q_fonz

To answer your question in short, I still do think the first two movies are better plot-wise. 

But here, let me just list out my overall thoughts, and I’ll let you be the judge:

It keeps the whimsical nature of the first two movies, and I appreciate that a lot.

Animation obviously has improved over the years, and this movie follows that trend. Really well animated imo

I can’t remember the soundtrack very much… maybe because I was too involved in watching but I can’t remember a specific new motif or theme in the soundtrack, unlike the second movie

I think the movie tries to accomplish/tell a lot of the story in a little amount of time. And because of that it suffers from a bit of a pacing issue. I’m not just saying that the story feels fast; there are also some other elements I wish it would have elaborated on more.

The HTTYD series hasn’t had the best antagonists, and I think Grimmel (?) falls under that category. Honestly, I think you could rewrite the film without him and still have the same kind of ending. He is the villain, true, but he’s not a very memorable one.

Along the line of that, I think the first movie still stands out to me the most. The later sequels have pretty clear-defined antagonists, which unfortunately kind of lays the path for having one of those too predictable storylines, but this one I feel even more so than the second movie. 

But I guess at the same time, this is supposed to be a coming-of-age story for Hiccup, so can you do that a different way? Having him face bigger and bigger threats that challenge him more each time and then having him grow from each of these threats? It makes sense right? So I’ll accept it, since I can’t think of an alternative right now. 

Also, this is a PG movie so it can’t be overly dark. And I kind of wish it was to be honest. play with my feels more yes but as it stands, it feels a bit… too family-friendly. 

It assumes knowledge of the first two movies – now, obviously you might be thinking, this is part of a trilogy, of course it does. And I agree, but I’m just thinking about those people whose memory of those movies may be very dim or those who just haven’t watched the previous movies. I asked myself, would they enjoy this movie? And I came to the conclusion that maybe not as much. Which is a shame because I think the majority of those that do see this movie in theatres will be in this category.

That being said, I still got major feels from the points in the movie where I was supposed to get them – so I guess in that regard, it succeeds. I love the feels. I hope the others felt them too.

There were some moments in the movie where the whole audience laughed – I can’t remember exactly when but I remember one moment was about what Hiccup said.

There’s no major updates to character design (unlike from HTTYD1 to 2) but dang I think the characters are at their best yet. Especially Hiccup – what a chief.

The ending! omg

baby!Hiccup is the c u t e s t I cannot deal 

so tl;dr it’s still a good movie, but personally I don’t think it beats 1 and 2. But as someone who’s followed this series for almost a decade now, I’m just very happy to see the progression of Hiccup’s growth and how it all ends.

The Good:

I'm 20! Thank you to everyone who wished me a good birthday. I did have a good day, and even though I don't feel any different than before, it's still nice to finally start the second decade of my life. (I know; some of you are sneering at me because I'm so young. Well, I'm also laughing at you because you're so old. Hah.) 

I'm at a good point now where I can say that I've made a few good friends, and we do meet often enough to talk and do fun activities together. Also, these friends come from all sorts of different backgrounds, but shared common interests allows for bonding. It's good to meet people who are similar to me and at the same time, respect my own interests. (Believe it or not, I find this to be very challenging, which may be why it's actually taken this long since I've moved out to actually start up my social life...) It may be corny to say, but I do feel as if my life has gained a new meaning. I am constantly being exposed to different viewpoints, and at the same time, able to share my own experiences, which results in building friendships that (I hope) last for a very long time.

Can't talk about new friends without talking about old ones. I'm also very happy to continue to keep in touch with some people. It's good to know that you also have an interest in keeping our friendship alive, and knowing that I also am bad at reaching out, I am eternally grateful that you still do for me. Trust me when I say I appreciate it. It may not always show, but I really do.

In addition, as you may or may not be aware of, I have officially confirmed my program in university; I'm majoring in international management, with a concentration in international business. Over the summer, I was successfully able to transfer into the Bachelor of Commerce program, and while it's still not "easy" by any means, I do enjoy it so far, more so than last year's classes. And so I do believe this is a step in the right direction for me.

I've also received word of some good news recently (and hopefully some more things to come), which I am super excited to share about as soon as everything can be confirmed!

The Bad:

Here's the thing: just because I'm majoring in something doesn't mean I'm going to necessarily be doing that thing post-graduation. This leads to a whole other discussion about how I see myself in the future, etc. Not something I want to be thinking about quite yet (and something I need to train myself to not do.) Let's not pressure me about my future, and just focus on day-to-day things, eh?

If the me from two years ago could see the me today, I would slap myself. I'm not going to elaborate more on this, but this is for me and I know what this means. [Life lesson to learn: some things are inevitable. Acknowledge it, accept it, move on.]

Shorter daylight, first snow: causes for the onset of seasonal affective disorder. Meh.

This may seem like a minor thing, but I've actually felt a lot of my creativity drop recently, resulting in a lower post rate on social media. Less concerned about the social media though, more concerned about my creative abilities. Because photography used to be something that I had such a passion for, and now I even have to force myself to bring my (phone) camera out to use? I don't know how many photo opportunities I've missed already just because I had a lack of desire to take out my camera. I like to use pictures to visually document memories, just like most other people, but I'm afraid with the way it's going, I'm not going to remember much from this time period of my life... [sad face]

I know it's already near the end of the term anyway, but my motivation is quickly dropping and I don't want to have to go through my finals. I'm just not excited for many of things that I have to face within the upcoming few months, you feel?-Is my life in balance now in all respects? Nope, not even close. While it is better than before, I still have much to improve on. (And with limited time and motivation in a day, it seriously is hard to factor everything in.)

The Ugly: 

The weather. Ugliest thing to exist. I don't need more for this section; this hopefully tells you how much I hate the weather.

tl;dr first semester of second year of university life here in Montreal is coming to a close soon. Compared to last year, I am much happier now with my decision to go to McGill. I recognize the many opportunities it has for me, and I realize that if I hadn't chosen the decisions I have, I wouldn't be where I am today, surrounded by many good people, and overall, just very fortunate. Sure, I can probably list enough complaints to even tire myself out, I do think that right now, this very exact moment, is one of the most beautiful moments in life. And I sincerely hope future me can remember this feeling.