1/2
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