Stunning sequences carry uneven How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Toothless and Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Image courtesy Universal Pictures.

The most enjoyable moments in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World have little to no dialog. They are carried instead by dazzling visuals, stunning enough to bring the audience into the fantastical world the film depicts. There is a sense of lightness to Hidden World in these moments, a little sense of joy in the adventure. Whats left outside of those moments is far, far more hit or miss; the good sometimes getting overshadowed by lackluster characterization and lackluster humor.

Hidden World continues the bromantic tale of Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and his Night Fury dragon, Toothless. Since the last film, Hiccup, his mother Valka (Cate Blanchett), and girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera), have led raids to free imprisoned dragons, taking them back to the island of Berk Hiccup's dream is to create a utopia for dragons and humans and eventually end the war between the two sides. Unfortunately, the town isn't big enough to host the dragons and the residents, forcing Hiccup, Valka, Astrid, and fellow vikings Gobber (Craig Ferguson), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Tuffnut (Justin Rupple), Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig), Eret (Kit Harington) and Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to search for a new home. Toothless' presence has also drawn the attention of villainous dragon hunter Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), who is always one step ahead of Hiccup. Hiccup also has to cope with the arrival of a Light Rider dragon, who quickly draws Toothless' eyes and heart.

The How to Train Your Dragon franchise is renowned for its flying sequences, which put the audience in Hiccup's shoes as he and Toothless soar through the skies. Hidden World doesn't deviate from that formula, providing several wonderful, majestic sequences in the air that add a great pop to the film. The visit into the eponymous world is visualized like an undersea voyage, complete with fluorescent flora and magical creatures. That sequence, along with the rest of the aerial moments, are by far, the highlight of the film.

Hidden World is buoyed considerably by the presence of Grimmel as an antagonist. The film does a credible job selling Grimmel as a genuine threat to Hiccup and his people, using some brilliant tactics to trick Hiccup time and time again. Grimmel's cunning contrasts well with Hiccup's heart, and it adds a nice psychological element. That Grimmel exerts so much effort into ruining Hiccup as part of a game makes him even more effective as a villain. It's almost cruel how little Grimmel cares about any of the chaos he sows.

The rest of Hidden World can't match the visuals of the flying sequence or the cunning of Grimmel. The animation beyond the flying scenes is consistently good throughout, if not quite as eye catching. The jokes are a fairly scattered; the high-level jokes are never quite as clever as the screenwriters imagined, although the jokes aimed at kids landed pretty well. The film is generally efficient with its use of time, at least until stretching out the ending awkwardly. Combined, they create an overall unremarkable film.

Some of the problem stems from the lead characters. Hiccup's journey to become a leader for his people is flat, never quite given the amount of time needed to develop. His coinciding trip into adulthood is less interesting, as he loses a lot of his shine as a character whenever Toothless goes away. In essence, the film's message of personal growth undercuts its most dynamic relationship. Astrid exists to fill that void, but she's not granted enough time to develop as a character either. Her expectation is to be the rock for Hiccup; how she gets to that point is not really considered. The rest of the cast, sans Grimmel, is there for comedic relief; the level of relief those characters offer is up to the individual viewer to decide.

Even with those issues, Hidden World still has a little heart and melancholy to it. Underneath some obnoxious characters and mold humor, this is a film about how sometimes it is necessary to say goodbye no matter how hard it is to do so. Hidden World uses the goodwill it has drawn from two other movies and an animated series to reinforce just how hard it is to do the right, but very difficult, thing. The inevitable moment when the tough decision is made packs a decent sized punch for a franchise about a boy and his dragon; with a little more development, it could have been a wallop.

Review: Three and a Half out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

 

Rating: PG

Run time: 104 minutes

Genre: Animated

tl;dr

What Worked: Animation (especially the flying scenes), Grimmel

What Fell Short: Character development, Humor

What To Watch As Well: How to Train Your Dragon, The Last Unicorn

They ain't afraid of no ghosts

Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones in Ghostbusters. Image courtesy Columbia Pictures.

