The Road to El Dorado Review

Synopsis
Miguel (Kenneth Branagh (voice)) and Tuilo (Kevin Kline (voice)) are two Spanish con artists who end up finding their way to El Dorado, the hidden City of Gold.  When they arrive, High Priest Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante (voice)) and the Chief (Edward James Olmos (voice)) mistake them for gods. With the help of Chel (Rosie Perez (voice)), they play the part until they can get out of the city with as much gold as they can.

Review
I don’t know what it is about The Road to El Dorado, but I always have a good time watching it. I think part of it may be the two main characters, Miguel and Tulio. They seem more like the goofy sidekick characters than the main characters. Tulio is the level-headed one, always trying to do the smart thing in a given situation and Miguel is the care-free adventurous one. Together they go through all the antics you would expect them to. Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh are excellent in their roles. I wasn’t sure about Branagh at first, but he grew on me as the film went on.

It can be hard to have an animated film that works as a comedy, but The Road to El Dorado manages to pull it off. This stems from Kline and Branagh. They bounce off each other so well. When they recorded their lines, Kline and Branagh recorded together, which is probably the main reason they work so well. Numerous jokes may go over a younger viewer’s head; it feels many of them are geared towards adults. Crude jokes are right up my alley so I think added to my enjoyment.

Armand Assante absolutely kills it as the villainous Tzekel-Kan. His voice is exactly what I imagine that kind of character sounding like. It was fun to watch him compete with the Chief, voiced by Battlestar Galactica’s Edward James Olmos. Olmos has a deep voice that fit with the Chief’s large stature. I haven’t gotten to Rosie Perez as Chel. She brings a sexy spunk to her character that not many animated characters possess.

Elton John, Tim Rice, and Hans Zimmer, the team responsible for the fantastic music from The Lion King, reunites for The Road to El Dorado. However, their music isn’t as memorable this time around. It’s hard to compete with what they did in The Lion King, where every song was memorable (I bet you could recite any one of them right now). In this movie, they weren’t as memorable. My favorites were “It’s tough to Be a God” and “Out of the Blue” but they don’t stick with you the same way as “I Just Can’t wait to be King” or “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” do.

The Road to El Dorado may not be up towards everyone’s tastes, but it does have its qualities. The voice cast fit perfectly to their characters. If the adult humor wasn’t as prevalent, I would still have liked this movie, but its crudeness pushes it into the next level for me. Despite the same musical team as The Lion King working on this film, the score doesn’t have the same memorable qualities. Some aspects of The Road to El Dorado fall short, but for the most part, this movie works.

Rating
3.5/5

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Eric ‘Bibo’ Bergeron – Director
Don Paul – Director
Terry Rossio – Screenplay
Ted Elliot – Screenplay

Kevin Kline – Tulio (voice)
Kenneth Branagh – Miguel (voice)
Rosie Perez – Chel (voice)
Armand Assante – Tzekel-Kan (voice)
Edward James Olmos – Chief (voice)
Jim Cummings – Cortes (voice)
Frank Welker – Altivo (voice)
Robin Bell – Zaragoza (voice)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Trailer #2

Official Synopsis: It’s been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

The more I see of this movie, the more excited I get.  How to Train Your Dragon 2‘s other full trailer focuses on Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless and the dragons that occupy Burk.  This one shifts the focus to his mother and her dragons.  You can never go wrong with dragons, so it will be cool to see the original varieties along side those introduced in the sequel, especially the large ice dragon.  Like I mentioned about the other trailer, as far as the humor is concerned, so far so good – “I’ll bloody my face with his fist if he tries to take my dragon.” Drago is still not seen very much, which is good because it keeps the mystery around him.  And come on, Hiccup has a fire sword!  This summer has plenty of movies I can’t wait to see and How to Train Your Dragon 2 is at the top of my list.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 hits theaters June 13, 2014.  Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, America Ferrera, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all reprise their roles from How to Train Your Dragon, along with Djimon Hounsou, as Drago, and Cate Blanchett, as Valka.

