Movie Review Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz (2007) 

Directed by Edgar Wright 

Written by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg

Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, Cate Blanchett, Jim Broadbent 

Release Date April 20th, 2007 

Published April 19th, 2007 

The buzz has been building for months around the action comedy Hot Fuzz. It comes from the creators of the cult hit Shaun Of the Dead, a film that was both a send up of classic zombie flicks and a reinvention. Now the Shaun team takes aim at the classically American action movie. With nods toward Point Break, Bad Boys 2 and even a glance at Chinatown, Hot Fuzz fires bullets in many different directions, blows up any number of locales and is often quite funny while doing it.

If it were just about 30 minutes shorter, Hot Fuzz would be a very cool movie.

Nicolas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the best cop in London. His arrest rate is 400 percent higher than every other cop in the city and he is making the other cops look bad. In order to lower the bar for the rest of London's finest, Nicolas is given a transfer. Sent to the tiny village of Sandford, the big city cop finds himself in the place known as the safest village in all of England.

Left busting underage drinkers and tracking down a swan on the loose on mainstreet, Nicolas is bored to tears. Lucky for him, the exciting stuff is just about to begin. As the town prepares for the annual village of the year contest a strange series of accidents kills off some of the more troublesome residents of Sandford and Nicolas begins to wonder if all of these accidents could really be just a coincidence.

That is the set up to a story that takes absolutely forever to really get going. Written and directed by Edgar Wright, with his team from Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz tries to have it both ways and be taken seriously in an action thriller vein and be funny in sending up American action cliches. The tone of the film is fuzzy, even employing some horror film style violence among the mystery and action elements, and this causes the film to drag through the first 90 minutes or so.

Simon Pegg never really looks like an action hero but throughout Hot Fuzz, in what I'm sure was meant as parody, Pegg becomes so taciturn and earnestly tough that he becomes nearly convincing. Pegg gets really into the role of a badass, by the book cop and his performance is yet another confused piece of satire in Hot Fuzz. Don't be mistaken, Pegg is often quite funny but the character is at times too convincing which undercuts the humor in many scenes.

The last half hour of Hot Fuzz nearly rescues the picture. Taking cues from Bad Boys 2, Point Break and Rambo, Hot Fuzz starts blowing up anything and everything, firing copious amounts of bullets and celebrating the goofball quipfests that are the hallmark of the 80's and 90's style American action movie. When the trailer says "from the guys who saw every action movie, ever made" they aren't kidding.

Though multiple homages to Point Break seem a little curious and out of date, fans of that Keanu Reeves-Patrick Swayze campfest will be rolling on the floor laughing. That film, for all its cheese-tastic goodness, did feature one of the best foot chases in any movie I've ever seen and Hot Fuzz provides a loving and hysterical send up of that scene.

Another great popcorn aspect of Hot Fuzz is the filmmaker's Where's Waldo approach to celebrity cameos. A pair of big name international stars, an Academy Award nominated actress and an Academy Award winning Director, are hidden in plain sight in Hot Fuzz. You may have to see the film more than once to catch both cameos.

As a movie geek myself I was looking forward to Hot Fuzz. I loved Shaun of the Dead and that film definitely showed Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's brilliant talent for sending up conventions of genre. They are just slightly off the beat in Hot Fuzz. Taking themselves just a tad too seriously, the team behind Hot Fuzz manages to make a real action movie early on and then flex their parody skills at the very end. These are some big laughs but the more than 90 minutes it takes to get there are deathly dull at times.

Movie Review Lord of the Rings The Two Towers

Lord of the Rings The Two Towers 

Directed by Peter Jackson 

Written by Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens, Peter Jackson

Starring Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Ian McKellan, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett

Release Date December 18th, 2002 

Published December 17th, 2002 

With all the hype about the second film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is it possible for this film not to be a little disappointing? The first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, overcame the hype to be an impressive artistic achievement. However, the impressive debut only increases the pressure on the follow-up films. So the success of Fellowship raises the bar to nearly unreachable heights for The Two Towers. That this second film nearly meets the hype is an achievement in and of itself.

