*Review* How to Train Your Dragon 2

How To Train Your Dragon 2

       In a Pixarless summer How to train your dragon 2 should be the hottest animated movie to come out this year but while its predecessor was a fantastic film all on its own did it really warrant a sequel? In my opinion, no since the first film wrapped itself up perfectly with really no need to revisit the world but we went ahead anyway so let’s find out how it stacks up for a sequel.

        How to train your dragon 2 brings back all our favorites just not for very long.  5 years have passed and our daring teenage hero hiccup is now a young man of 20 trying to find his place in the world. Unfortunately his father stoic has already planned out his life for him by pushing him to become chief of  Berk. Hiccup being the free spirit he is, is uncomfortable with the idea and grouses to his now girlfriend Astrid.  The couple takes off to go exploring only to end up being captured by a dragon hunter who works for Drago Bludvistt.  Hiccup learns that Drago is raising a dragon army and sets out on an adventure to talk to Drago about how dragons are friends and not tools for war.

        The Good:  How to Train Your Dragon 2’s visuals are absolutely stunning.  In just plain 2d I felt completely immersed in this colorful world of dragons and Vikings which makes me believe that an IMAX 3D experience must have been stunning.  The dragons themselves are also impressive; each species has its own unique design that still fits in with the overall art style of the film. Even many of the dragons within the same species had their own specific flair or markings that separated them from other dragons, which is a truly commendable attention to detail.  Character was another strong element of How to Train Your Dragon 2 since the film kept all of its charm and lovability of its predecessor even with a more crammed plot.  I was pleased to see that our cast, despite less screen time for some, still managed to stand out as the strong and endearing characters they were from the first film.  This sequel continues the trend of fun loving charm and high flying adventure that made the first film so successful and that certainly helps smooth out some of the movies rough edges.

 

       The Bad:  While the film was fun and charming it also tripped over itself in more places than one.   Unless you've been under a rock or taping your eyes shut from every bit of promotional material there is then it’s obvious that were all aware that Hiccups finds his mother.  This in itself is not a bad thing, but coupled with the plot of Drago and his dragon army it creates more plot points then the film needed ultimately  overcrowding the story to the point of determent.  The film had enough time to properly examine one story point Hiccups mother or Drago, but since director Dean DeBlois decided to include both neither story gets the time it deserves or the resolution we wanted.  Everything just snowballs into the climax of the film which simply devolves into a “my dragon is better than your dragon brawl” that lacked the weight or emotion it should have had.  

      Conclusion: How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a fun and engaging film for the kiddies and even offers some mature moments but Unfortunately while the dragons were nice eye candy the entire film suffered from too many plot threads that robbed the movie of any real sense of weight or substance when it had the potential to be so much more.

*Spoiler Corner * (or at least till come up with a better name for this section)

. Drago Bludvistt was a boring bad guy. He had no real personality to speak of, other than just a big angry Viking that shouts a lot.   I mean maybe if he was the dragon born or something I might swallow that he has some special power over dragons, but just being an angry Viking who can take down kaiju sized dragons because he’s just that mean?  Not so much.

.  The film spends a huge amount of time talking about whether or not people can change but in the end it kind of just sweeps the issue under the rug without ever addressing who was right. Was Hiccup right? His parents? Or maybe even both?  Regardless of who you think was right Hiccup certainly doesn’t learn anything from this encounter other then you need to have the biggest baddest dragon around to basically be the dragon king.

. Toothless’s new Godzilla blast is pretty freakin awesome I look forward to more of it.

. I don’t really like that we killed Stoic only to immediately replace him with Hiccups mother. If we were going to take away Hiccups “wise counselor” figure why just replace him with another one?  Maybe the sequel will show that she can’t lead Hiccup in the same way as his father, but it still feels a little like cheating your story.

. I don’t think this sequel was necessary but now that we’ve done it I want to see hiccup reach full adulthood in one of these movies. 