 

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Trailer

Official Synopsis: The thrilling second chapter of the epic How To Train Your Dragon trilogy brings back the fantastical world of Hiccup and Toothless five years later. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace.

I have only recently seen How to Train Your Dragon, but that doesn’t mean I am any less excited for its sequel.  The animation of the first film was amazing, and this looks as gorgeous as ever.  We saw the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless develop previously, and they have clearly grown even closer, but I don’t think it will be a big focus this time around.  I am more interested to see how the relationship between Hiccup and Astrid has developed since the end of the last film.  Even just in this trailer, it seems much of the comedic elements (both dialog and Toothless’ actions) that made Dragon so enjoyable is retained.  A good sequel raises the stakes, and this appears to do just that.  Drago seems like a worthy threat to not just the dragons, but all of Berk.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 hits theaters June 13, 2014.  Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, America Ferrera, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all reprise their roles from How to Train Your Dragon.  They are joined by new comers Djimon Hounsou, as Dragon, and Cate Blanchett, as Valka.

How to Train Your Dragon Review

Synopsis
Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) aspires to be a dragon hunter like his dad, Stoick (Gerard Butler), and his fellow vikings. But when he discovers an injured dragon, the two become unlikely friends and discovers that there is much more to dragons than he expected.

Review
When my friend told me How to Train Your Dragon was probably the best animated movie ever made, my reply was, “That’s a bold statement.” I mean, how can you beat the heart of Toy Story or the cleverness of Shrek? But he insisted. After finally watching it, I must say he isn’t far off. It’s not the best animated movie in my opinion, but it is definitely up there as one of my favorites.

First off, the film starts with a bang. The opening scene does well to both set up the conflict between the vikings and the dragons, as well as introduce all the main characters. It’s a giant set piece that would give most action movie openings a run for their money. There are explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.

The producers could not have picked a better voice cast for Dragon. Baruchel’s dry tone and sarcasm fit with his character perfectly. Butler was born to play a viking. He does fantastic as both the tough dragon slayer and the loving father. Other voices include Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, TJ Miller, and Kristen Wiig.

Mintz-Plasse’s character, Fishlegs, is large and round, the complete opposite of what you would expect from his voice. Fishlegs is the dragon guru, and rambles off stats Dungeons and Dragons style. Miller and Wiig play the twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut, respectively, who attempt to out-annoy each other. Ferrera voices Astrid, a girl trying to prove she is just as tough as the boys. And Snotlout, played by Hill, spends the entire movie to to impress Astrid. My favorite, though, is Fergurson’s Gobber, the one-armed, one-legged teacher who believes that trolls “steal your socks, but only the left one.”

With an ensemble of great comedic actors, it’s only natural that the dialog would be funny, too. The best stuff happens when this group is all together and they can riff off each other. They come of with some pretty clever banter. But what is even more impressive is the movie’s use of visual gags. When one of your two main characters is a mute dragon, it can be difficult to crack jokes. But Dragon proves that you don’t need words to be funny.

Animation technology is continually progressing, and it is important for animation studios to adapt and improve along with it. With that said, this film is one of the best looking animated features I have seen. What sets it apart from previous animated movies is the attention to detail and the use of lighting. Contrasts are utilized very effectively, really giving a sense of depth.

On a quick note, the score, composed by John Powell, is amazing. It adds that extra touch to an already awesome film.

If I were to have one gripe with the film, it would be the father-son dynamic between Stoick and Hiccup has been used over and over in film. Stoick is the tough dad who has a soft spot for his son; Hiccup is the physically weak kid who tries to follow in his father’s footsteps but fails to keep up with the high expectations from being his son. This is the driving force for countless movies and their success has been varied. Dragons, however, utilized this cliché to great effect, so I can’t knock it too hard.

Anyone who enjoys animated movies should check out How to Train Your Dragon. A great cast, amazing animation, and funny dialog and visual gags makes this film one of the best animated films of the last few years.

Rating
5/5