Okay, if you didn’t watch that yet, watch it. (And since somebody is going to ask, yes, I loved it.)
The reveal at the end, for those of you who haven’t seen promotional images before, is that Hiccup is older. Five years older, in fact.
From the official synopsis: “While Astrid, Snoutlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace.”
As writer-director Dean DeBlois explained to Variety earlier this year: “At the end of last film, all these Vikings who were previously somewhat landlocked are now on the backs of dragons so the entire Northern Hemisphere opens up to them. And with that Hiccup’s curiosity increases, the map expands and inevitably they are going to come across new dragons, new cultures.” Hiccup soon “discovers a larger conflict brewing between humans and dragons and he finds himself at the center of it.”
It’s a pretty brave move, to redesign characters from a popular film like this, and I think it’s a good sign that they might actually take some chances with this sequel and give us something original enough to stand next to the original.
What’s really neat about that (just spelling it out for anyone who didn’t count) is that it will have been four years since the last movie, so they’re having the characters grow up with the viewers. It was neat when Harry Potter did that, and a decent number of other book series.
I am so ridiculously excited about this.
OMG, HICCUP LOOKS SO CUTE! Also, this looks like concentrated awesome sauce.
Oh my, my favourite film. I will so watch this in 3d since HTTYD was the ONLY film I’ve felt really made full use of 3D as a mood enhancer
It’s definitely a short list. I thought Avatar used it well, too, though the movie itself was… well, you know. Avatar.
I liked the 3d in Dredd, otherwise I think it’s only been in animated films that I’ve appreciated it.
I thought Life of Pi (for all its other flaws) used 3D better than anything I’ve seen since the Muppets attraction at Disney World. LoP shifted the aspect ratio of the film at times, to allow a greater depth effect in certain scenes (such as an amazing sequence with flying fish).
As someone who (blasphemy warning) preferred Megamind to the original HTTYD, what did/do the true believers think of this series that’s been going on? Does it stand up to the movie? Will it impact this second flick in any way?
I enjoyed Megamind quite a bit. HTTYD is far, far better, though, in terms of storytelling. Rewatch it until you realize the truth.
As for the series, we didn’t all get together in a meeting to talk about it, but I think the general consensus among grown-up fans of the film is that it has a few good episodes and helps flesh out the characters, but the writing tends to be a little more kid-targeted (that is, dumb) than the movie. Although it really does have some good ideas now and then.
Dean DeBlois is the visionary here, though: he does what he wants, and the TV guys are just connecting dots. They’re not going to be inventing anything significant. So IT impacting the MOVIE? Probably not. CONNECTING the two movies, yes. Maybe I’m being pedantic, but I think it’s a significant distinction.
But it’s an interesting world with really interesting characters, and they have five years’ worth of time in-between. There’s a lot they could do in there.
That’s exactly the distinction I was thinking of, yep. I guess I was wondering if perhaps Dreamworks had scooped Marvel/Disney on the “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” strategy– I’m picturing a string of television series, with major plot turns (i.e. alien invasions, new continents) punctuated by theatrically released films. Adapting the World of Warcraft model, using the movies as “expansion packs” for the TV shows.
I don’t know if there’s confirmation that that’s the Avengers plan, but if I’m a business guy, here’s how I’m looking at it: “we maximize the TV and movie money by encouraging everyone watches each first-run (live broadcast/in theaters, where they’re most profitable) because they don’t want to be behind on the story for the other.”
And obviously I could be way off my rocker on this. I’m just saying a similar strategy worked very well for getting me to see the Digimon and Pokémon movies as a kid. So I guess Japan scooped everyone on this.
>_> I really need to watch the first one.. /inches towards the door.
I’m wondering if the four to five years later is there so that they can get past what happens in the television show.
How have I not seen this til now??? WTF!!! AWESOME!!!