Comic Roundup for June 18th

Hey there Comic fanatics! Here’s the latest roundup of my read list for June 18^th.  Heads up for faithful followers that there will not be a roundup for this week, but I’ll probably have something else for you.  As always be on the lookout for wild spoilers.

Original sin #04

5/5

I can’t even give a description for this comic without spoiling it.  Suffice it to say this thing has it all and keeps getting crazier, secrets, lies, misdirection Frank Castle pawning the Hulk. for the first time I really feel like the Marvel universe has been tipped on its side. If you’re not reading original sin go get it it’s fantastic.

Nova #18

5/5

Nova faces off against the Watchers alleged killers but finds out a secret that rocks his world.  Finally! A secret that’s actually something big!  A lot of people have been hard on the new Nova comic but I've rather enjoyed it. Sam Alexander has truly grown on me as the new Nova, even if I’m still mad that they haven’t told us what happened to Richard Rider.  This issue was a good reminder of how much of a kid Sam still is and how loss affects him more than others.

Avengers #31

3/5

The avengers continue their trip through time only to find it’s not what they expected.  It’s a little more interesting then it has been but it’s still rather pointless.  I’m not really sure what this comic is trying to accomplish but I just left Age of Ultron I don’t need to revisit it.

Iron Man #28

2/5

Iron man finishes of the 10 rings of the Mandarin and deals with the aftermath.  While there are story elements that occur in this issue it’s hardly anything worth picking up.  If you like iron man it’s ok but It’s probably best to jump in on the next issue when we start a new story arc.

Thor god of thunders #23

5/5

Thor launch in a final fight against Roxxon and Ulik the troll king also old Thor lays the smack down on Galactus.  Yeah! Now that’s a Thor comic! Watching the god of thunder beat the tar out of all his enemies while uttering some of his best lines in ages is what makes reading comics so much fun.

Punisher #07

5/5

Frank Castle seeks treatment for his wounds but ends up in the hands of a South American cartel.  Yes, more of this. Punisher is just completely BA in here kicking butt and taking names this continues to be a great run for the punisher. Lesson to be learned here is don’t try and think your better then the Punisher, your not.

Silver surfer #03

4/5

The Surfer and Dawn try and return the heart of the Never Queen.  More fun than I expected. The art style was a little off putting to me at first but the comic is a lot of fun even if it at times it seems a little paint by numbers.

Uncanny x-men #22

4/5          

S.H.E.I.L.D  vs. the X-men, nuff said.    Hellicarriers, sentinels, mutants, Mystique everything you can squeeze into a single x-men comic with plenty of serious fallout for both sides.  

X-Men #15

3/5

The Future has finally come to take away baby Shogo but the X-Men aren't giving him up without a fight.  Bad man is coming to steal jubilees baby, this is a hilariously chick plot for a team of all female X-men but that doesn't mean it’s not entertaining but if you’re not interested in any of the current members of this team then I’d just give this a skip.  I will admit though I love all the stuff we've tacked on to Jubilee to try and make her relevant again we had to make her a vampire ,a single mom and an x-men for anyone to take notice but it’s worked and I really enjoy her story.

Wolverine and the x-men #05

3/5

Trusty John fights with the students of Jean Grey School of Learning while Quentin quire goes to the source.  X-men fighting against the future seems to be a rather common problem these days.  The cast is fun to read and I enjoyed watching wolverine and Cyclops getting along for a little bit but the story itself is just feels as if it’s a rehash of other X stories.

Batman and Ras Al ghul #32

4/5

Batman has teamed up with Frankenstein to stop Ra’s from resurrecting Robin in a corrupted Lazarus pit.   I-I don’t understand.  This is like a pre new 52 comic back when batman and everyone were fun to read. I don’t know how to process this …annnd new 52 Apokolpis, mood killed.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #32

4/5

An Oan has been abducted so carol Ferris and the other Oans go to find him.  This was actually pretty good in a dark sort of way. Very alien body horror kind of motif which made it kind of cool and different

Super girl #32

3/5

Super girl fights the World Killer who wants to take over her body. Standard punch em up fair as supergirl just beats on the World Killer and angst about being kicked out of the red lanterns.

