Ryan McNeil
We begin in the town of Berk, a town that routinely gets raided for sheep and other food by various species of dragons. The viking population of the town prides themselves on being dragon slayers and defending their home turf, especially their leader Stoick (Gerard Butler). However, every chain must have a weak link, and in Berk it’s Hiccup (Jay Baruchel). Hiccup is Stoick’s son, and desperately wants to join the fray – but is just far too small and far too clumsy in most people’s eyes. He’s reduced to working in the blacksmith’s shop with Gobber (Craig Ferguson).
During one raid, Hiccup steals away and sets up a bola-firing contraption. He actually manages to snare a Night Fury – the most feared dragon of them all, but when he tracks it down, he can’t bring himself to kill it. He frees it and watches it fly away into a canyon. When he gets back, Stoick reluctantly enrolls him in dragon training – where Hiccup’s crush on a real slayer-in-waiting, Astrid (America Ferrera) goes into overdrive while watching her prowess. It’s here that he is told that dragons will go for the kill in battle. Every time. This leads him to wonder why the Night Fury let him walk.
Hiccup returns to the canyon, and discovers that the Night Fury’s tail has been injured, thus handicapping its ability to fly. He also discovers that with patience and respect, a Dragon will befriend a human. Thus he gets into the Night Fury’s good graces…a dragon he eventually names Toothless. Once the two have bonded, Hiccup engineers an artificial fin for its tail, letting it fly again – and letting Hiccup fly with him.
In Toothless and Hiccup, Dreamworks have added characters to their stable that are instantly relateable and loveable No small feat, since they’ve been trying to do that since Shrek first stepped from his outhouse. For this, I give full credit to directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. These gents were the creators of LILO & STITCH, one of Disney’s last great 2-D animated films, which obviously can’t be mentioned in the marketing.
Amusingly, this film made me take a step back on my crusade against 3-D. By now, my stance is well-known…it’s a gimmick, a cash-grab that I really don’t want to encourage. How-ev-errrr….HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON has been specifically rendered in 3-D from the get-go, and thus it feels intentional and actually rather thrilling, especially during the flying sequences. During such moments, there are daring sweeping camera moves, and exciting POV shots that took me up out of me seat, and momentarily gave me the rush of what it could be like to ride a dragon. It almost pains me to say this, but indeed, if you don’t see this in 3-D, you aren’t getting the full experience.
Along with the thrilling action, and the two scoops of laughs, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON got me because of an overall sweetness that isn’t manipulative. Every dragon is given a lot of character, especially Toothless (who incidentally, reminded me a lot of my own black cat in many of his mannerisms). Hiccup’s relationship with his father is something we’ve seen before, but for some reason it feels truly genuine here. Likewise the budding bond between Hiccup and Astrid is sweet to watch, since they have a delicate chemistry with each other, which is really sweet to watch unfold.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON reminds me of being young and finding the guts to go on the highest fastest roller coaster with your hands held up in the air. It’s brave, it’s exciting, and it’s the sort of experience movies so seldom deliver. I can’t recommend it highly enough, and do myself hope to see it at least one more time in a theatre…..maybe twice.
Definitely just a fun and thrilling film. I really enjoyed it as well. I was surprised by how well the animation and 3D was incorporated, because I was unimpressed with the early commercials. But it really sucks you right into the movie.
I agree with everything you say. This film made me believe in the power of 3D! Lets see if they can keep it up though. I still believe 3D is used on movies which don't need it.
I'm actually shocked at the good reviews this movie is getting because, ya know, Dreamworks animation usually is pretty sub par as it always seems to rely on not funny inside jokes and big name voice actors so when I see a new one coming I don't really get excited. Plus, the trailer made it look pretty meh. I guess I'm going to have to check this one out sometime.
Dreamworks really knows what sorts of strings to pull in order to make a fun, thrilling and gripping story. I loved this movie as well. I think all dog lovers should especially enjoy it, since its plot is so rooted in values of loyalty, trust, and friendship. I look forward to writing a review on this sometime soon. Hopefully when I can find the time between studying for exams and partying..
Hell yeah! I'm glad somebody else shares my absurdly high love for this movie. It annoyed me when others were like "this movie fails simply because we've seen this type of story before." Well… duh… EVERY story has been done before, numerous times. But this one makes it so darn lovable that it doesn't matter.
Excellent review.
I have similarly not run out to see this film, and have still put it off for some reason. After this review, I've made the set-in-stone decision to see it next weekend.
@ Univarn… No kidding! I've gone on record about how generally unimpressed I am with 3-D (and this will likely be the last 3-D flick for me for a good long while), but I'm still in awe of how amazingly well it was used during the flight sequences (of which there were many).
@ Nicki… I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. From here on out, I'd say 3-D will be an afterthought until we get to TRON at Christmastime.
@ Mike… Part of the reason I let this movie sit for two weeks is my overall malaise towards Dreamworks animation. But I must give credit where credit is due – Dreamworks really brought the goods this time.
@ Casey… Lookin' forward to reading your review, try not to party too hard! You're right about the dog comparison though (even though Toothless reminded me more of my cat)…The Dragons really take on the characteristics of loyal pets…so long as the humans take a moment or two to treat them well.
@ Nick… Respect! Believe me, I'm surprised at how much I like it too, but my mission now is to get a chance to see it on an IMAX screen before its theatrical run ends.
@ Danny… Wow – didn't know I had that sort of clout! If you want even more support of your decision, listen to the podcast today where I talk about it with Fletch.
This was the biggest surprise of 2010 for me. I literally went in with the attitude that it was a movie my four year might dig, and I could stomach without blowing my own head off. Not only did I keep my brains in tact (that's not exactly an achievement these days) but both myself and Liam thoroughly enjoyed it, minus the 3D experience so I can't comment on that, but really truly loved it. And I'm with you and Will from The Film Reel. Possible repeat theater viewings would be worth it.
Can't wait for KICK ASS!
I'm glad you enjoyed the film. I also has a great time and was thoroughly impressed with the 3D effects. As you wrote yourself, the characters were easy to love and the flying sequences were fantastic. And how about that John powell score, eh?