We rejoin the J.R.R. Tolkien tale (as adapted by Peter Jackson and writer Frances Walsh) to find our heroic Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) lost in the hills on the way to Mordor. Hot on their huge Hobbit heels is Gollum, the former owner of the ring Frodo is charged with destroying in the fires of Mount Doom. As Frodo and Sam lay sleeping, Gollum attacks and is quickly subdued. 

Needing a guide to Mordor, the Hobbits draft Gollum and continue their quest. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Fellowship, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (Jonathan Rhys Davies), are searching for their friends Merry and Pippin who have been kidnapped by the Uruk Hai. Under the control of the evil Lord Saruman, the Uruk Hai are pillaging the countryside of the Kingdom of Rohan.

Rohan's King Theoden has, unbeknownst to the members of his family, been corrupted by Saruman leaving no one to stop the Uruk Hai. An army led by Theoden's nephew finally does rise up and stop the Uruk Hai, slaughtering a lot of them and momentarily leaving the fate of Merry and Pippin up in the air.

As it turns out, Merry and Pippin are fine, having escaped into the forest and into the arms of a walking, talking tree named Treebeard, who leads them to an amazing discovery. As Aragorn and company continue their search, they discover what Merry and Pippin had just previously discovered, that Wizard Gandalf the Gray, who was thought to be dead, is alive and after defeating the Balrog, and is now Gandalf the White. This evidently means he is more powerful than before.

Using his new power, Gandalf is able to free king Theoden from the control of Saruman. Even after being freed from Saruman, Theoden is unwilling to go to war and instead flees his kingdom for the seeming safety of the cavern castle in Helms Deep. All of this is leading to the film's centerpiece, the grandiose Battle of Helm's Deep, where Saruman's massive ten-thousand-man army of Uruk Hai fights against the several hundred residents of Rohan who aren't women or children. The kingdom's army, having left earlier in the film, are being retrieved by Gandalf, but will not make it until well into the battle.

The battle of Helms Deep is indeed a spectacle, visually awesome and seamlessly integrated. Peter Jackson's special effects are an amazing achievement; he actually manages to make all of this look plausibly real. Of course, the film's greatest technical achievement is the character of Gollum. Inhabited in part by actor Andy Serkis (but mostly CGI), Gollum is a lively and imaginative creation. Gollum manages to make an impression without being overbearing or obnoxious like his CGI brother Jar Jar Binks. Gollum is a technical masterpiece, very likely to earn the special effects team an Oscar.

As visually exciting as The Two Towers is, it lacks in many ways. The middle of the film drags to the point of being dull and when the action slows down, the clunky dialogue and earnest close-ups slam the film to a halt. The character development is lost in the waves of action and effects scenes. We know who to cheer for and why but the audience's emotional investment in the characters is limited.

Wood continues to be an unappealing actor. His Frodo is all empty gaze and pained expression. Wood is an actor with talent but limited charisma and paired with the equally dull Sean Astin, the film's most important subplot is saved only by Gollum. Viggo Mortensen, on the other hand, is very charismatic and commanding, and Ian McKellan's Gandalf, in limited screen time, delivers the most memorable moments of the film.

The action and effects of The Two Towers are overwhelming, rolling over the audience in waves. Unfortunately when the action slows down, the film drags and the lack of character development becomes more obvious.

Movie Review: Elizabeth The Golden Age Starring Cate Blanchett

Elizabeth The Golden Age (2007) 

Directed by Shekhar Kapur 

Written by William Nicholson. Michael Hirst 

Starring Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Rhys Ifans, Abbie Cornish, Samantha Morton 

Release Date October 12th, 2007

Published October 11th, 2007 

It's been less than a decade since Cate Blanchett burst upon the scene in Elizabeth. Up till then; a working actress in England, 1998 saw Cate Blanchett get the role of a lifetime playing the virgin queen Elizabeth, one of the most revered figures in English history. Now Ms. Blanchett returns to the role that earned her an Oscar nomination. Elizabeth: The Golden Age falls well short of the dramatic heights scaled by the original. However, Ms. Blanchett is as regal and beautiful as ever and finds just the right grace and style to keep The Golden Age from tipping over into utter melodramatic disaster.

