[MAJOR SPOILERS] My opinions on HTTYD3 - DO NOT READ if you haven
Posted: 03 Jan 2019, 02:40
Edit: Title cut off. It's supposed to say this:
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET!
Heya all. So I haven't been on these forums in a LOOONG time (to my shame), but of course, with the release of Dragons 3, I just wanted to post my thoughts upon initial watching.
So, I want to begin by saying that the film isn't bad. I enjoyed a lot of it - the graphics, as we've come to expect from the HTTYD series, are spectacular and even somewhat of an improvement upon number 2. The characters who we know and love have continued to grow and develop, and are still interesting and, in the case of all of Hiccup and Astrid's peer group, serve as effective comic relief (Tuffnut as a particularly striking example - the sooner we get a "Tuffnut with 'beard'" emoticon, the better). The non-comedy characters, those mostly being Eret, Valka and Astrid, are played effectively, in an emotionally compelling manner. And the Light Fury was an interesting, if a little timid, character.
However, despite all of this good, I still left the cinema disappointed.
There may be some reasons for this - perhaps I let the hype get to me, and my expectations could thus never align with reality, or maybe I'm growing into an old and cynical grump. I don't know, really. But for whatever reason, I found myself disappointed.
There were some minor things which I did find disappointing. For one, while the character of Grimmel is absolutely awesome in terms of execution - he carries with him the air of a ruthless, single-minded killer which he is made out to be - he seems a little bit like a cut and paste villain to me. He is a Night Fury killer, but beyond the adoration of his village as he explains during the third act of the film, he never really shows a reason for his activity and beliefs. Additionally, he possesses what could definitely be described as "MacGuffin juice" - a serum from a particularly dangerous breed of dragon (not sure they're ever named) which acts both as a tranquilizer and as a form of mind control for said dragons (though it is also multi-purposed for other dragons too, as we see when he uses it on the Light Fury). Now, the fact this MacGuffin juice exists is reasonable given the story - Toothless is the Alpha, if he can just command Grimmel's dragons, then the reason for them existing is kind of forfeit, but it is still incredibly convenient for the antagonist.
The secondary antagonists as well were kind of paper-thin. I get it, they don't want to introduce too many new characters with depths and backstories. But beyond the incredibly nebulous aim of "taking over the world", they aren't given much depth. They appear to have been loosely affiliated with Drago Bludvist, and are definitely multi-ethnic - one, I would say, is Slavic, there's a woman who I would have pinned as Celtic, and there's a guy from where I can only assume is Japan - but beyond that and some very basic details about their personalities, they never really get fleshed out. Certainly, Grimmel was the main antagonist, it was his aims that the protagonists were working against, but I felt that they could have been given more attention without detracting too much from Grimmel's storyline.
I will also mention the music. Now, I am a MAJOR fan of John Powell's music, and I really think that he is one of the greatest composers in the modern age, and I know that sometimes you need to watch a film a second or third time just listening to the music to get a good understanding of it - heck, I never heard the best parts of HTTYD1 until a few viewings in - but I don't really feel like the innovation that we saw in the first two films was really there. In the first film, we were introduced to a lot of motifs that made their way into the whole series, and the music made a major impact on the story, and in the second, we were introduced to new motifs and reintroduced to old ones. But in 3, I didn't hear any new motifs. That in itself isn't too bad, but the use of the older ones also didn't grab me in the same ways as they did in 1 and 2. I did hear a rumour that John Powell was really tight for time on this one, which is why many moons ago there was talk going around about him not even scoring the third one, and so if that's the case, it's understandable, but even so, it could have been a tad better.
However, my main qualm with the film was the ending. I had resigned myself long ago to the idea I would be crying at the ending to this film. I originally signed the petition to change the planned ending, but I rescinded my signing - I wanted to be affected emotionally, I actually wanted an ending that really made me cry. At least, either that, or to find a way to make the ending happy. What we got, I think, wasn't really either or a mix of both... It was odd, seeing the crying on the screen as characters I had become extremely emotionally invested with part ways, and yet my eyes were entirely dry. It didn't feel as weighty as it should have done. Whatever happened in the film, it should have carried with it immense weight - this has to happen, there's no other way, and we saw a bit of that - Berk became overpopulated with dragons, it was starting to show up on the radar of other antagonistic figures, but I never quite felt that the decision to split them up was ever truly one that had to be taken, and I think that lessened the blow. It felt more like it was a matter of "we have to split them up, so let's find a way to do that" rather than "I have an incredible and emotional idea, and that involves splitting them up". The former can work, and I would have thought that in the hands of DeBlois it would have worked, but it just fell short for me.