Wonder Woman

3/5

The Firstborn has taken over hell and now is bringing his war to life with only wonder woman standing between him and his goals.   Wonder Woman is still cool, but her story has been lacking ever since she become the literal daughter of zeus. They have gotten more convoluted and complicated than ever before and half the time I find myself not understanding what’s happening or simply not caring.

Fables

4/5

The stage is being set and Fables begins its march into its final story.   If you’re just now picking up fables, stop it. Go back to issue one and read it properly you’ll thank yourself for it. For those of you who do read Fables well this issue is pretty much all set up with lots of exposition, still a great issue just hasn't gotten to the meat of the new story yet.

Comic reviews for the week of June 11

Ok here we are again, time to review some comics! Kind of a mediocre week with a few surprises, many of the stories seem to be just starting to get underway with new arcs so not a lot is happening.  As always be wary of minor spoilers as they hide themselves in the thicket of words.  

Detective comics # 32

3/5

Batman traces the new drug Icarus back to a man named the squid’s base of operations.   I enjoyed batman in this issue doing very batman things, but I did not like that we turned bullock into a proverbial cat lady when he’s supposed to be this hardboiled detective.   The issue is fun and Batman gets to fight a giant squid but it’s hardly a landmark bat tale.

Batgirl #32

3/5

The start of batgirl’s new arc Deadline begins here. Batgirl’s been dealing with a lot lately, with her father in prison and the mysterious Knightfall who is always one step ahead of our heroin Barbra Gordon has finally had enough and is  ready to take back her life.    Batgirl despite a lot of melodrama and the fact that we put Barbra Gordon back in the bat suit is actually a pretty good read.  Barbra is very well developed as real person and not just a pair of fists and seeing her ready to march off to war is interesting.  On the down side there is a lot of melodrama going on behind the scenes and it can be a bit tedious not to mention there almost no recap of who Knightfall is or why Gordon is in jail which can be frustrating to new readers.

Green Lantern corps: # 32

4/5

John Stewart arrives on Daxam to warn its people of an oncoming Durlan invasion but things are not always as they seem.    Story wise this issue is rather good. The stakes are raised and the lanterns gain a fighting chance through the sacrifice of one of their own.  I appreciated that the upgraded Durlan detector on the rings was not just another bit of throw away plot convenience science like reed Richards’s Skrull detecting gun but came through real sacrifice.  Unfortunately the art is rather off putting as it feels a bit muted in color and muddied in design  so its certainly not my favorite comic art. Plus Some the dialogue is a little cheesy and doesn't really convey  the intended effect.

Superman/wonder woman #09

2/4

Doomsday Superman, who I refuse to call super doom or any other stupid nickname D.C tries to sell me, still lives and the kryptonite bomb has only made the doomsday infection spread faster so Wonder Woman sends a friend into help but things only get more complicated.   I can’t really say this issue was bad because I was laughing so hard at how stupid it was that I rather enjoyed reading it.  From the ridicules armor WW’s friend wears all the way to superman arguing with his doomsday self this was such a stupid issue.  On the plus side Doomsday superman was some nice eye candy and having the red lanterns just show up out of the blue was fun if not pointless and now  I’m waiting to see if the rest of this series just ends up being Were-Doomsday's crazy adventure in space.

Original Sins #01

1/5

A collection of shorts stories featuring Death lock, Young Avengers and Lockjaw.  See it says sins not sin so we just tricked all of you into spending money for an Ad.  Original sins is simply an ongoing series that advertises other series that marvel is planning on releasing, that said Deathlock does look pretty cool.

All new invaders #06

3/5

Jim Hammond the original Human Torch from World War II recalls the events of his confrontation with the Japanese super heroin Supreme Radiant Friend.   It’s that time again; when I start reading comics I normally had no interest in because of the main marvel crossover event.  This issue is a very easy jump on point so I had no trouble coming in and I must admit I like the Super Radiant Friend character and that it actually tied into original sin. Other then that I don’t really see anything special about this issue since I’m not all that invested in the characters.

