Hey, guys! Today I will be counting down the top 10 DreamWorks movies of all time. For this list, I'll be talking about DreamWorks movies that I personally enjoyed the most. I will be discussing plot points, so a spoiler warning is in order. After reading the list, please let me know what DreamWorks movie you like the best. (It doesn't have to be one of the movies on the list. Everyone has different favorites.) Let's get started!
#10. Kung Fu Panda[]
We all know the famous movie about Po (Jack Black), the Dragon Warrior. To be 100% honest, I haven't seen the sequels yet, but I have seen this one, and it's literally incredible! I didn't know which was better, the showdown between Po and Tai Lung (Ian McShane) in the film's climax or the battle between Tai Lung and the Furious Five earlier. They were both so amazing! The opening was cool, too, with so much hyperbole. A part of me thought the writers were overusing it, the rest of me adored Po's fantasy sequence. It was a big hit with so many people, so much that everybody wanted a fourth Kung Fu Panda movie, and it's already on its way. Black, if you're reading this, your voice performance as Po was just as great as your performance as Bowser!
#9. How to Train Your Dragon[]
Dragons are one of my favorite mythical creatures, and for good reason! They can fly, shoot fire, and (sometimes) be pretty friendly. That's how one of my favorite dragons, Toothless is described in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. It's a little bit scary of how at the beginning of the movie, the people saw the dragons as monsters destroying everything. Thankfully it's revealed that they're just obeying a giant monster. Fortunately, the film's hero Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is able to defeat the monster with help from his new scaly buddy. The film's ending was very heartwarming, but in my opinion, this is the best How to Train Your Dragon franchise installment. It's got awesome air tricks from Dragons, a romantic relationship, and did I mention Hiccup's line that was improvised by his voice actor? ("Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!") That one was very memorable.
#8. Shark Tale[]
As much as an animal lover I am, there are some animals that scare me. Thankfully, sharks are not one of them. If they were, Shark Tale wouldn't even be on this list! I just love underwater animals, especially sharks and dolphins. Anyway, two of the main characters is Lenny (Jack Black), a vegetarian shark, which is quite beyond the impossible, and Oscar (Will Smith), a bluestreak cleaner wrasse fish working at a whale wash. Both of them both want to live better lives, but when the latter lies about the former's brother Frankie (Michael Imperioli) getting killed by an anchor, he now has to try and avoid a pair of angry sharks coming to challenge him. Lenny swims away from home to avoid his angry father Don Lino (Robert De Nero) when he meets Oscar and the two of them attempt to make their lives better. But luckily, both Oscar and Don Lino learn their lessons by the end of the movie. There's a happy ending for everyone. Well, except for Lola (Angelina Jolie), but still.
#7. Rise of the Guardians[]
There were some years when DreamWorks didn't go so well. Released the same year as Wreck-It Ralph, Rise of the Guardians bombed at the box office. But the movie still received positive reviews from both critics and viewers. I didn't write any reviews about it, but I still loved that movie. It was just so cool seeing holiday icons like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny team up to fight the evil Pitch Black (Jude Law). I felt a little sorry for Jack Frost (Chris Pine) at the beginning of the movie because his powers were just incredible. (Have I used that word too much?) It was great seeing Pitch suffer a defeat that was totally satisfying of us, which was one of the many definitions for "Hoist By His Own Petard". One thing I forgot to mention about this movie was that it was loosely based on William Joyce's beloved book series, "The Guardians of Childhood", which is what this movie has in common with other DreamWorks movies, being based on things. Oh, and the battle at the end, like the one in Kung Fu Panda was awesome. After watching this movie, I now believe in these holiday icons with all of my heart.
#6. Shrek 2[]
I'll be blunt, Shrek 2 is the only Shrek movie that I actually like. The other three Shrek movies were just plain bad! However, there are many reasons I liked Shrek 2. There was a strained relationship, a magical villain, and (the best bit) Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) was in it! Oh, and funny ol' Donkey (Eddie Murphy), of course. It was nice having Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) act the way a regular couple look, because, despite being green, their relationship throughout the movie is relatable to everyone. Seriously, it is. Oh, and the best part in the movie was the song Puss and Donkey sung, "Livin' La Vida Loca". I used to play the original version all the time, years before I first saw this. Boy, was I surprised when I figured out what song that was. It's kind of a shame that one didn't win an Oscar like its predecessor did. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that there are people in the world who like Shrek 2, like me, and lots of you out there. Now let's head on to number 5, shall we?
