"SIMBA!"
Being on a much-needed vacation these past couple of weeks gave me the perfect amount of rest that I needed before starting my new job tomorrow (!!!), and these past two days, I finally got some time to really dig into my love for animation by catching up on some cool stuff:
1) The LEGO Movie:
Man, when a film has the perfect mix of comedic timing and voice acting talent, only great things can happen. The fact that this movie wasn't stop-motion animated doesn't surprise me, because it would've taken 10 years to get all those facial expressions and action sequences perfect. The story? Beautifully and cleverly done. In the end it's all about the LEGOs - how they are perceived as both child & adult toys and how that becomes the center of the conflict. The child sees the Business Man as the villain because he wants the LEGOs to not have imagination and keep things "glued" to order... wheareas the child just wants to have fun and build things without any conformity of what LEGOs should be built as. It's a really cool concept for a story that really made me nostalgic. That song "Everything is Awesome!" is still stuck in my head. 9/10
2) LEGEND of KORRA, Book 3
I finally got to my TiVo and watched the first 3 episodes, and man... the animation has definitely evolved! The thing that concerns me, more than anything, is that Mike/Bryan are freely adapting their original Avatar universe in order to market the show for their 8-14year old target audience. I can imagine someone from HigherUp said "look, I know the protagonists are older teens and need intense plot points, but can we please give the younger viewers stuff they'll enjoy?" Cue the overwhelming amount of villains & action, funny side-commentary from Bolin/Bumi, and this new kid character named Kai. -___- I don't know. All of a sudden airbenders pop up all over the place, and it becomes a semi-XMen situation of trying to find them and train them. Didn't airbending deal with spirituality and peace? The comic books implied that air acolytes were people dedicating their lives to learning the airbender cultures... so that eventually the bending would come back... but I guess, nope. It just shows up again. Ugh. There are some things that I do like... such as Korra when she doesn't give a shit... and of course, ZUKO! He's back and he has a fricken' DRAAAAGON! So yeah, there are some thing that still keep me intrigued about the show. Visually, it's just stunning - like a Miyazaki film in every episode! 7/10
3) How to Train your DRAGON 2
Oh boy... talk about an overwhelming amount of action. I'm not disappointed, I was just expecting a good flow for a story sequel. It's like people in the writing room discussed various ways they would continue Hiccup's journey and then decide, "hey let's just put everything in and see what works!" Cue all the emotional turns and twists I had to endure to make any sense of this film's conflict. So... Hiccup meets his mother, Valka (after 20 years thinking she's dead!!) and he has a wonderful time catching up and realizing they share the same bond for Dragon-Training. But, there are villains who want to capture Dragons and train them specifically for an Army to Conquer Things. Stoic reunites with Valka and their love rekindles. Toothless becomes brainwashed by the evil Alpha Dragon that the villain controls, and kills Stoic. Hiccup is devastated and turns Toothless away... but then changes his mind (???). Together they defeat the Villain from conquering Berk. Toothless becomes the Alpha Dragon, Hiccup the Chief of Berk. Everyone's happy. The End. -_____- So many questions, so many emotional turns, and way waaaay too many action sequences. I do like how the other characters somewhat kept their personalities, but they were definitely not shown enough. I could've gone for a much smoother story like Hiccup meeting his Mom, bringing that conflict of "should I travel the world with Mom? or stay in Berk and be Chief?" into Hiccup's mind. I liked Valka, but part of me wished she stayed as that adventurous woman among dragons rather than just coming back to Berk. I dunno - I ask for too much! Good news is there'll be another sequel, but I'm sure gonna miss Stoic. 6/10.
