Movie Review: How to train your dragon (not in 3D)

On Sunday, me and Ariel spontaneously decided to book and catch the dragon movie; How to train your dragon. It was quite last minute and weird being able to book the tickets online at Cineleisure about 2 hours before the movie. Though, I’m very much thankful for it. πŸ™‚

Being an animated film, DreamWorks brought the best out of this movie. With much thanks also to the great designers, animators and actors/actresses who lent their voices.

I was seriously impressed by the character designs. They were very detailed down to the tooth and the dragons were very well thought about. It would be really cool to find out what inspired the final designs of the dragon characters. Because I don’t think it’s the actors/actresses.

I did read in the comments of the YouTube video below, a dragon was designed similar to Stitch from Lilo & Stitch because it’s the same director.

It didn’t have a Disney ending

Disney prefers to keep their movies very happily ever after. Well, this movie doesn’t really follow it. Your kids might be a little shocked, but truth be told, it’ll be like a reality lesson. But if you’re not a kid, you’ll seriously enjoy this entertaining movie about dragons.

I know I did. πŸ˜›

Would I rewatch the movie?

That’s a yes from me. Though I’m still pondering if I should check out the 3D version of it. So if you do watch it in 3D, please let me know and tell me why you liked it in 3D. πŸ™‚

Movie Review: The Hurt Locker

I’m not a war movie buff, and that goes even for the TV series; Band of Brothers. The last war movie I watched was either about history or strategy. For example; Red Cliff. The Chinese seem to make strategic battles very charismatic as compared to many other Hollywood war movies.

I’d consider The Hurt Locker a documentary drama about the soldiers in the Iraq war. Specifically, the squad which handles bombing inspections and defusing. This story is about their life and how these life-threatening instances change them.

The camera handling was a little shaky but I guess that gave it the documentary feel. Including the inconsistent zooming parts during the movie.

Ladies may not enjoy this movie

Because most of the story was very male oriented. A quick share with a tiny spoiler is, you’ll find them beating themselves up to see who’s tougher.

Now that I think about it, I noticed there weren’t any female characters as soldiers in this movie too. This may have been done on purpose but I wouldn’t know.

End said, now I felt why this movie won Best Film in the Academy Awards and not Avatar. Check out the trailer if you haven’t.

Would I watch it again?

I’m going to pass this. Simply because as I mentioned earlier, I’m not a war movie buff. πŸ™‚

Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland

You’ve to be mad as a hatter, he said. How I’ve missed this line and it came back to life with Johnny Depp. In my childhood, it was classical Disney films from Pete’s Dragon and more.

mad hatter

Hello Wonderland

Reliving the tale foretold in a new generation put a new twist to its origin. Not to mention, it had a tinge of maturity in this new Alice. The environment to me was nothing to scream about but I loved the art direction. It was very well pulled off, keeping its original essence.

And indeed, you’ve to be mad as a hatter before watching this movie.Β Meaning, I’d recommend you watch the original Disney cartoon before watching the movie. You’ll enjoy it more and relate to it better.

alice cartoon

The movie kept the more memorable moments from its history. That’s why I was saying you should watch the original cartoon. One of these moments was the smiling and disappearing Cheshire cat in the sky. Or, the red queen and her croquet stick.

Nonetheless, big thank you to Tim Burton in bringing this back to life. Modernizing the Disney story to young geeky kids today was a great idea. πŸ™‚

Would I watch it again?

I’ve to say, no. Like the original fairy tale, the story is meant to be told and leave a memory. It’s left a sweet memory with me and kudos to Tim Burton on a job well done.

Would it be worth watching in 3D?

I’ve to say, I don’t have the slightest clue. I enjoyed the normal viewing already. Though my friends think there’ll definitely be an advantage with all the renders from the storming red knights to the fugly black creature.

Movie Review: Book of Eli

I will NEVER EVER read a Wikipedia page on a movie, EVER AGAIN!

I wanted to find out if the movie storyline was derived from a myth or history. Unfortunately, I spoiled the surprise for myself – I read the plot of the movie. So I had no more surprises. πŸ™

Watch it with an open mind

The choreography of the fight scenes was nothing to shout about. For some reason, I still found it slow with not enough impact. Maybe I’ve been watching too many kung-fu movies.

It’s a movie you need to watch with an open mind and heart to enjoy. I can’t mention even a slightest clue because if I did, it’ll spoil the subject of the story already.

However, I would say I really liked how this movie has interpreted its message and core of the subject. It relates itself in the movie without harming others – mentally.

So here I’d ask, what would you do if an apocalyptic event occurred and you survived?

Is it worth watching again?

Yes, twice only for me. Because you can only read a book so many times before you already memorize it. πŸ™‚

Movie Review: Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

I definitely had no expectations of Percy Jackson but me and Ariel just needed a movie to calm our thoughts. It’s been a great Chinese New Year and this movie was simpler said, entertaining.

Diving in and Hit it!

The plot started of okay but it got a little boring from the middle to the end. However, I seriously found the Computer Generated (CG) effects in the movie commendable. I really felt they did very well in creating the centaur and blending the daylight. Most of the time, we only see them in the dark night. Easier to not notice any imperfections. πŸ˜›

The story is great for a kid who loves to imagine they were superman. This creates another imaginary character for them to be submersed. A person who’s father is the God of the Sea and has the ability to control water. Coolness!

There were some bumps in the story I felt wasn’t told properly or enough. But I’ll leave that to you to find out later.

Is it worth rewatching?

Well, I’d skip to the interesting parts. Overall, maybe after a long time. Definite answer, I guess no. Sorry Percy.

However, I think it’s cool when my friend said it’s suppose to be revolving the story of Perseus.