A Welcome Reprieve

Finally, Dreamworks Animation is on the right track.

I like watching most of the movies that they've produced. They're good for laughs, and they are worth several viewings, but the animated movies that they make usually depend on a lot of slapstick humor, littered with a bazillion pop culture references... and offer nothing more than that. Besides The Prince of Egypt, I cannot recall any animated movie that they have produced that truly resonates. Their movies are obviously well made, but they are the type of movies that you would forget after a few months. Most movies made by Pixar, on the other hand, are considered classics. Those movies can truly affect a viewer, they can elicit the right emotions. Their animated efforts are the type of movies that you won't mind watching again and again and again. They have mastered the art of making animated movies through the years, and they have the key ingredient that all the movies produced by other studios lack. Pixar movies have heart.

How To Train Your Dragon leaves all the slapstick humor behind. This time, jokes aren't on the forefront. For a change, their primary goal is to tell a story. Sure, there are jokes inserted here and there, but eliciting laughter from the audience doesn't seem to be the primary concern now. And the funny scenes blend well with the plot--- those scenes don't feel forced anymore. As always, the animation is top notch, and those flying sequences can be really breathtaking when seen in 3D. But the emphasis on the story this time around is what makes it really stand out. It's so different from their usual movies that it's such a welcome reprieve. The movie is not quite a classic yet--- a more original and less derivative storyline could make that difference, but at least the studio is now headed towards the right direction. The upcoming Shrek movie shows that old habits die hard, but I'm hoping that their future movies would be more like this one. Finally, there's a studio that could possibly stand next to the mighty Pixar.