Monday, July 28, 2014

Top 5, Bottom 5: DreamWorks

This week, I watched my 20th movie from DreamWorks Animation, so I figured I'd celebrate with a Top 5, Bottom 5 list. DreamWorks really is ALL over the place with me, with my top 5 being dearly loved and my bottom 5 being... dearly hated. So here we go. All ratings are out of 2184 movies.

Top 5:
1. The Prince of Egypt (1998, #49). I think this is the best Bible-themed movie I've ever seen. The animation is lovely, the music is incredible, and it tells one of my favorite stories in a very powerful way.
2. Shrek (2001, #90). I do think this movie is fairly funny, but mostly it's in my top 5 because I absolutely adore the love story. It's so rare to see a movie where the girl gets the guy while being conventionally unattractive, and it's heartwarming and makes me very happy.
3. Chicken Run (2000, #140). There's just something fun and silly about this movie. The jokes all work, all the way through.
4. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, #205). While the Wallace and Gromit shorts are still my favorite, this is a pretty solid long-form version. It's great fun.
5. Rise of the Guardians (2012, #376). Possibly my favorite animated movie from 2012, I think this movie is severely underrated. The animation is astonishingly beautiful, the story is solid, the voice acting is engaging (Jude Law makes a GREAT villain), and it's just wonderfully creative. #376 is probably too low for this flick, because I really do love it a lot.

Bottom 5:
5. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002, #1915). I found this a horrifically boring movie, even for a movie about horses.
4. Joseph: King of Dreams (2000, #1945). DreamWorks' second attempt at a Biblical story told via animation did not go as well as their first. It was dull, had no memorable music at all, and the voice acting was bland.
3. Antz (1998, #1979). I'm not the biggest fan of A Bug's Life, but it was certainly better than this, which is a cheesy, awkward, unfunny movie that goes in too many directions and doesn't do well with any of them.
2. Shark Tale (2004, #1992). This movie exemplifies everything that DreamWorks gets wrong when it does get it wrong. The animation is creepy, the characters are obnoxious, the jokes are all pop culture references that are instantly dated.
1. Shrek the Third (2007, #2047). But even Shark Tale is not as bad as Shrek the Third, which does all that times a thousand. As you can see, I love the first Shrek movie, and I'm OK with the second. This one is just... awful and stupid.

What are your favorite DreamWorks movies?

2 comments:

  1. I would definitely have How To Train Your Dragon 1 and 2 at the top of my list. I always forget Prince of Egypt was done by Dreamworks. That would probably be my number 3, I love one too.

    I didn't mind Shark Tale though. I actually thought that Carwash cover was pretty catchy.

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  2. I haven't seen How to Train Your Dragon 2 yet, but I do like the first one pretty well -- just not as much as my top five.

    The Car Wash cover is definitely the best thing about Shark Tale for me. I forgot that came from there. I do love that cover.

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