Mighty avengers # 11

4/5
Luke cage discovers a startling secret about his father and learns that the groups known as death walkers have been around longer then he suspected.   A fine issue that is an interesting read learning the history of cages father is kind of cool and looks like it would have made a fine story all on its one but I suppose I was expecting a little bit more from the secret. I don’t know I was hoping for some really crazy stuff but I feel lately all the “sins” have been a little bit mild for being “sins”.

New Avengers # 19

5/5

The new Incursion as arrived and the Avengers must make the most difficult decision of their lives to kill their world or murder another.   I really did not believe I would ever be giving the new run of New Avengers a 5 but they certainly got their act together with this issue.  For the last 3 years or so the avengers have been dealing with the consistent threat of various encroaching universes that threaten to destroy their own. This long running story has been in a word annoying since the concept has been very metaphysical and complicated to the point of becoming rather uninteresting to read. In this issue however we finally get to the meat of the issue and I really enjoyed watching the moral struggle of our heroes as they decide whether they should sacrifice their own world or murder another. Oh, and Marvel is definitely not parodying the Justice league, nope, not at all.

Avengers undercover # 05

4/5

The survivors of the murder games are shown around Baron Zemo’s organization and come to a decision on whether to join or not.   A fun comic read with a lot of nice eye candy art wise and all the teen superheroes you've never of.  However it’s not newcomer friendly and most people will be confused by all the back story involved with the characters.  Also the comic  involves a panel of baron Zemo munching on toast, which is either funny or stupid but it’s hard to say which.

Deadpool # 30

2/5

Deadpool recruits dazzler from the past to help him fight vampires and agent Preston finds a lead on Deadpool’s daughter.   A very meh issue, some laughs here and there and finding deadpool’s daughter is sort of a big deal but I really didn't care about her to begin with. Using dazzler a weapon against vampires is pretty funny though. 

Captain marvel # 04

1/5

Captain marvel tries to find out how to make herself useful to the people of Torfa.  The issue was Dull and tedious spending far too much time on alien politics that will cease to be important after 3 issues. Captain Marvel is still entertaining to read though  and her journey is one I still want to follow but this issue just dragged on to complete pointlessness.

All New x-men #28

4/5

The Future Brotherhood makes another attempt on the x-men to try and destroy their legacy.  This issue is an easy and interesting to read with art that’s easy on the eyes.  The story is still dealing with the continues ripples from the Battle of the atom arc  which while interesting  needs probably needs to move on to something new.

Uncanny X-men Special #1

2/5

Cyclops is kidnapped by intergalactic bounty hunter deaths head so the Uncanny X-Men must try and find a way to save him.   It’s a fun issue and I’ll keep reading it but if you haven’t been keeping up with comics it’s kind of pointless to read this one as it really isn’t all that interesting unless you’re familiar with all the characters.  Plus the art is a little weird considering I couldn’t even tell if it was death head or not.

Wolverine # 08

4/5

Wolverine arrives on an island where no one is allowed to die and must confront his own moralty.  Its wolverine so if you like him you’ll like his comic.  Though his one is more character focused then action focused so be ready for more exposition then action but not so much that it bogs the title down.

Night crawler #03

4/5

Nightcrawler Amanda and --- fight back against the Trimega then seek sanctuary with the x-men.  If Nightcrawler isn't your thing then obviously this book doesn't really offer anything special, but since Night crawler is the best X-Man I don’t know why you would think that.   Nightcrawler really carries the issue being a strong lead that kind overshadows some more glaring history gaps that anyone new coming in wont understand.

Hulk #04

3/5

Hulk beats abomination and tony stark risks experimental surgery to restore is brain.  This is mostly been mostly a story set up issue/arc  as the real story is in who shot Bruce banner and what is extremis going to do to him. If you like the hulk then you’ll enjoy watching him wail on zombie abomination but story wise it’s all just groundwork no real meat.

