Astrid

16 May 2014, 13:44

Another review http://www.totalfilm.com/news/cannes-20 ... eview#null

Quote:

 

Darker, more emotionally complex and with suitably upped spectacle, it's easily DreamWorks' most mature and accomplished film yet. Like its predecessor (in which Hiccup and Toothless were both maimed during the finale) this is a universe that has real stakes and consequences, and as such the emotional gutpunches are all the more affecting.

eret

16 May 2014, 13:45

All these positive reviews are making me so happy I can't contain myself :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: Lets hope this positivity keeps going

Hiccupfriend

16 May 2014, 13:45

Astrid

16 May 2014, 13:44

Another review http://www.totalfilm.com/news/cannes-20 ... eview#null

Quote:

 

Darker, more emotionally complex and with suitably upped spectacle, it's easily DreamWorks' most mature and accomplished film yet. Like its predecessor (in which Hiccup and Toothless were both maimed during the finale) this is a universe that has real stakes and consequences, and as such the emotional gutpunches are all the more affecting.

This one is already in the list

Astrid

16 May 2014, 13:56

Positive review from Premiere (sorry it's in french and I don't have time to translate for now) http://www.premiere.fr/Cinema/News-Cine ... on-3999299
Basically they call the moie a masterpiece in the animation world.

Cartoon Freak

16 May 2014, 14:23

I won't lie: these reviews do give me some hope. I do wish they could be more specific (why, in the age of the internet, they can't provide a spoiler and non-spoiler review is beyond me), but such is life. The Telegraph's review does heighten my concerns about the film's pacing, but bad pacing is not necessarily a deal-breaker, even if it does hurt the film. If everything that needs to be done does get done (and that is still a big if), then the film might just manage to work.

Of course, the problem with film critics reviewing sequels is that they (quite rightly, given their profession) tend to judge the film in and of itself, rather than as a sequel. This can often lead to some harsher than necessary judgements (e.g. finding a particular plot element confusing when the forces behind it were explained clearly in a previous film), but it can also lead to them overlooking flaws that are mainly problems from going against the original.

And of course, the smaller the sample of reviews, the more likely you are to be looking mostly at outliers (the Telegraph's review, for instance, could be much closer to the final consensus than the other reviews we've seen), but that's one problem that will fix itself quite easily.

In short, my hopes are bumped up a notch (which doesn't exactly make them high, but it is something), but I do recommend we all avoid turning those into expectations. That is the path to disappointment.