THE CRITIC-AL LIST
Reviews by Alan Jones
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

Season Of The Witch
Amer
Tron: Legacy
Machete
Let Me In
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Salt
The Expendables
The Last Airbender
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Inception
Predators
The Twilight Saga:Eclipse
Toy Story 3
Hot Tub Time Machine
Iron Man 2
Repo Men
The Collector
Clash of the Titans
Shelter
How To Train Your Dragon
Kick-Ass
Shutter Island
Alice In Wonderland
The Crazies
Case 39
The Wolfman
Legion
The Lovely Bones
Black Death
Daybreakers
Avatar
Ninja Assassin
The Descent: Part 2
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Box
2012
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Horseman
Solomon Kane
Pandorum
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
District 9
An Education
G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra
Orphan
A Perfect Getaway
The Imaginarium Of
Doctor Parnassus
Up
Harry Potter
And The Half-Blood Prince
The Taking of Pelham 123
Transformers
The Revenge Of The Fallen
Antichrist
Terminator Salvation
Last House On The Left
Inglorious Basterds
Angels & Demons
Adventureland
Star Trek
Crank: High Voltage
Coraline
Dragonball Evolution
Let The Right One In
Drag Me To Hell
Race to Witch Mountain
Knowing
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Not Quite Hollywood
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Martyrs
The Children
Surveillance
Watchmen
The Unborn
The International
Friday The 13th
Franklyn
Push
Punisher:War Zone
The Good The Bad And
The Weird
Hush
Underworld
The Rise OF The Lycans
My Bloody Valentine
Bolt
Slumdog Millionaire

Directed by Peter Hastings. Starring Gerard Butler, America Ferrara, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Animation, USA, 97 min.

A teenage Viking befriends a rare breed of dragon with major repercussions for his belligerent tribe in this superlative animation spectacular that can best be described as a more kid-friendly AVATAR.

Author Cressida Cowell’s massive kids-lit success (eight adventures so far) gets an astonishingly exciting adaptation by co-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois the LILO & STITCH team. Secret dragon whisperer Hiccup (voiced by SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE’s Jay Baruchel) sets a new course for his Berk Island tribe who only see the fire-breathing reptiles as their enemy in this streamlined Norse generation gap story. For Hiccup’s father is chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler ramping up the ‘Och Ae the Noo’ accent) and he’s having no truck with his son’s more pacifist view of the flying pests as pets. Will tomboy Astrid (UGLY BETTY’s America Ferrera) out his covert dragon training or keep it unspoken as her respect and passion for Hiccup grows? Looser and less obviously formulaic than CGI cartoon normal, the constantly amusing script is reliant on strong character and pertinent situation than corny satire with endless pop culture punch lines. It’s also poignant where it really counts – Hiccup and Toothless, the Night Fury Dragon (with more than a hint of Stitch in his design), hesitantly getting to know each other is consistently cute, clever and touching. The surprising coda, in which a disability story thread comes to the fore, is exactly right and handled with the appropriate sensitivity. Despite the source material which signals a more childish bent, Sanders and DeBlois keep their cartoon charmer unsentimental and edgy with an unwavering comic zest weaving throughout, their confident craftsmanship ensuring equal shares of endearment and laughter. But where this highly appealing comedy adventure excels is in awesome visuals that rival James Cameron’s intergalactic blockbuster. The dragon flying sequences are simply stunning (the trip through the shimmering Northern Lights a terrific flight of fantasy) and the battles gorgeously detailed and involving. And the mega GODZILLA ending might prove scary even to hardened FrightFesters, honest!

All rendered in superbly immersive and exhilarating 3D; flaming dragon breath being a gift to the stereoscopic process. 3D can be so dazzling when utilized for the right subject matter and by the directors who can milk its gimmicks and that’s proved time and again in this Dreamworks Animation classic headed for franchise status of the highest SHREK order.

Alan Jones

© London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2010
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