Figment # 1

3/5

Blair Mercurial is working on a machine to harness the energy of the brain but ends up with some bizarre aftereffects.  That was weird. We’re starting to see the mighty arm of Disney finally reach into marvel comics in a big way and the product is rather odd. I don’t know how to express the strange concept of making a serious comic book off of Disney figment mascot.   It was a bizarre experience since it was better than I was anticipating but the more, for lack of a better word, mature backdrop is a little off-putting.  While I like the idea of trying to make the comic more universal instead of age specific it didn't quite make its mark as it wasn't very well paced nor were the characters reactions to things very believable.   I would recommend picking it up if you have nostalgia for the little purple dragon otherwise it’s probably ok to leave this one.

D.C and Independent comic reviews for the week of June 4th

Alright here's the D.C  and one Boom Studios Round Up  enjoy!

Swamp thing #32

4/5

Swamp Thing ventures to the deep oceans to deal with an alga monster that has separated itself from the Green.   Swamp Thing is certainly one of the better comics coming out of D.C these days and this issue continues that trend, but while it’s good it’s also a simpler story with some bigger story elements playing throughout. It’s important to note that this issue is an excellent jumping on point to the series for anyone who wanted to start.  Heh,  Algae monsterJ.

Action Comic’s#32

1/5

Superman continues to turn more and more into doomsday forcing General Lane to send John Corbon a.k.a Metallo to destroy him.   I’ll be honest It’s hard to be objective about Superman. I haven’t liked a single thing they’ve done to him since the new 52 started, and making him a Weredoomsday is not helping me warm up to their style of storytelling.  If you never liked superman and want to see a radically different take pick these up and decide for yourself, but if you’re like me and you like your superman traditional I would give these a pass.

Detective comics#31

3/5

Harvey Bullock tracks down the source of a new drug called icarus while Batman conducts his own investigation of icarus.  Batman’s a roller coaster some are good others terrible this one is happy medium leaning towards better.  There is a lot of exposition that while interesting is not always entertaining and can cause the reader lose interest too quickly.  Thankfully there is almost no sign of new 52 influences as the writing shows intelligence and respect for the history of who batman and his sub cast are.

Green Lantern#32

4/5

The Durlans plans begin to unfurl as they betray their allies and seek to become the ultimate beings in the universe.  This was actually surprisingly entertaining since green lantern has been rather mediocre since Geoff johns left.  I really enjoyed watching the bad guy’s turning on each other then go to the lanterns for help.  The stakes have been raised and it was nice to see everyone stop whining about depleting the emotional reservoir for an issue.  Also watching a Durlan explode was kind of awesome!

Green Arrow#32

3/4

Green Arrow is back in Star City only to find it and his friend john diggle in the control of his enemy Richard Dragon.  Wow! Ok so I left arrow way in issue one because I wasn’t on bored with the direction it was going. I now come back only to find that they basically just put the arrow t.v show into comic form despite already having an “arrow” comic book.  This leaves me with mixed feelings because I like Arrow but I really don’t want it interfering with my Green Arrow comic books. 

The woods#02

5/5

An ordinary High School is transported to an alien world forcing its students and faculty figure out a way to survive.   This has been fantastically entertaining sci-fi craziness.  I always love displacement story lines where unlikely people are forced to work together for a common cause.  The monsters are a ton of fun to look at and the characters are very easy to get into.  I am excited to see were this story goes and look forward to more alien monsters.

Marvel Comic Reviews for week for June 4th

Going to try and do weekly comic reviews of all the books that are on my current reading list. So here is the Marvel Round up session look for D.C and independents early this week. Reviews reflect the single issue and not necessarily the entire arc also beware of minor spoilers in the review sections they tend to jump out and bite unsuspecting readers.

Rating System:

1: Bad don’t pick up.

2: If you like the title character it’s an ok read but it’s just as easily skipped.

3: Average or a bit above average for a comic its fun but not a must read.

4: A great read tons of fun definitely worth reading.

5: Fantastic writing and characterization a must read!