I really don't know... Like I said before, maybe my expectations were unreasonably high, and that's why it fell short. I came into the films with low expectations, being a fan of the books and aware of the common adage that book films are rarely as good as the source material, and I absolutely adored the first. But then again, I expected high things from number 2 as well, and actually, despite what many reviewers have to say, I adored that too. It remains a classic, maybe not as amazing as number 1, but certainly good. However, this one just didn't hit that spot for me. I'm reading lots of '100%' reviews, others that say it's "almost perfect". I never listen to reviews, as what I go into a film for is different to what most people go in for, but I expected to love this film, and yet I'm not really in love with it.
I will also state that the end bit really confused me. This is REALLY spoiler-y territory, so even if you have read the rest of the post despite me telling you not to, turn back now if you don't want to have it spoiled too.
When Hiccup and Astrid pilot a boat out with their kids (adorable, by the way) to see Toothless and his Light Fury lover and THEIR kids (pretty adorable also), there's a moment when Toothless really doesn't recognise Hiccup. Now, I get it. At LEAST, seven years have passed, maybe more, judging by the age of the kids. Given that Hiccup and Toothless were only together for around six years (five from 1 to 2, one from 2 to 3) it's a bit understandable that there would be some haziness. But for Pete's sake, Hiccup's got a really notable voice, actually says "bud", and doesn't look all that different save for the beard. Eventually, Toothless does recognise Hiccup, but that lack of comprehension really doesn't bode well for the future in-universe. I dislike films where you can tell that things won't be getting better, but unless Hiccup now visits Toothless once a year, maybe a little less, I'm not sure as the memory greys that Toothless will continue to recognise probably the most important human in his life, let alone his kids.
Yeah, I don't know. Maybe my opinion is that of an extreme minority, and maybe it sounds like I'm just complaining. I really wanted to love this film, by all intents and purposes I should have loved this film, and the fact that I don't is a bit jarring to me. This does not colour my opinions of the cast, crew, creative team, etc., who I still think are amazing, but at the same time, it's weird having all of this disappointment.
Please, don't hate me for my opinions. For the most part, I can't change them alone. I will likely watch the film again at least once, and maybe my opinions will change then, and if anyone has any counter-opinions that they think are relevant, I would be happy to listen to them, and I want to. I want to love this film. I just... Don't.
So what do you all (who have watched the film) think about it? And if someone who hasn't watched it actually made it this far DESPITE MY INSTRUCTIONS, then I'd be interested to see if this colours your perception of the film positively or negatively. And yes, I know, I'm one guy on the internet writing about a film, my opinion hardly means anything, but I just felt I needed to share my opinions, to see if anyone else agreed. Not that much can be done about it, but just because really. Have a great day, watch the film if you haven't, and stay classy Forumvine.
Now, time for me to stop lurking.
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET!
Heya all. So I haven't been on these forums in a LOOONG time (to my shame), but of course, with the release of Dragons 3, I just wanted to post my thoughts upon initial watching.
So, I want to begin by saying that the film isn't bad. I enjoyed a lot of it - the graphics, as we've come to expect from the HTTYD series, are spectacular and even somewhat of an improvement upon number 2. The characters who we know and love have continued to grow and develop, and are still interesting and, in the case of all of Hiccup and Astrid's peer group, serve as effective comic relief (Tuffnut as a particularly striking example - the sooner we get a "Tuffnut with 'beard'" emoticon, the better). The non-comedy characters, those mostly being Eret, Valka and Astrid, are played effectively, in an emotionally compelling manner. And the Light Fury was an interesting, if a little timid, character.
However, despite all of this good, I still left the cinema disappointed.
There may be some reasons for this - perhaps I let the hype get to me, and my expectations could thus never align with reality, or maybe I'm growing into an old and cynical grump. I don't know, really. But for whatever reason, I found myself disappointed.
There were some minor things which I did find disappointing. For one, while the character of Grimmel is absolutely awesome in terms of execution - he carries with him the air of a ruthless, single-minded killer which he is made out to be - he seems a little bit like a cut and paste villain to me. He is a Night Fury killer, but beyond the adoration of his village as he explains during the third act of the film, he never really shows a reason for his activity and beliefs. Additionally, he possesses what could definitely be described as "MacGuffin juice" - a serum from a particularly dangerous breed of dragon (not sure they're ever named) which acts both as a tranquilizer and as a form of mind control for said dragons (though it is also multi-purposed for other dragons too, as we see when he uses it on the Light Fury). Now, the fact this MacGuffin juice exists is reasonable given the story - Toothless is the Alpha, if he can just command Grimmel's dragons, then the reason for them existing is kind of forfeit, but it is still incredibly convenient for the antagonist.
The secondary antagonists as well were kind of paper-thin. I get it, they don't want to introduce too many new characters with depths and backstories. But beyond the incredibly nebulous aim of "taking over the world", they aren't given much depth. They appear to have been loosely affiliated with Drago Bludvist, and are definitely multi-ethnic - one, I would say, is Slavic, there's a woman who I would have pinned as Celtic, and there's a guy from where I can only assume is Japan - but beyond that and some very basic details about their personalities, they never really get fleshed out. Certainly, Grimmel was the main antagonist, it was his aims that the protagonists were working against, but I felt that they could have been given more attention without detracting too much from Grimmel's storyline.
