1. Shrek (2001)
So go, so so good. Lovely idea of twisting all the best known fairytales and their common tropes making for a hilarious film which challenges its audience's expectations. I, as an introvert, enjoy seeing an introverted character who is endlessly happy as an introvert. Shrek 2 is also very good, especially with the addition of Puss, The Fairy Godmother and Charming, however after that the sequels become significantly poorer (and they're still getting made). It's very funny, enjoyable and endearing, but, to be honest, I doubt there are many people I need to tell that to because it seems as though everyone has seen and liked Shrek.
2. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
I haven't read the book that this film was adapted from, but my Dad said that the book doesn't even compare to the film (which is a nice change). It's a magical story for children and adults alike because little Hiccup gets to transcend his dreary world after discovering dragons (everyone's dream, right?) In addition to the story the film is so pretty pretty with flying scenes and the animation of the dragons being cat-like and really well researched (or as well researched as it can be for a fictional creature). The really odd mixture of adult Scots and American children makes no sense but I guess realism doesn't necessarily apply to this film. It's a wonderful film but I'm very glad it didn't come out when I was younger because my dragon obsession would have been fuelled no end.
3. The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Such an underrated film (I seem to keep mentioning underrated films on these lists) but this is one of the most charming and quotable comedies and not enough people quote it constantly (as me and my friends do). It's a very typical story about two men who go to El Dorado but then they realise that there is more to life than money...Slightly moralistic narrative but they get away with it because the friendship between Miguel and Tulio is phenomenal and perfect. The best thing about this film is the unrelenting humour however the jokes come thick and fast and you need to be paying attention because it is less slapstick an obvious than films such as Shrek. If you haven't seen this film, watch it with a friend because there can be a lot of joy in quoting Miguel and Tulio's lines at each other.
4. Antz (1998)
I watch Annie Hall this weekend and it was my first Woody Allen film with Woody Allen in it that I've seen, all I could think while watching the film was 'Oh my goodness, he's the voice of Z'. I had a lot of ants in my childhood, with this film and A Bug's Life, but I think this bug based movie was my favourite. It's one of the most oddly animated things ever, the antz look so weird but things like water and nature look really pretty. I love films that show a familiar world from a different perspective and Antz has a very memorable scene of a picnic from an ant's perspective and that kind of thing makes me happy. The final scene, trying not to give anything away, is wonderful and such a marvellous use of having so many ants (hint, hint, go watch the film!)
5. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Forget VeggieTales, Dreamworks knows how to tell a Biblical story. It's difficult to analyse this film because I don't know how truthful to the original text it is, and I don't necessarily care as long as the film is good, but I do feel as though religious interpretations should be honest to their texts because some people will get a warped understanding of religion. The people are fairly simply animated but the rest looks really beautiful, there is one sequence, where Moses splits the sea, when the animation is stunning. Moses does become very self-righteous, which is one of my pet-peeves in characters, although some may argue that he has the right to be. It's a great film and doesn't alienate anyone because of its religious context.
(P.S. I'm so sorry for how many brackets I've used. I don't know where this obsession began but hopefully the bag habit will end. It's probably due to my limiting of 5 sentences during reviews so maybe it will never end unless I stop my obsession with 5).
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