Quote:
Originally Posted by mgrant
I don't think Dreamworks will ever be the animation powerhouse Pixar is, but I do think they give Pixar a healthy dose of competition, which is always a good thing.
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Well who knows, their movies are getting in the caliber that Pixar's earlier movies were and I actually prefer most of their character animation and design over Pixar's. Toothless and Megamind are especially dynamic and expressive, much more so than any main character Pixar has ever done. It's like, almost anywhere you would pause in a scene with those two you get a face and/or pose full of expression and livelyness. (and to me, Pixar's best character design and animation has been in Wall-E) Of course, I shouldn't even be comparing them since they're so different of styles, but still.
I think I like to rate movies more on actual grades, since I think that suits my opinions best. Pixar has always been in the A's and A plusses to me, (with the exception of Cars and A Bug's Life, which to me get C's or C minuses at best) and Dreamworks has, after Prince of Egypt, (which was an A) tinkered on the C's and D's, sometimes getting an F here and there with movies like Shrek 3, (Kung Fu Panda gets a B minus) but this year they've moved to the B's or B plusses with their two major movies. Not counting Shrek 4, which I assume is bad, though I heard it's better than the third at least. I'll watch it eventually. But anyway, it's possible if they keep it up and learn from what they do right and wrong that they'll move to A's, and that's when they'll be on the level of Pixar for me.
Maybe they won't make as much money and recognition, but if their movies are just as powerful with their emotions as Pixar's are and they reek of actual effort every time, then it's all good with me. Megamind got pretty close, it really tried but, since it was mainly made to be a comedic movie, they couldn't have possibly made it too powerful, but it was still nice and subtle with their sad scenes. That scene in the rain, for example, was fantastic because they actually relied on facial expressions and the general feel of the atmosphere instead of heavy use of words to describe the emotions the character was feeling, which is a first for Dreamworks. The climax scene however, was totally emotional for a completely different reason, I know I got butterflies in my stomach because of it. (the "PRESENTATION!" scene I mean, I can't say anything more than that because it's a spoiler, but people who've seen it will know what I'm talking about)
I don't know what's going to happen though, it seems like it's going to be a slow year next year for both Pixar and Dreamworks, which would be a shame after such a year of good animated movies. I mean, there's Cars 2, which I don't think can possibly be better than the first, which was IMO, the worst movie Pixar has ever done, (not necessarily bad, though) but who knows. And then there's Kung Fu Panda 2. I thought the first one was good, but it wasn't anything spectacular, and if this sequel ends up being better and not another obvious money-milker like Shrek 2 and Madagascar I'll be pleasantly surprised.