Isaac's Film Reviews

Full of hiccups Film review by Isaac Handelman DreamWorks Animation surprised everyone with 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon . The animation studio, which had previously played a constant second fiddle to Pixar in terms of critical acclaim, struck gold with the rousing tale of a young viking’s unlikely bond with a rare breed of dragon. DreamWorks finally saw the sort of widespread adoration that its rival studio had been accustomed to since the days of Toy Story . Alas, the straightforwardly titled How to Train Your Dragon 2 is no Toy Story 2 , suffering from a host of issues that keep it from soaring alongside its predecessor. But the film’s visuals are not among its missteps. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is an absolute visual delight, and a showcase for the advancements made by modern CGI-animation. Every object in the film has an almost tangible texture, from the crashing, salty waters of the sea to the beautiful, scaly exteriors of the film’s multitude of creatively design...

Confident comedy Film review by Isaac Handelman “Nobody cared about the Jump Street reboot,” Deputy Chief Hardy declares to buddy cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) near the start of 22 Jump Street, before clarifying, “but you got lucky.” Whether or not it was dumb luck that landed the Jump Street property in the favor of paying audiences, the booming success of 2012’s out-of-nowhere comedic reboot of the 80s television series has found itself the harbinger of a franchise. 22 Jump Street is a film that understands what it means to be a successor, and it utilizes this understanding to become a true cinematic anomaly: a good comedy sequel . Rather than doing so by tossing conventions out the window, 22 Jump Street chooses instead to subvert cliches by adhering to them in clever, unexpected ways, while throwing in a myriad of unexpected twists on the formula. Take the setup, for instance: Schmidt and Jenko are causing too much trouble on the streets, so their ...