1. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Fox/Dreamworks, 4,253 Theaters, 102 Minutes, Rated PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor): So, I have a confession to make. I did not expect the first How to Train Your Dragon to be such a hit. I thought that mix of dragons and vikings would be too esoteric for the kids, and it would surely fail at the box office.
It appears that I underestimated the popularity of that pairing and the quality and craftsmanship Dreamworks puts into its films. That film made almost $500 million worldwide, which is enough for a sequel.
This time around, the war between the dragons and the vikings is over. However, the peace becomes uneasy as a new enemy threatens the partnership between the two. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) must find a way to lead his people and defeat the enemy, a job he’s not sure he wants to do.
Jonah Hill returns in this one as Snotlout. If you hate Hill, well, sorry, because…
2. 22 Jump Street (Sony/Columbia, 3,306 Theaters, 112 Minutes, Rated R for language throughout, sexual content, drug material, brief nudity and some violence): …because he’s in this one too! There’s no escaping Jonah Hill this week!
21 Jump Street benefited from Jonah Hill’s and Channing Tatum’s stars rising at the same time. One thinks that if the film arrived a couple years earlier, it would have died on the vine.
This time, the pair have graduated to college, still chasing down designer drugs, still squabbling like an old married couple. The question once again becomes what will happen first, will the partnership dissolve or will they catch the bad guys.
I wonder what will happen if this film becomes a hit. Because I don’t see these guys easily being able to fit into grad school.
New Releases: June 12, 2014 http://t.co/R8jLaWmj6c