Original Sin #03

4/5

The Orb has unleashed his bomb full of secrets while the rest of the marvel U searches for a cosmic serial killer.   Crazy stuff!  I can’t wait to find out what all the secrets are and how this is going to affect our heroes.  Thor has a sister? Bucky’s gone Psycho! And dang! I guess this is how we’re going to push Nick Fury Jr.  into his father’s place as the marvel universes primary super spy.  I am thoroughly enjoying Original sin hopefully we can keep up the pace and not fizzle out this time like Marvels so notorious for doing.

Loki agent of Asgard#05

2/5

Loki and Lorelei break in to an Asgard prison to free Sigurd but Loki has another prisoner he wants to meet.  Loki has been a confusing character ever since he murdered himself, if that sentence doesn’t put things in perspective I don’t know what will,  and this issue just compounds the which Loki is which issue. However I always enjoy Loki no matter what role he’s playing so that alone make it worth my time.

Miss Marvel#04

5/5

After recovering from a gunshot wound Kamala goes to rescues her best friend’s brother.  I’ve actually been loving the Miss Marvel run far more than I thought I would. Anytime I hear that a comic has a “new and innovative superhero” I roll my eyes a bit; doubly so when I find out that hero reflects a certain “minority” group. Since it always feels like another publicity stunt.  But this series has been engaging and creative with interesting characters an ethnic hero that relies on story and character to drive its sales and not just the ethnicity of the hero. 

                                                              

The Punisher#06

4/5

Punisher finishes his fight with Electro and is perused by the mysterious Howling Commandos.  Great issue! Loved seeing punisher beat the crap out of electro, even if domino got in the way. I enjoy that the current team really help you feel an excellent amount of tension as these new Howling Commandos hunt frank with the utmost efficiency.

Cyclops #02

3/5

Scott continues his space Adventures as corsair makes a stop to pick up an important item.   Fun read I love space Adventures so I have a lot of fun with this title but it’s not anything ground breaking or especially interesting.  Skrulls? Aren’t they like an endangered species now? After having Galactus eat their home world, completely botching a secret invasion of earth and casualties from at least four different wars how on earth do they still have troops to spare …oh they were fake Skrulls ,… Never mind, carry on then.

Miles moral Ultimate Spider-Man#02

5/5

Peter Parker is back from the dead though Miles has suspicions that he may be a clone.

Nothing much happens action wise in the issue but the strong character driven actions of Miles makes for a very good read. I am rather disappointed that the Green Goblin is still alive and Peter is still dead, unless of course this new peter is the real one and not another clone, since I feel it cheapens the death of Peter Parker.

Amazing X-Men#08

4/5

Wolverine pays a visit to an old friend only to find something truly terrifying has occurred in the nearby town.  A solid issue even if the opening was a bit dark even for x-men.  Writers did a good job setting up the threat and “oh my stars and garters “that’s a lot of Wendigos. Wolverine without his healing powers vs. an army of hulk like monsters should be quite the interesting fight.

Amazing X-Men Annual #01

1/5

Storm goes to Africa to rescues her cousin from a new inhuman villain.  Annuals usually aren’t very good and this one is no exception.  Everyone but storm is simply a talking head and storm herself while showcased hardly feels like a strong an developed character she should be.  There is also really no reason why she is so much stronger then her foe other than that she’s the main character. That art is rather unpleasant to look at as are the character designs, especially beast who’s sporting some kind of weird spiky hair style.

Captain America # 21

5/5

Stunning conclusion to caps fight with the Iron Nail! Wow! This is what comic books are all about strong story, strong characters, giant robots, dragon armor, political intrigue and things exploding what more can anyone want?

Iron man #27

2/5

Iron man enlists the help a journalist to track down the Mandarins and launch a final assault on there base. I've dislike the whole premise of the sentient mandarin rings, that now act like Green Lantern rings for Supervillen’s. it’s kind of a cheap half thought out plot line that just comes across as lame.  Not to mention the obvious twist of Peppers new boyfriend/fiance is really a bad guy, saw that coming the minute they got serious.  But despite all that the comic is still an ok read and if you like Iron Man you’ll still have fun it’s just not a story premise I’m fond of.