HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3 (THE HIDDEN WORLD)

Release Date: Malaysia, 31 Jan 2019

Genre: Action / Adventure / Animation

Running Length: 1:45

Cast (voices):  Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, F. Murray Abraham, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harington

Director:  Dean DeBlois

Screenplay: Dean DeBlois based upon the "How to Train Your Dragon" book series by Cressida Cowell 

In this last installment of the How to Train Your Dragon series, I went in with some anxiety anticipating for the worst. If you followed part 1 and 2, you would have realized that the series creators take risk. 

In the first one, our heroes Hiccup (Baruchel) and Toothless lost their leg and tail wing respectively. And in Part 2, as Hiccup finally found his mother, his father dies! 

So, going into HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3, I had all these thoughts in my mind, "Does Toothless die?" , "Does Hiccup die?", "Do Hiccup and Astrid get married?" 

Well, all I can reveal for now is that the character arc (the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story) of both Hiccup and Toothless is complete in an emotionally satisfying way. 

With Hiccup as head chief now, he and Toothless (being the alpha dragon) safeguard their island and keep everyone safe, both humans and dragons. However, there is a new threat to this peaceful dragon utopia where the villagers are forced to make a decision to vacate their village.  

Meanwhile, Toothless has fallen in love with another dragon, a Light Fury. 

This is where Hidden World soars. It's such a delight to see the courtship of this cute couple, from a clumsy mating dance to a no dialogue high-flying sequence official date across the clouds and beautiful "magic hour" cinematic landscape. It's one of the most beautiful and heart warming sequence for me ever created using animation.  

The visuals in this movie is stunning and accompanying score is just perfect.  

The villain (Abraham) in this installment is also much more memorable than Part 2. I swear his demeanor and voice sounded so much like John Lithgow. 

Speaking of the non-verbal, there is this powerful moment somewhere at the end where Hiccup and Toothless communicates without any words. Such an emotional scene.   

How to Train Your Dragon 3 is a fitting ending. Much better than part two, whereas the first one was still the best. 

RATING: 8/10

OCEAN'S 8 (Malaysia, 14 Jun 2018)

Genre: Thriller

Running Length: 1:47

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Richard Armitage, James Corden

Director: Gary Ross

Screenplay: Gary Ross & Olivia Milch

What's this movie about?
A spinoff from the Ocean's franchise, OCEAN'S 8 is about Debbie Ocean (Bullock) and her right hand partner Lou (Blanchett) together with their motley crew attempting to pull off a heist to steal a US$150 million necklace during the glamorous annual Met Ball.

Highlights!

• The performances and interaction. It's fun to see eight talented actresses interacting through the proceedings of the film. They have great chemistry and the cast seems to be having fun making this movie! A special shout out to Anne Hathaway, one of the most underrated badass actress of her generation. 
• Stylish. Just like the original series, everything from the leads' performances to camerawork to editing oozes style. The jazzy and breezy score definitely ramps up the cool factor.  
• The final reveal. 

Lowlights

• A safe movie. As much as I enjoyed Ocean's 8, I felt it didn't take enough risk. It felt like a cash grab by the studio's male-dominated head honchos - make some quick money by switching the genders to ride on the current gender inequality movement in Hollywood. I personally feel the best example of a truly feminine movie is Wonder Woman by Patty Jenkins. It has love, strength and sensitivity. As a result, it made A LOT of money. The least they could have done here was to hire a female director.       
• Lacks tension. A memorable heist movie is defined by its edge-of-the-seat sequences but there's nothing like it here (except for one sequence). The execution part is fun to watch but it was underwhelmingly safe. Missing were moments where what was planned goes wrong and what wasn't turned out right in unexpected ways.
• The unnecessary bit at the end.  As much as I enjoyed the final reveal, the last act where James Corden's character is introduced was unnecessary. Instead of ending high, that bit caused the film to end low. 

In summary

OCEAN'S 8 is definitely from the same universe as the other Ocean’s movies. It's very watchable. It's fun, stylish and the leads are cool and confident. But I wished the filmmakers took more risk and made this film its own movie because conceptually, making an all-female version of an Ocean’s film sounded appealing.

RATING: 7.5/10

THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)

Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Length: 2:13
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Taika Waititi
Screenplay: Eric Pearson and Craig Kyle & Christopher L. Yost

Oh wow. There's just so many things to sing praise about THOR: RAGNAROK I don't even know where to start. Well, let's just start with the overall reaction.  You know when someone asks you how was a particular movie and you would reply with an auto-response, "Yeah...it was fun"?

Well for Thor: Ragnarok, it's ACTUALLY really fun and enjoyable!

But most of all, this third standalone Thor film is hilarious! At times, I felt the overall tone was heavily inspired by Deadpool. Throughout the movie, I was thinking to myself, "How did Waititi get away with all these jokes?? I thought Marvel movies have a certain template the director must follow or else they would be fired/leave due to 'creative differences'?"

The comedy keeps on rolling, one after another. And the range is wide covering wit, self referencing jokes, gags, slapstick and meta humour. Thankfully, most of them lands and works really well.