Picking up less than a decade from where Elizabeth left off, Elizabeth The Golden Age finds Queen Elizabeth presiding over a divided country. Christians and protestants are at odds all over Europe and in Spain King Philip (Jordi Molla) is leading the christian cause with his Spanish Inquisition. In England, the struggle of Christians is epitomized by Queen Elizabeth's rival, Mary Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), who English Christians have claimed as their true queen.

While trying to avoid a holy war of a religious division as well as actual war with Spain, Queen Elizabeth is looking into the idea of marriage as a diplomatic tool. She finds few of any of England's allies to be a suitable match. However, there is an Englishman who has caught her eye. His name is Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen).

Freshly returned from America, where he established the colony of Virginia in honor of England's virgin queen, Raleigh begins a flirtatious dance with the queen as well as with the queen's closet friend Annette (Susan Lynch). With war against Spain imminent and Mary Queen of Scots scheming in secret with potential assassins, the last thing the queen needs is romantic drama. Can Elizabeth balance her personal life with the duties of royalty and protecting England? Historians are likely snickering at such a question.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age plays fast and loose with history in order to craft a daytime soap opera of epic proportion. The grand guignol drama of Elizabeth is often worthy of the catty likes of Dynasty or Melrose Place. Just watch the hissy fit that Blanchett's Elizabeth is forced to play upon learning of Raleigh and Annette's affair. Heather Locklear on her best day could not have done better. That Ms. Blanchett is only momentarily set back by such lame histrionics is a true testament to her talent.

Director Shekar Kapur's true talent is opulent settings and grand costuming. Elizabeth: The Golden Age will no doubt compete for Oscars in set design and costume for the lavish colorful creations of Kapur and production designer Guy Dyas and costumer Alexandra Byrne. The lush beauty of Elizabeth The Golden Age and Cate Blanchett's ability to act and perform the work of a wonderful clothes horse, nearly make Elizabeth The Golden Age worthy of a recommendation. Nearly. 

Playing from a soap opera level narrative; Cate Blanchett pulls off an exceptional performance. Her Elizabeth is quick witted, cunning and brave with vulnerability that is very disarming. She is as strong in ostentatious costume as she is in battle armor preparing to lead her soldiers into battle. It's stunning how powerful Blanchett is in overcoming what is a truly underwhelming script.

Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush also fight their way through the histrionics of Elizabeth: The Golden Age to varying success. Owen does spark with Blanchett in their few romantic scenes. In fact they spark so well that it's impossible to believe that Owen's Sir Walter would go for Susan Lynch's winsome girl Annette over Blanchett's blazing, womanly Elizabeth. As things play out, the only reason we see Owen with Lynch is because history recalls Elizabeth as the virgin queen.

As for Geoffrey Rush, the script truly lets him down. As Elizabeth's long time consigliere he is forced by this narrative to be blind and foolish until he is not. There is a subplot with his brother that is supposed to explain his foolish behavior but it's botched so badly that Rush's character is left adrift. Rush is far too good an actor to play a character made to look this silly. 

There is the potential for yet another Elizabeth movie if rumors are true. The virgin queen did live for many years past the end of The Golden Age. Fans of Shakespeare In Love will recall that an elder Elizabeth, played in Oscar winning glory by Dame Judi Dench, presided over the era of Shakespeare's England. I'm not at all opposed to seeing Cate Blanchett reprise this role as even in this supremely flawed film she is an electric performer.

Here's hoping another Elizabeth can be more than merely an opulent example of how beautiful Cate Blanchett is in very expensive costumes.

Movie Review: The Shipping News

The Shipping News (2001)

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom

Written by Robert Nelson Jacobs

Starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Scott Glenn, Cate Blanchett 

Release Date December 18th, 2001

Published December 17th, 2001 

E. Annie Proulx's bestseller The Shipping News preceded Oprah's book club by a few years but if the film is anything like the book then it would fit Oprah's book club perfectly. The Shipping News is that kind of non-controversial life affirming claptrap that Oprah extols on a weekly basis. The film, adapted for the screen Robert Nelson Jacobs and directed by Lasse Hallstrom, the master of life affirming claptrap, stars Kevin Spacey as Quoyle.

While living a miserable invisible existence, Quoyle is finally noticed by Pedal Bear (yes I said Pedal Bear), played by the lovely Cate Blanchett. Pedal however is not as soft as her name would suggest. She uses Quoyle for room and board while cheating on him. Pedal does manage to have a child with Quoyle, but isn't much of a mother to Bunny, played by the Gainer Triplets Lauren, Kaitlyn and Alissa.