Before diving too deep into this review, I have to state for full disclosure that I worked on Ghostbusters as an extra when it filmed in Boston. I'm actually visible on screen during two shots at a concert if you keep your eyes open, and I was paid to work on it. I'm opting to review this though because I feel I can separate my involvement during filmmaking from any critical thoughts I have about the film itself. Also, any bias I have for the film is rooted heavily in childhood adoration for the movies, cartoons, toys and everything else Ghostbusters related. The only reason I signed up was an affinity for the franchise. In the end, it's nostalgia that shifted my view of the new Ghostbusters toward favorable, despite a few glaring flaws the film doesn’t recover from. It's not my longing reflections into the past that fuels the positivity; it's for the girls in the audience who really, really need role models like the four women who fight against the afterlife and a society in which its simpler to describe women as crazy than correct. I have a number of great memories tied to this franchise not just related to watching it, and it's nice to know that a lot of kids will have their own in the coming decades.

Still, this is not a particularly excellent film. Paul Feig's reboot, which stars Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon as the eponymous ghoul fighters, has one enormous flaw that filters down to create smaller problems that result in an unexpectedly rough Ghostbusters experience. The central issue is a product that clearly shot to be longer than the shade less than two hours it ended up being, but was edited down to a more digestible run time. Whoever edited this film had to eliminate a substantial amount of material, but the film wasn't cleanly put back together after the hacking and slashing ended. It leads to a number of uncomfortable segues, truncated exchanges, far too fast cameos, scenes that sometimes end on off beats and jokes that fall flat.

What would have been the central character arc of the film, a reunion between Wiig's disgraced scientist Erin Gilbert and her former best friend Abby Yates (played by McCarthy), is brought up and then put on stasis until it is magically brought up again as a motivating factor at the end. The relationship is not captured as overly tense, nor do the two ever have a true reconciliation over what was a friendship ruined; even the rift between them is never explained at length. Ghostbusters has a habit of making things pop up and then go away for a spell before cropping up again. The crew's dimwitted secretary (played by Chris Hemsworth) shifts from bored and unqualified to answer phones to super eager to be a Ghostbuster without ever expressing a desire to become one earlier. Even the film's villain (Neil Casey) drifts in and out, his intents explained through exposition and mutterings by the character himself. There is enough underlying plot and story to indicate Feig and fellow writer Katie Dippold had something deeper planned out for this project; they just seemed to run out of the time they needed to make it come to fruition.

But just enough success creeps out between the off moments to make Ghostbusters a perfectly serviceable summer flick. The film's commentary about the additional hurdles women face when venturing into uncharted fields is valid and underrepresented in cinema. Feig has also done the Lord's work in unleashing the wonderful insanity that is McKinnon upon theater goers. She shines as off-kilter and very flirty (at least toward Wiig) scientist Jillian Holtzmann, who conveys much through a sly glance and a subtle line reading that registers just enough before fleeting through the mind. Jones, as former MTA agent Patty Tolan, sneaks in a few laughs as well from her character's perpetual incredulous reactions to the phantasmagoric events around her. (Wiig and McCarthy seem to have the most difficult time with the material.)

It is a little unfair to Ghostbusters or any film to say it needs to exist despite being a sometimes funny but very flawed film, but it kind of is necessary. The little girls with the proton packs in the theater falling in love with the Ghostbusters (they adored Holtzmann) deserve positive characters to emulate like I did as a kid. Even if the reboot isn't necessary, a film featuring four comediennes playing scientists whilst fighting against the sexism they face daily is a hugely important thing to have. Besides, this movie isn't any worse than Ghostbusters II.

Review: Three out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: PG-13

Run time: 116 minutes

Genre: Comedy

Ask Away

Target audience: People who enjoyed the original and young girls searching for role models.

Take the whole family?: Some of the ghosts get a little freaky looking, but it is mostly harmless for kids ages 8 and up.

Theater or Netflix?: As long as its a matinee, theater is an acceptable alternative.

Who is your favorite Ghostbuster?: Bill Murray's Dr. Peter Venkman is far and away the best Ghostbuster; a charming rogue who always has the perfect comeback. Reality has taught me I can never be Venkman – I'm probably more of a Ray Stantz – but it doesn't hurt to dream.

Watch this as well?: Definitely the original Ghostbusters, which Murray absolutely steals. One of the animated shows that came about from it, The Real Ghostbusters, has several entertaining and interesting episodes, although most of those came before Dave Coulier replaced Lorenzo Music as Venkman.

No electricity left in this boogaloo

Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller and Penelope Cruz do stuff in "Zoolander 2." Image courtesy Paramount Pictures.

I can see why Ben Stiller would want to revisit his Zoolander character, even after a 15-year break. Derek Zoolander fits right within his acting wheelhouse (Stiller can play three things: stupid, nebbishy, and macho) and the universe the character exists in is bound by the thinnest threads of reality. Strangely though, he doesn’t seem to have much more to say in “Zoolander 2,” aside from some trite themes about fatherhood and getting Sting some work. Otherwise the jokes are remarkably similar to the original, although they lack the whimsy and the charm of the first version.

