How to Train Your Dragon

Over the weekend I decided to try out the relatively new cinema at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherds Bush. The Vue there was claiming to have some Xtreme 3D Viewing experience that was reportedly pretty awesome. Here are my brief opinions after checking it out:

• The screen was fairly large but not as wide as I would have liked.
• The sound was pretty underwhelming.
• The seating was not that comfortable - the seats were narrower than I was expecting for a theatre of its purported caliber.
• The picture quality was above average. Especially for the UK.
• The interior was cavernous in a bad way.

So overall my experience with the Westfield Vue was pretty meh. However, as far as UK cinemas go, it was pretty good. It compared favorably with the Vue at Leicster Square. However, I came to the conclusion that I would much rather go to the HMV Curzon in Wimbledon. The picture quality is far superior. When it comes to sound, the Curzon crushes all competition. And finally, while the screens are much smaller I decided I really prefer the more intimate setting of the Curzon. So yeah, it is official. The HMV Curzon is my cinema of choice in the UK. This opinion is subject to change because I still haven't found the opportunity to try out the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill. I have a feeling it isn't going to quite measure up because it already has quite a few things working against it. This can be discussed in a later post after actually giving it a go though.

But now on to the main event. I wanted to give How to Train Your Dragon a go because way back in the day when I was on the audit grind at Dreamworks Animation, HTTYD was in development/pre-production and I was interested in seeing how the final product compared to the original concepts etc.

Newsflash, it was pretty damn good. Much better than I was expecting. I really enjoyed the story and how it steadily built to the climactic battle scene. Very good pacing. I also found the main character to be quite likeable and I was pulling for him from the start. I thought the 3D looked great. There were just a few parts where the depth of field was kind of messed up and the images looked flat. My only real complaint about the film was the Scottish accent of Gerard Butler. Since when do Vikings have heavy Scottish accents? It took a while for me to let this go and just sit back and enjoy the scenes which involved him speaking. While his accent may have bothered me, his beard most definitely did not. I loved the shape, texture, and enormity of it. Made me smile every time he came on screen.

The best part of the film though was the EPIC battle against the Queen Dragon. Jaw droppingly amazing. Those 5 minutes or so were totally worth the price of admission alone. Visually stunning. Took my breath away. Because of the 3D and the perspective, I felt like I was caught up right in the middle of it all. Seriously, go watch HTTYD for this scene alone. So enjoyable.

So for a quick little recap, the Westfield Vue? not as Xtreme as advertised. How to Train Your Dragon? much better than anticipated. Two thumbs up actually. Totally worth seeing in 3D.

Oh yeah, one more little bit I almost forgot. During the trailers before HTTYD, Sky ran a little ad for their new 3D channel that totally blew me away. They showed a ballet clip, a football (soccer) clip, and a rugby clip and I was absolutely stunned. If they can somehow make the real thing look as good as that ad did than I am fully on board the 3D TV bandwagon. Like I said in the sentence before, if they can guarantee that the real sports action looks as good as the probably staged sports action they showed than I will never want to watch another sporting event in 2D again. I may want to repeat myself for a third time. It looked that good. The added depth of field was mesmerizing. So it is with much more anticipation that I wait for the 3D TV saga to unfold.