#5. The Bad Guys[]
Based on one of my favorite book series, The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys movie is no doubt the perfect adaptation of the series. Sure, they changed the looks of some of the characters, and even some of the characters themselves, but it's still great! They even made sure the original villain of the book series was also the antagonist of the movie, who became my favorite villain in the book series: Marmalade! This movie even had a couple of plot twists that I never saw coming, especially the Crimson Paw's identity. But I'm not giving that one away. And I just loved Sam Rockwell's performance as Wolf. That was incredible! Sure, there were some tearjerking moments that didn't make me comfortable, but just remember, every movie needs some of those. Because sometimes the things we don't like are what make us like a movie so much. And I liked how they tried to stay true to the source material, yet change a few things as well. You can't change everything in a movie adaptation though. And you definitely can't make it exactly the same as the thing you're basing it on. So it's a good thing the filmmakers didn't do any of these things.
#4. Megamind[]
The concept of this one is similar to The Bad Guys, but Megamind has a completely different story. The main character of the story is a blue, big-headed bad guy named, you guessed it, Megamind (Will Ferrell) who is always battling his archnemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt). One day, Megamind successfully kills Metro Man, which is a surprise to everyone, even him! But now that the hero's gone, what will Megamind do now? Everything is just as easy as learning the alphabet. He attempts to create a hero by giving Metro Man's powers to a news cameraman, who decides that it's more fun being a villain than being a hero. Now Megamind has to change his ways and become a hero, which won't be easy if you've been disliked by everybody all your life. Fortunately he has his fish sidekick Minion (David Cross) and news reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) to help him out. This movie was definitely one of my favorites, especially when there's a superhero battle. That battle with Megamind and the new villain was definitely off the chain. I still watch Megamind over and over, along with a few of the other movies on the list.
#3. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit[]
DreamWorks and Aardman had a partnership that lasted 7 years, and released 3 movies together. The second one was The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Wallace & Gromit's only project on the silver screen, and boy, was it enjoyable! It was a kid-friendly horror movie about a giant rabbit destroying other people's vegetables right before a big vegetable contest. It's up to the titular duo to stop the pest and save the day, but it won't be easy with hunter Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes), who I think is an Aardman version of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, and his attack dog bugging them so much. I thought this movie was great, and apparently, other people think so too. In fact, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. It was great seeing one of my favorite duos get their own movie (yet this is their only project I like, no offense) and it all leads up to a few great chase scenes and an incredible dog-fight!
#2. Flushed Away[]
This is definitely one of my favorites. The movie stars Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman), who is a pampered pet rat and is one day flushed down his own toilet after trying to get rid of a sewer rat called Sid (Shane Richie). Desperate to get home, he encounters Rita Malone (Kate Winslet) who is on the run from a villainous amphibian named The Toad (Ian McKellen) who despises rats and wants to literally put them on ice! This underrated animated adventure film was one of my favorite British kids movies, and well, I haven't really seen the ending and final battle yet, but I will one day. And so far, this movie has been going great! I did enjoy some of the character development throughout this film, especially Roddy. It was also fun seeing an underground version of the city of London. The tagline on the poster ("Someone's going down") even makes me more attached to the movie itself!
#1. Chicken Run[]
Yep, Chicken Run, Aardman's first movie and the first movie in the DreamWorks and Aardman partnership is the #1 spot on this list. It's the highest grossing stop-motion animation movie of all time. There are so many reasons why I like this movie. For one, it tackles a serious issue: Chickens in captivity. In Chicken Run, a group of chickens, led by Ginger (Julia Sawalha) are trapped in a cruel chicken farm where the owners kill any chicken who fails to lay eggs. Ginger is desperate in escaping with the chickens, so when a former circus performer, a rooster named Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson) crash lands on their farm by accident, she believes he is the key to helping them escape. Ginger and Rocky were one of my favorite DreamWorks couples, and I loved how the conflict was resolved at the end of the film. Oh, and did I forget to mention my favorite characters, Nick and Fetcher (Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels respectively) the rats? They were very funny.