climbingupthewalls

I don't really get this movie. It sticks so close to the original that several dramatic or important moments are undercut, because you know exactly what is going to be said or happen next. John Powell and Jonsi did a great job with the music in the original, and the music in this one is not as memorable. They also swapped out all the Scottish people for English people (except Stoic), which is a bummer since we don't hear legit Scottish accents in movies nearly as much.

Some of it also felt a bit clunky, like the need to include and specifically name "Vikings" from Africa and East Asia. There weren't Vikings from Asia or Africa because they were their own thing. I know if we were being historically accurate there wouldn't be dragons either, but if I watch a Japanese movie I don't get upset there's too many Japanese people in it, or not enough caucasians. I don't really get why there was the need to diversify some of the storyline like that.

My last main issue is the under-use of Julian Dennison. Anyone who has seen Hunt For The Wilderpeople knows how good he can be, and I was looking forward to seeing what he'd bring to Fishlegs. Instead, the little dialogue he had was essentially a carbon copy of the original, that could have been played by anyone.

On a positive note, the new portrayal of Astrid was good, and one of the few different takes from the original that I liked.

If I was in the mood to watch How To Train Your Dragon, I don't know why I would ever pick this lesser version over the original (which is a great movie).

I was a little disappointed with Furiosa, even though I wanted to like it a lot. It didn't have the same over-the-top/Pirates Of The Caribbean (the first one) esque fun aspects that Fury Road did. There was also a lot less character growth or progression. Furiosa is pretty much the same person throughout the majority of the film. Nux has a lot more change in Fury Road, and he's a supporting character.

There is also a lot more of people being cruel to each other in this. There are multiple torture/prolonged death sequences. Even though they're not overly graphic, it's still clear the person is being tortured and dying a long, slow, painful death.

So, it's not as fun, it's more cruel, and there's not as much character growth. There's also a couple of surprisingly clunky bits of cg, but for unnecessary things (like someone jumping on a horse).

Overall it's not a bad film, but it's not as fun a watch as Fury Road.

This is the first rock band documentary I have seen, so I don't really know how it compares to others, but I was thoroughly impressed with it. You get to really see what it's like being on tour with one of the biggest bands out there. Footage ranges from radio show interviews, to awkward meet-the-fan sessions, to concert footage (note: there are only a couple songs shown in concert throughout the whole film, and I think Don't Look Back In Anger is the only one played in its entirety).

One problem with the documentary though is how little we hear from Zak Starkey, Andy Bell, or Gem. All play an influential role in the band, but we only get a word or two out of them the whole time, despite them often being present. We hear more from Sergio Pizzorno (lead singer from Kasabian) than any non-Gallagher member of Oasis. Noel and Liam stay true to form and provide good entertainment throughout the film though. Kasabian and Jet also feature on the documentary (both were support bands for Oasis world tour).

While there are some flaws with this documentary, it is still very entertaining to watch. Also, the live concert filmed at the City Of Manchester Stadium is reason enough to buy the DVD. The band sound great and put on an equally great show.