Quoyle is a good father but far too dull for Pedal who continues to run around on him until she is killed in a car wreck. Quoyle and his daughter pick up their lives and leave to live with Quoyle's Aunt Agnis (Dame Judi Dench) in Newfoundland. There, Quoyle gets a job at a local newspaper where he writes the shipping news, a very big deal in the small fishing community.

Scott Glenn is Jack Buggit, the paper's eccentric owner who hires Quoyle despite the fact that Quoyle has no writing experience and while he will be writing about boats, Quoyle hates water. This is supposed to be cute and quirky but it plays as baffling and bizarre. Soon after landing a job he's not qualified for, Quoyle meets the obligatory movie love interest. Her name is Wavy Prowse (yes I said Wavy) (Julianne Moore). Why? I have no idea why. 

Maybe I'm too cynical for this film, or any film with characters named Wavy, Pedal and Bunny. Oh and don't forget Tert (Pete Postlethwaite) the newspapers manager and Beaufeld Nutbeem (Rhys Ifans) the paper’s international writer. Of course Ifans is one of the few actors who could pull off a character named Beaufeld Nutbeem. 

The Shipping News is a typically Lasse Hallstrom movie. It's prosaic and slow though lovely to look at. He's terrific at soft surfaces but even more adept at softheaded narratives with all of the memorable qualities of a barely remembered dream. All of Lasse Hallstrom's films seem to strive for deep meaning but they almost always end up with little more than surface emotion and not much else. I apologize if you are someone who enjoys Lasse Hallstrom's gauzy, bleary, boring movies but I cannot begin to understand why anyone would enjoy them.

I had hoped this film would be a return to form for Spacey after consecutive dull performances in Pay It Forward and K-Pax. Sadly though, Spacey in The Shipping News continues in his dewy-eyed schlep role, no passion, no vigor, nothing of Lester Burnham or Verbal Kint or John Doe. Even Spacey's screen chewing presence in The Big Kahuna is preferable to his recent string of dull losers.

The Shipping News sinks.

Sorry I couldn't help myself.

Movie Review: The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of The Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 

Directed by Peter Jackson

Written by Peter Jackson, Phillipa Boyens, Fran Walsh 

Starring Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Ian McKellan, Christopher Lee, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler 

Release Date December 10th, 2001 

Published December 9th, 2001

For the first time in a long while I was able to walk into a theater with almost no knowledge of the film I was about to see. The trailers were merely teasers that didn't giveaway anything of the story, I've never read the book on which the film is based and I read no reviews of the film before seeing it. Yet the film I saw is one of the more hyped films of all time, The Lord Of the Rings Fellowship of The Ring. You're wondering how I was able to avoid learning about LOTR and what it was about. I assure you it wasn't a calculated effort. The books never appealed to me, I did know a little something about hobbits, Middle earth and fairies, but beyond that the film was entirely new to me.

Fellowship is the first in a three picture series in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It introduces the story of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who inherits a powerful and mysterious ring from his uncle, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). Frodo has no idea what the ring does but is quickly clued in by the friendly wizard Gandalf (Ian Mckellen), who explains the ring's origin and that of its owner and controller, the evil Lord Sauron. The Ring, we are told, has the power to enslave all of Middle earth; thus it must be destroyed. A fellowship of 9 made up of elves, men, dwarves and hobbits must destroy the ring by returning it to the fires of Mount Doom. Oh if it were only that easy. Sauron is also searching for the ring with his allies the Orcs, and the powerful wizard Samuron (Christopher Lee) who is building an army to stop the intruders.

If you think I'm simplifying too much I'm sorry, I'm just trying to get to my point. It's been a while since we've seen such a pure good vs. evil story, I in fact thought that irony may have destroyed Hollywood's ability to tell such a story without having characters that are overly flawed and quirky. In any other action movie, Frodo would have a drinking problem or an ex-wife who complains about child support and he would make wisecracks before dispatching a villain while each of his emotions were underscored by some pop classic. Yes in that sense LOTR is a breath of fresh air.