I will also mention the music. Now, I am a MAJOR fan of John Powell's music, and I really think that he is one of the greatest composers in the modern age, and I know that sometimes you need to watch a film a second or third time just listening to the music to get a good understanding of it - heck, I never heard the best parts of HTTYD1 until a few viewings in - but I don't really feel like the innovation that we saw in the first two films was really there. In the first film, we were introduced to a lot of motifs that made their way into the whole series, and the music made a major impact on the story, and in the second, we were introduced to new motifs and reintroduced to old ones. But in 3, I didn't hear any new motifs. That in itself isn't too bad, but the use of the older ones also didn't grab me in the same ways as they did in 1 and 2. I did hear a rumour that John Powell was really tight for time on this one, which is why many moons ago there was talk going around about him not even scoring the third one, and so if that's the case, it's understandable, but even so, it could have been a tad better.
However, my main qualm with the film was the ending. I had resigned myself long ago to the idea I would be crying at the ending to this film. I originally signed the petition to change the planned ending, but I rescinded my signing - I wanted to be affected emotionally, I actually wanted an ending that really made me cry. At least, either that, or to find a way to make the ending happy. What we got, I think, wasn't really either or a mix of both... It was odd, seeing the crying on the screen as characters I had become extremely emotionally invested with part ways, and yet my eyes were entirely dry. It didn't feel as weighty as it should have done. Whatever happened in the film, it should have carried with it immense weight - this has to happen, there's no other way, and we saw a bit of that - Berk became overpopulated with dragons, it was starting to show up on the radar of other antagonistic figures, but I never quite felt that the decision to split them up was ever truly one that had to be taken, and I think that lessened the blow. It felt more like it was a matter of "we have to split them up, so let's find a way to do that" rather than "I have an incredible and emotional idea, and that involves splitting them up". The former can work, and I would have thought that in the hands of DeBlois it would have worked, but it just fell short for me.
I really don't know... Like I said before, maybe my expectations were unreasonably high, and that's why it fell short. I came into the films with low expectations, being a fan of the books and aware of the common adage that book films are rarely as good as the source material, and I absolutely adored the first. But then again, I expected high things from number 2 as well, and actually, despite what many reviewers have to say, I adored that too. It remains a classic, maybe not as amazing as number 1, but certainly good. However, this one just didn't hit that spot for me. I'm reading lots of '100%' reviews, others that say it's "almost perfect". I never listen to reviews, as what I go into a film for is different to what most people go in for, but I expected to love this film, and yet I'm not really in love with it.
I will also state that the end bit really confused me. This is REALLY spoiler-y territory, so even if you have read the rest of the post despite me telling you not to, turn back now if you don't want to have it spoiled too.
When Hiccup and Astrid pilot a boat out with their kids (adorable, by the way) to see Toothless and his Light Fury lover and THEIR kids (pretty adorable also), there's a moment when Toothless really doesn't recognise Hiccup. Now, I get it. At LEAST, seven years have passed, maybe more, judging by the age of the kids. Given that Hiccup and Toothless were only together for around six years (five from 1 to 2, one from 2 to 3) it's a bit understandable that there would be some haziness. But for Pete's sake, Hiccup's got a really notable voice, actually says "bud", and doesn't look all that different save for the beard. Eventually, Toothless does recognise Hiccup, but that lack of comprehension really doesn't bode well for the future in-universe. I dislike films where you can tell that things won't be getting better, but unless Hiccup now visits Toothless once a year, maybe a little less, I'm not sure as the memory greys that Toothless will continue to recognise probably the most important human in his life, let alone his kids.
Yeah, I don't know. Maybe my opinion is that of an extreme minority, and maybe it sounds like I'm just complaining. I really wanted to love this film, by all intents and purposes I should have loved this film, and the fact that I don't is a bit jarring to me. This does not colour my opinions of the cast, crew, creative team, etc., who I still think are amazing, but at the same time, it's weird having all of this disappointment.
Please, don't hate me for my opinions. For the most part, I can't change them alone. I will likely watch the film again at least once, and maybe my opinions will change then, and if anyone has any counter-opinions that they think are relevant, I would be happy to listen to them, and I want to. I want to love this film. I just... Don't.
So what do you all (who have watched the film) think about it? And if someone who hasn't watched it actually made it this far DESPITE MY INSTRUCTIONS, then I'd be interested to see if this colours your perception of the film positively or negatively. And yes, I know, I'm one guy on the internet writing about a film, my opinion hardly means anything, but I just felt I needed to share my opinions, to see if anyone else agreed. Not that much can be done about it, but just because really. Have a great day, watch the film if you haven't, and stay classy Forumvine.
Now, time for me to stop lurking.