In terms of the plot, Thor (Hemsworth) tries to stop Hela, the Goddess of Death (Blanchett) from destroying his kingdom, Asgard. But he accidentally goes on a detour to the planet Sakaar, where he is enslaved by the Grandmaster (Goldblum) and made a gladiator, and is forced to fight The Hulk (Ruffalo).

That said, as entertaining as it is, this is not a perfect movie. There were times I really wished the filmmakers didn't go overboard with the jokey tone but balances it out with some really serious emotional moments. There was probably one or two of such scenes but it was few and far between. And the villain was forgettable.

However, as for the performances, thanks to Waititi, he was able to get Hemsworth into a comedic groove, making his character appearing like a charming male dumb blonde (which I think is perfectly fine!). Ruffalo's fish out of water moments were absolute gold. A special shout-out to Tessa Thompson's character Valkyrie - oh my, she's so hot! Her charismatic performance here reminds me of a female Han Solo. Even the director himself appears as a memorable trash talking pile of rocks. And watch out for the cameos!

The action scenes are good but what's even better is how good this movie looks. There is this flashback scene of The Fall of The Valkyries which is absolutely stunning. But what's EVEN better is the game-like synthesizer infused soundtrack and the use of Led Zeppelin's classic, "Immigrant Song". Yes, that's THE song used in the trailer and it actually appears in the movie!

Indeed, the third time is the charm.

RATING: 8.5/10

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (2014)

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Running Length: 2:24
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Aidan Turner, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Lee Pace, Hugo Weaving
Director: Peter Jackson

I was expecting the worst from THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES as judging from the trailer, it was filled with excessive wall-to-wall CGI battle scenes, which to me quite frankly has become a soulless boring movie experience (no thanks to the Star Wars prequel trilogy). Fortunately, it wasn't as numbing as I thought. In fact, it was pretty engaging. It's probably because the film makers managed to balance the big battle scenes with "quieter" heroic moments that allow the central characters to stand out. Surprisingly, this installment being the most action heavy, has the strongest focus on character development. Timeless themes such as honour, friendship, love and self-sacrifice are nicely blended here without over preaching it. And speaking of CGI, it's less intrusive here compared to the barrel ride scene in The Desolation of Smaug (that was unintentionally bad). Not as grand and epic in scope as The Lord of the Rings trilogy but The Battle of the Five Armies is the best film of The Hobbit's series. (And what's with Team America the eagles flying in to save the day once again?)

Rating: 7.5/10

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (2014)

Genre: Animated

Running Length: 1:42

Cast: (voices) Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Djimon Hounsou, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kit Harrington

Director: Dean DeBlois

When How To Train Your Dragon came out in 2010, it was the best movie experience for me. It got everything right; the flight sequences in 3D were exhilarating, the story had a lot of heart and of course, the super adorable Toothless. So, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 had an impossibly high expectations to clear no matter how hard I tried not to have one. Well, I didn't walk out with the same wonderment I experienced from the first movie but that said, HTTYD2 is a superior sequel considering how the film making industry works (Anytime a movie especially an animated one scores big at the BO, it instantly becomes a "trilogy". Creativity goes out the window but who cares as long as it hauls in the money). Thankfully, rather than retreading more of the same, the film makers chose to expand the scope and yet retaining all the elements that made the first one a success. The events in this sequel takes place 5 years after and thus, it explores the theme of growing up and finding out "who am I and what's my calling." Fortunately it didn't go all Shakespeare as there are plenty of action scenes, but the tone is darker and more complex than the original. There is a "everything's not going to be all right" feeling throughout the movie. Visually it doesn't offer anything groundbreaking but there is one BIG standout "mano-a-mano" battle scene which was jaw dropping. That scene itself justified the IMAX 3D surcharge. The relationships between the key characters are properly fleshed out especially the incredibly touching bond between Hiccup and Toothless; so much so it mattered deeply in the film's single most powerful scene.

Rating: 7.5/10

THE MONUMENTS MEN (2014)

 

Genre: Adventure/Drama
Running Length: 1:58
Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, Dimitri Leonidas
Director: George Clooney

THE MONUMENTS MEN is unlike the traditional World War 2 stories where people die in the thick of combat as the battle unfolds. The narrative unfolds just after the war's great moments eg. our men arrive sometime after the bloody Normandy beach invasion. Oh, people do die in this movie but in offhand ways. The Monuments Men tells a tale of a unit of eight men consisting primarily of aging art historians and professors with a simple goal - save as much of Hitler's stolen art as possible before he burns it all to the ground. Eventhough it's based on a true story, the tone of the film is light (compared to the recent 12 Years A Slave) but the message - the horror of war - is very serious. There are a couple of very powerful and stirring moments (one of it provided by Bill Murray) but overall, the movie drags a fair bit due to several plot-related problems. Special shout out to the set pieces as it effectively captured the look of wartime Europe and also Matt Damon's character being “fluent in French”, which winds up being one of the funniest jokes in the movie. When the credits rolled, I just couldn't help but re-think my recent visit to the museums in London, Paris and Florence; where I walked past the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Manet, Rembrandt etc without taking a second look. The Monuments Men is highly recommended to filmgoers who are exposed to Renaissance art as it's both educational and inspiring entertainment.

Rating: 7/10