KIDS FIRST! News

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Reviewed by Haley P., Age 11, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic

The movie How to Train Your Dragon 2 is absolutely spectacular and even more improved than the first one.  It is a battle between peace and dragon domination or in today’s world, as I see it, the battle between good and evil.  This movie is definitely a mind blowing journey and I love it.

The plot begins when Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Toothless (Randy Thom) go exploring.  They find an old city that looks like an ice explosion and run into unfriendly dragon trappers who try to attack them and steal Toothless.  They claim that a man named Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou) is going to overcome all the dragons and achieve world domination.  Bludvist is a very evil man.  However, Hiccup has some peace making he wants to do with Drago instead.  The good in Hiccup makes him want to restore peace in the land.  Hiccup’s determination for peace costs him both happiness and disappointment. However, in the end Hiccup finds out what his true destiny is.

My favorite part is when Hiccup runs into his long lost mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett).  Everything immediately falls right into place.  It turns out that Hiccup receives his peace making personality and love for dragons from his mother. They have a lot of things in common with each other.

All the dragons, I mean characters do a fabulous job and play each part well.  My favorite human character is Hiccup because he is determined to make peace and show that dragons can be as loyal as humans. My favorite dragon character is Toothless. He proves his loyalty and stands up for Hiccup no matter what it may cost.  The moral of this story is not to judge someone negatively before you get to really know him.

This movie is a good fit for ages 8 through 18.  Both boys and girls will enjoy this action packed movie because it includes emotion as well as adventure with many unexpected turn of events. Therefore, I rate this movie a five out of five “dazzling” stars!  How to Train your Dragon 2 is playing in theaters now.

Maleficent
by Shelby R., age 15, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic

I love this movie because the costumes, special effects and cinematography are absolutely phenomenal.  The costumes send a message to the audience starting with lighter colors when things are happy to dark colors when evil appears.  Maleficent’s costume is the best.  I like her black flowing cape in the middle of her wings and her pointed horns on her head.  She looks so evil in all black yet stunning at the same time.

The cinematography is breath-taking, especially in the scene where the younger version of Maleficent flies throughout the forest kingdom. You can see all the beautiful waterfalls, the “fat people”-as Aurora calls them, field animals and trees. It is in 3D which allows you to feel as if you are flying though the sky with big majestic wings and looking down at all the little creatures smiling below.

This 3D action-packed film shows Maleficent’s transformation from a good fairy into an evil, cold-hearted fairy with no wings. Her lover, Stephen cuts her wings so that he can become King and so she plans her revenge by cursing his daughter, Princess Aurora. Later, Maleficent realizes that she made a mistake and tries to reverse the curse before it is too late.

My favorite scene is when Maleficent comes into King Stephen’s kingdom and curses Aurora. There are lots of special effects in this scene and I love how powerful and dramatic they are. Angeline Jolie’s portrayal of the evil side of Maleficent is particularly outstanding in this scene. My jaw dropped when I saw the lightening striking, the evil smoke surrounding her and the room darkens as she walks up to Stephen. I liked how everything about her is evil her evil – her laugh, makeup, costume and voice.

The message of the movie is that in life we all go through things that can make us hurt and desire revenge.  King Stephen became paranoid, evil and miserable trying to seek revenge on Maleficent.  As humans we have to make a decision to either allow our pain to be a strength or weakness. This movie also talks about how not all people are all bad but there are not all good too. I recommend this for ages 10 to 18 and give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.

Maleficent is in THEATERS NOW!! Remember being evil is complicated!

X-Men Days of Future Past
Reviewed by Keefer B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 13

X-traordinarily perfect! I’ve been waiting for this movie for a while and what a payoff.
The future, as we know it, is a wasteland for mutants: hunted and eliminated by the Sentinels. To stop this from ever happening, Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent into the past to prevent this dark outcome.

I adore the X-Men series and to see it again is beyond fantastic. Bringing back the original iconic actors such as Sir Patrick Stewart (Professor X) and Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto) makes me overjoyed! Even the younger versions of them – Micheal Fassbender and James McAvory are their own 3-dimensional characters because they’re not trying to be replicas of their older selves. Their interaction and relationships are strong and, just as in “X-Men First Class,” I love seeing Eric and Xavier just talking. These two started as friends and the film shows that perfectly. They have different pathways and ways to fix events but they never give up on each other.

The action and special effects in this film are grand. Showing different mutant powers is what made X-Men unique to begin with. It’s not entirely combat action, like “Avengers,” it’s more letting their powers do the work. Magneto slowly lifts an entire baseball stadium, which allows us to marvel at how powerful mutants can be.

The story is astounding! This film has to pick-up from the previous films and tie-up loose ends. Not only do they succeed but, they also remember little details. Example: the young Wolverine doesn’t have metal claws. They’re bone because he doesn’t get the metal ones until sometime in the future. Specifics like that add to how incredible this film is.
It can also confuse people who haven’t seen the other films. There are inside jokes and character connections that could be lost.

My favorite character is Quicksilver (Evan Peters), a mutant who has incredible speed.
This is by far the best representation of a comic-book character. Evan shows the mischievous and cocky side of Silver that is always a kick to watch.

My favorite scene is Quicksilver’s super speed sequence. This is when the team breaks Eric/Magneto out of a Pentagon prison and the group is cornered by security. Quicksilver, without a care in the world, pranks the guards by poking the bullets in mid-air, pulling their guns out of their hands and more. This is such an incredible ride that it just needs to be experienced.

The message of this film is, “Choices you make in the present, affect your future.” The whole reason for this story is that one careless act has changed the world forever. We need to think through the choices we make to have a bright future.

I give this 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to 13- to 18 year-olds. This film shows dark images and language that is not intended for younger audiences.

Even though this is a comedy, there are a lot of jokes that are somewhat mature so I recommend it for ages 12 to 18. I also give it 5 out 5 stars for good chemistry, comedy and great acting. I hope this is the beginning of many films with this amazing duo because their partnership clearly works. It gives the film that little something extra that makes for an instant blockbuster.