How To Train Your Dragon
Hiccup wants to be a Dragon hunter just like his Dad. However, his poor body strength and clumsiness gets him into into constant trouble with the monsters that stalk his land. Then one day he accidentally captures a rare and greatly feared Night Fury; a dragon no one has ever seen in the flesh before. Instead of trumpeting his capture, the two slowly form a strong friendship together. Can Hiccup keep his Dragon a secret and will his Father find out? The secret of "How To Train Your Dragon" is not its excellent 3D, as it has been sold on. It is its storyline. Brought to life by the acting talents of its cast, the film becomes ever more moving as it goes on. At its center, the Dragon 'Toothless' is a great creation and is very well realised by the animators. It is this relationship at the the heart of it all that drives the film. That it also has some eye popping action scenes and inspired use of 3D adds to the proceedings. Its animation is often fluidly done and all character design is fantastic. While I have yet to see "Toy Story 3" it will have a lot of work to do to beat this gem from Dreamworks, which shows Pixar, there is still plenty of competition on its back. A solid treat for everyone to enjoy.
Verdict: 80%
MacGruber
Upon the announcement that they were turning the 30 second 'MacGruber' sketches from SNL into a full length feature many scoffed. How could a sketch, so resolutely one note manage to sustain an entire feature running time? I myself had quiet high hopes, considering I am a fan of not only star Will Forte, but also its Director and co-writer, Jorma Taccone. I knew these were men who could bring the funny. I stayed quietly optimistic that while there hadn't been a decent film from a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch in quite some while, these men would finally break the curse. So it is a relief then, that for the most part, the film manages to escape its one note origins to deliver an incredibly smutty and crude lampoon of action films. Forte delivers some funny one liners as the oblivious title character and he is very ably supported by the 'funniest woman working today' Kristin Wiig, and Ryan Phillippe as the straight man to MacGrubers bumbling incompetance. Val Kilmer turns up as our hero's arch nemesis 'Cunth' (much fun of which you can imagine, is derived from his name). The problem is that the film is incredibly silly and rarely offers you more than constant snickers throughout. When I was expecting constant belly laughs, it is a slight disappointment. The cast all do great work, and Director Taccone shows surprising flair behind the camera, but it is just not enough. Its scatalogical jokes wear thin come the end and it isn't memorable in all the ways it should. However those of you expecting very little will find there are plenty of laughs to be had, and any film offering the 'least erotic sex scene' in all of cinema history cannot be all bad. One to rent.
Verdict 54%
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