Elijah Wood will never be confused with your average adventure hero. His Frodo Baggins is tiny and frightened and certainly not predisposed to violence. Instead, he's pretty good at running and hiding, which he does a lot of. Don't be mistaken, Wood doesn't play Frodo as a coward, he's realistic. He knows he's not a fighter and leaves the warrior stuff to the warriors. Viggo Mortensen is the true standout in the very large cast that also includes Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving. Mortensen shows some charisma and energy in Fellowship that I had not seen from him before. Here he tears into his character and allows his emotions to carry his words and he's very effective. Lord of the Rings is an epic adventure of great scale and scope. Give director Peter Jackson a lot of credit, he has created an entirely new world onscreen. He brings it to life with amazing visual flourish yet doesn't allow the film to get buried underneath it's special effects, which is quite a delicate balancing act.

Comparisons to Star Wars are warranted. The character's motivations and the action-before-dialogue style are quite reminiscent of the George Lucas creation. Character development takes a backseat to visual artistry and the latest in SFX and CGI technology. Although I prefer more character driven styles, action adventures if done well can be almost as entertaining and Lord of the Rings is very well done. 

Sidenote: Am I the only one who thought Christopher Lee looked like Osama Bin Laden? It was probably just the beard, but his first close-up was somewhat jarring.

Movie Review The Four Feathers

The Four Feathers (2002) 

Directed by Shakur Kapur 

Written by Michael Schiffer, Hossein Amini 

Starring Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Sheen, 

Release Date September 20th, 2002 

Published September 19th, 2002 

Director Shakar Kapur splashed on the scene with 1998's spectacular Elizabeth. While Cate Blanchett made the movie brilliant, Kapur's production design made it beautiful. In Kapur's new film, The Four Feathers, Kapur's lush visual style is in place. Unfortunately, he doesn't have Cate Blanchett to save the film’s weak dialogue and characters.

Heath Ledger stars as Harry Favisham, an up and coming British soldier under the command of his father and soon to marry Ethne, played by Kate Hudson. American Beauty's Wes Bentley plays Harry's best friend Jack Durrance. Also a soldier, Jack is nursing a jealous crush on Ethne. When Harry and Jack's regiment is told they will be shipping out to war in the Sudan, Jack is excited to finally have the opportunity to fight for his country, Harry isn't so sure. 

Deciding that his fear of death outweighs his love of country, Harry resigns his commission and leaves the Army. After learning of Harry's actions his friends, except for Jack, send him 3 feathers. The feathers are a symbol of cowardice. The fourth feather, as mentioned by the film’s title, comes not from Jack, but from Ethne who decides social status is more important than love.

Disgraced and alone, Harry follows the troops movements through community bulletin boards where the army places lists of soldiers who have died. After hearing that his former regiment had taken heavy casualties, Harry heads for Sudan to help them. Once in Sudan Harry nearly dies trying to find the British troops. He is saved by an African slave named Abou Fatma (Djimon Hounsou). We’re not certain why Abou saves Harry, nor do we know why he stays with him to keep him safe, Harry does nothing to earn Abou's loyalty.

There are other plot strands in The Four Feathers but nothing very memorable. It's mostly filler, something to do while Kapur and cinematographer Robert Richardson make a lovely Sudanese travel video. If it weren't for endless civil wars and lack of clean water, Sudan might be a beautiful place to visit. At least as it looks, according to Kapur and Richardson. Actually the film was shot in Morocco, so who knows what Sudan actually looks like. The cinematography, no matter where it took place, is at times breathtaking.

The performances and story of The Four Feathers are the film’s weakest points. Ledger, desperately trying to break out of the teen hunk mold, never paints a realistic portrait of a British soldier. He is at times too goofy or too emotional. His traits are too Americanized to be British. Both Hudson and Bentley, who are actually Americans, have the same problems Ledger does though to their credit their accents weren't bad.

The film’s biggest problem is the narrative, which asks the audience to root for a character, Harry, who is a coward. Harry has no conviction and no politics; he is simply a coward too afraid to lay down his life for his country. Some Hero! Had Harry had some real intellectual reason as to why he would not go to war he would be easy to identify with, as there were numerous good reasons to not go to war. For one, why Sudan? It's not like it served any strategic purpose, it's just a desert. Why fight a war in which the sole purpose is killing enough people to be able to claim useless desert land? These however are my reasons for not going to war, not Harry's. He was just a chicken.

