Asterix and the Gauls turn Dragon hunters

Its no Kung-fu Panda, but How to Train Your Dragon does what it sets out to do and some more. The brief intro to the Vikings is reminiscent of my favourite Gaulish village and did bring out a grin. The main character is Hiccup a misfit viking, who is also (unfortunately for him) the Chief's son. Born with a significant lack of brawn as far as his peers go; the young man pursues his goal of slaying a dragon with a single minded dedication which mostly lands him in several interesting situations. The boy finally does bag a fabled dragon but can't seem to find it in his heart to kill the beautiful creature so he ends up freeing him. Thus begins the symbiotic relation ship between the man and beast as they find common grounds and ultimately become friends. The story is fairly predictable from here on however Sanders and DeBlios handle it extremely well and about a half hour into the movie have you eating out of their hands. The visuals are great especially the flying sequences which are brilliantly shot and they end up conveying the energy and adrenalin rush to the viewer. The big baddie dragon is the perfect villain though this angle could have been delved into a tad more. Regardless of this the movie is one of the best animation movies to come out in a few years and is definitely worth a watch with the family. No matter how old you are you will want your own dragon by the end of it.
image courtesy google images

Alice in Wonderland (2010): A terrible trip down the rabbit hole

Probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen, so much so that I decided to write a review to save a few people from watching it. The storyline is pretty standard evil queen ruling over Underland with an iron hand and a dragon to boot (Helena carter does admirably), Alice who is now in her late teens is brought into Underland via the rabbit hole again to save the day. The visual effects are great, but what disappoints is the storyline at no point is it engrossing and it does nothing to immerse you in a magical world of fantasy. Depp is a great actor and has phenomenal range however here he just irritates you with his ramblings, so do a lot of other characters Helena Carter is too squeaky and you really want a mute button whenever she raises her voice (which is far too often), Hathaway as the white queen is as aptly described by the actress herself as " Happy Bunny holding a knife" she does nothing for the character and looks confused and vacant most of the time. Mia Wasikowska as Alice tries to put in a credible performance but really there is far too much going going wrong with the movie for any actor to salvage. To summarize watching the movie is like getting stuck in a bad dream in slow motion its agonizingly painful. You keep asking yourself did Mr Burton even bother to see the finished product post shooting before unleashing it on the world. Please do yourself a favor and avoid this disaster.

Image courtsey google images