Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2 is better than the first!

Hi again. I have another movie review here. This one is definitely a must see.

Rating: Five out of Five Stars
Story
How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes place five years after the events of the first film and Berk has changed for the better. Vikings now get along with dragons and the entire island seems like a utopia. However while Hiccup and Toothless are out exploring they learn of a man named Drago Bludvist is creating a dragon army. While trying to find a peaceful solution and avoid war Hiccup and Toothless encounter another dragon rider who rides a Stormcutter dragon. As secrets reveal themselves Hiccup, Toothless, and all their friends will have to make a stand or risk losing everything they hold dear.
I loved everything about this movie. I loved how the island and people of berg have adjusted to having dragons live among them and how this movie takes everything from its predecessor to the next level. The settings are visually stunning and the characters are also well developed. The film does have more seriousness to it than the first, but it helps to show how our favorite vikings and their dragons have grown up. This is a movie that has earned the status of a worthy sequel and more.
Caution
The villain might scare little children. Dragons fight each other but it's all bloodless. One dragon might terrify but if the kids weren't scared by the Red Death (the big dragon in the first film) then they should be fine.
Lessons
If your home and your family is in danger you should fight to protect them. Friends never give up on each other. We should try to find peaceful solutions and only resort to violence if there's no other choice in protecting our values and families.

Movies expanding universes?

This is about something that has been on my mind for a while. I've been thinking with book to film adaptations that maybe it would be better if they took a different approach. They just adapt the same story of the books and only give audiences what has already been done. I've been thinking maybe rather than adapt the same story it would probably be better to use films to create new stories for the worlds established in books. These last few months I have seen some movies that did just that. Here are a few examples.

These books give the back stories of some of the legends we've grown up with from our childhood, like the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. However the time came when a movie was adapted from these books. This was the result:

It is definitely something to sit down and watch. This film didn't try to adapt the stories of all the books into one. Instead the film's plot takes place after the books have occurred, in the present day. I will spare you the details of what happens in the movie so if you still haven't seen it nothing gets ruined. I did some research and found out the author was involved in the making of this movie, and he was trying to make it a new story. I say he did a good job.

This book, also by the author of The Guardians of Childhood, is one I haven't been able to look into yet. However this book was also adapted into a great movie. In case you're wondering which one, here it is:

I would definitely recommend seeing this movie if you haven't already. From what I was able to find out online the book had a different story from the film, yet from what I found out it almost seems like the Leaf Men were still living out their lives when the events of the film unfold. Both Epic and Rise of the Guardians were well received, financially and critically. There's just one more movie I'd like to mention:

This movie is supposed to be the backstory of the all famous Wizard of Oz. From what I've heard it uses several elements mentioned in the books yet it still seems to be an original story expanding a well-established universe. I plan to see this film this weekend so I'll let you go now so you can work on whatever it is you plan to do. Thank you for your time.

Should story adaptations always be the same?

I've heard a lot of negative comments over the last two years of certain books and stories being adapted into films. A lot of the times the plots are different from the original source material and people use that to decide that the films are no good. That isn't always the case though. Let me show you some examples of films adapted from stories that did very well.

From what my friends have told me if they had stuck one-hundred percent true to the book it would not have done as well.

Ah yes, the classic story. True it stayed very true to the original fairy tale. However there were a few things taken out, like the Queen's first two attempts to murder Snow White via a poisoned comb and a poisoned corset. Also in the original story the Queen died when she screamed so loud she broke a blood vessel while in the film she fell to her death off a cliff with a boulder following in pursuit.

Very big differences from the source material here. Elements of mysticism and high fantasy in the film adaptation of the beloved children's book. Nevertheless the film did an outstanding job.

Now you're probably wondering "Wait. This film stayed very true to the books! Why is he posting it here?" Yes it's true that this film stayed very true to the books. However there were some differences between the original novels and the films. The incident involving Tom Bombadil was never featured in the films. Also the encounter with Shelob happened in The Two Towers, not The Return of the King. If films had to stay completely true to the books then these films should've been hated.

Last one. I promise. This film adaptation was definitely a big success, yet it too was very different from the book. There were fifteen dinosaur species in the book and only seven were shown in the film. Also two of the films species were not featured in the first book. There was also a major plot element where the characters see Velociraptors sneaking onto the boat and they try to call in to let the people know what's happening. That was completely scrapped from the film.
One thing we could possibly look at with film adaptations of books and stories is if they capture the spirit of the original tales or not. That was how the author of How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell, looked at the film of her book. Diana Wynne Jones knew that the adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, yet she was okay with that. I've been thinking that maybe we go to the movies expecting to see the books. Maybe we shouldn't. There probably comes a time when a story will need to be re-imagined. After all the original fairy tales we grew up with were edited and changed because the original versions could get pretty dark and graphic. I doubt parents would allow children to read or see a Cinderella story where the stepsisters cut off their heels to try and make the slipper fit. Maybe one of the keys to re-imagining a story is to stay true to the spirit it had. The time will come when we will need to re-imagine our stories. If not they will most likely not survive to entertain the next generation.

Through Heaven's Eyes

I know I'm behind on blogging, and I apologize. To make it up to you, I've attached one of my favorite songs from a great movie.

This song, from The Prince of Egypt, is a movie from Dreamworks that was released in 1999. This movie is a retelling of the story of Moses, who in the Bible freed the Israelites from the power of the Egyptians. This song here is where Moses learns that things most people consider important, like money or power, are not that important in life.
What I like about this song is that it shows that some of the stuff we take for granted, like food and water, are more important than fame or wealth. I've been raised on the lessons that what we do in life and how we treat others is far more important than having a lot of cool gizmos. I feel like this is one song I will never forget.