Bentley's Jack is no better. While he didn't condemn his friend’s cowardice with a feather he does use it as justification to make a move on Ethne. Even after learning of Harry's going to Sudan to save him, the weasel hides the information from Ethne whom he intends to marry. As for Hudson, her Ethne might have better been named “plot device,” as she is merely in place to provide motivation to the male leads. Hudson, who was spectacular in Almost Famous, never creates a real character in The Four Feathers, her role could have been played by anyone and had the same impact.

The Four Feathers has the visual style of a sweeping desert war epic, but lacks the heart and ingenuity necessary for epic filmmaking. The Four Feathers suffers in comparison this weekend to the limited re-release of Lawrence Of Arabia, the template for sweeping war epics. Lawrence Of Arabia makes The Four Feathers look like a high school production.

Movie Review How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World (2019) 

Directed by Dean Deblois

Written by Dean Deblois 

Starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrara, F. Murray Abraham, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill 

Release Date February 22nd, 2019

Published February 21st, 2019 

How to Train Your Dragon 3 is perhaps the best of the three How to Train Your Dragon movies. None of the How to Train Your Dragon movies have been bad but the first two, for me, have only been passably entertaining. How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World rounds the series into something with a good deal more depth. Indeed, depth is what the first two movies lacked as they put forward perfunctory stories about learning to believe in yourself. 

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World is the first of the franchise to carry the confidence of a movie where characters have tamed and rode dragons into battle. The hero's journey has finally stopped being a slightly bland, mostly amusing coming of age story and has become the story of a fully fledged character finally becoming who he should be. Again, there is nothing wrong with the first two, but I prefer seeing a new story with these characters as opposed to familiar tropes dressed up with dragons. 

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World opens with our heroes, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon pal, Toothless, now in the role of dragon defenders. When dragons are kidnapped to be killed or made to serve the forces of evil, Hiccup, Toothless and their friends from the Viking village of Berk, swoop in with fiery swords and free the peaceful dragons and take them home to safety. 

Unfortunately, Berk has become quite overcrowded since our last visit. The place is teeming with dragons and the sheer volume of dragons on hand has not gone unnoticed. A group of bad guys now know where Berk is and they want to steal the dragons in order to create a dragon army. The baddies can’t do it on their own however, so they seek the help of the legendary dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly (F Murray Abraham). In exchange for capturing the dragons of Berk, Grimmel asks only that he be able to kill Toothless. Grimmel has made his reputation on killing Night Furies.

But how will he ever get close to Berk with all of those Vikings and Dragons? Grimmel has a plan. He’s captured a Light Fury, a white, female counterpart to Toothless and also seemingly the last of her kind. Grimmel will use the Light Fury to lead Toothless into a trap. His plan is solid as Toothless falls in love at first sight with the Light Fury and in a delightful scene, attempts to romance her on the beach with a mating dance. The wordless pantomime of the dragons in this scene is genuine, sweet and funny. 

Director Dean Deblois in his third time as a director, he directed the previous How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo and Stitch prior to this movie, continues to demonstrate his light and deft touch. Deblois is smart about not letting his stories get cluttered with too many bits of business. He may have a lot of colorful characters and voice actors to make use of but he’s very economical about it and never allows a bit to overstay its welcome or bog down the central story. 

The voice cast of How to Train Your Dragon remains top notch with Jay Baruchel as a sturdy lead voice, America Ferrera as the charming romantic idea, Cate Blanchett as the voice of gravitas and seriousness and Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz Plasse and Kristen Wiig providing solid comic relief. Add to this group, the sonorous tones of Academy Award winner F Murray Abraham as Grimmel and you have an exceptionally talented and charismatic group of voices. 

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World is exceptionally well animated with some legitimately breathtaking sights that really stand out in IMAX 3D. The visuals are equalled brilliantly by the Scottish inflected music score by John Powell to create a more vital and mature palette for what is the last of this film trilogy. Much credit to Dean Deblois and Dreamworks in recognizing that there is no need to beat this premise into the ground. This is the final film in a trilogy and they allow it to go out on a note of satisfying and moving finality.