Since the last film left off, former fashion model Zoolander (Stiller) has gone from the top of the fashion world to a self-proclaimed “hermit crab.” His wife Matilda (Christine Taylor) died when the school Stiller fought to build collapses (it's seemingly his fault for the incident too), and he also lost his son thanks to his utter incompetence as a parent. Best friend Hansel (Owen Wilson) has had his fair share of hard times too: the building accident left him scarred, and he now resides in a desert along with his beloved orgy. That situation falls apart too after the members (including Kiefer Sutherland) inform Wilson they are pregnant. Wilson, as many a man does in movies, runs away from his impending fatherhood, citing his own lack of a father figure growing up.

Fate (or Billy Zane) has other plans for the retired models though. Top designer Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig looking like Donna Versace) recruits them to rejoin the fashion world at a show in Rome, where they encounter Valentina (Penelope Cruz), an Interpol agent working a rather odd case involving dead musicians (Justin Bieber included) and Stiller's modeling past. Also residing in a Rome orphanage is Stiller's son Derek Jr. (Cyrus Arnold), a whip-smart boy with a pretty strong hatred of his father. Everything just seems too convenient for Cruz's liking, and the easy circumstances could be linked to evil designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell), who has spent about a decade looked away in a fashion prison. Shenanigans involving fashion, celebrities, tiny cellphones, fat jokes and lava ensue.

“Zoolander 2” aims to amplify the first film, simply adding more to the quirky little flick that preceded it. More violence, more celebrity cameos, more exotic locations, more ennui, more everything except Ferrell (the movie offers less of him). More isn't necessarily better though, especially when it interferes with the plot machinations and, in the case of the bloody Bieber murder emphasized in trailers, doesn't offer that much in the way of laughs. Momentum frequently comes to a full stop to insert a celebrity into the proceedings, a problem the original avoided by having those moments heighten the film’s surreality, like during David Bowie’s (RIP) walk off appearance. “Zoolander 2” often throws them in for the sake of showcasing Stiller's Rolodex.

“Zoolander 2” is just off, relying too much on Cruz to provide humor (she tries, but just doesn’t fit in the “Zoolander” universe) but keeping pros like Wiig and Ferrell closer to the sidelines. The success of the film, then, depends on the performances of Stiller and Wilson, neither of whom plays a character who is really all that likable; like Harry and Lloyd in “Dumb and Dumber,” their models come across as aggressively stupid. The same problem arose in the first film, although Stiller used Ferrell and Taylor (and the cameos) as buffers to make Zoolander and Hansel look more approachable. Left mostly alone and their artificiality and banality come to the surface, and the film just shambles forward through the first two acts.

What saves the third act is the arrival of Ferrell's Mugatu, who injects a bit of the original's endearing oddness to things. He's such a weird character, so evil and childish and disdainful of his profession because he's the only one who realizes how insipid fashion really is, which makes him fit perfectly into the slightly off world Stiller built for his Zoolander. Most of the best lines of the film come from Ferrell's lack of respect for those around him (he also gets the one good joke about Bieber's death); that “Zoolander 2” falls apart once he leaves the screen is less than surprising and reinforces the idea that one really fun film was more than enough. “Zoolander” certainly didn't need a derivative slog as a followup.

Review: Two out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: PG-13

Run time: 102 minutes (One hour and 42 minutes)

Genre: Comedy

Ask Away

Target audience: People who remember the first one with some fondness.

Take the whole family?: The humor is puerile enough to appeal to viewers a hint younger than 13, although the graphic language will turn off parents.

Theater or Netflix?: Definitely Netflix if one must.

Is there an issue with Benedict Cumberbatch's model?: I didn't mention him in the review because he appears in the film for all of a minute, but Cumberbatch's character All is problematic. The actor does what he can; it’s the nature of the character as shown by Ben Stiller and his fellow writers is meant for mockery. They treat All like a freak show, a thing that is meant to make people say “ewww,” especially the two lead characters.

Watch this instead?: Rent the first “Zoolander” if you haven't seen it already. A bit of a bust at the time (it came out a little more than two weeks after 9/11), it has very much earned the cult following its endeared due in large part to Will Ferrell's performance as Mugatu and, of course, David Bowie.