I like a lot of the Dreamworks movies. The Shrek series, for better or for worse, has always amused me. Bee Movie was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. Monsters Vs. Aliens was a fun treat. Their latest, Megamind, really struck a cord with me on account of my near obsession with super heroes. With such a track record, I don’t know why it took me so long to see How to Train Your Dragon. My girlfriend loved it, the friends of mine who had seen it loved it, and it’s one of those rare movies even most of the anonymous posters of my favorite, unspeakable message board (rhymes with more-chan) seems to adore. When I saw HTTYD was up for review, I said, “Why not?†and gave it a try. See what I thought after the jump.
I like a lot of the Dreamworks movies. The Shrek series, for better or for worse, has always amused me. Bee Movie was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. Monsters Vs. Aliens was a fun treat. Their latest, Megamind, really struck a cord with me on account of my near obsession with super heroes. With such a track record, I don’t know why it took me so long to see How to Train Your Dragon. My girlfriend loved it, the friends of mine who had seen it loved it, and it’s one of those rare movies even most of the anonymous posters of my favorite, unspeakable message board (rhymes with more-chan) seems to adore. When I saw HTTYD was up for review, I said, “Why not?” and gave it a try. See what I thought after the jump.{{page_break}}
In the land of Berk, Vikings wage a nigh-endless war against dragons. The unfortunately-named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, She’s Out of My League) is stuck on the sidelines as an apprentice blacksmith while his father and leader of the Vikings, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, Law Abiding Citizen), and the rest of the Vikings wage war against the dragons. During one particular dragon siege, Hiccup manages to bring down the rare, unknown quantity the Vikings dubbed a ‘Night Fury.’ Naturally, nobody believes him so he tracks it down, and in a surprising twist, defends it. Meanwhile, his father and the rest of the Vikings try to track down the lair of the dragons. Conflict arises when Hiccup’s father discovers that Hiccup has befriended the Night Fury (dubbed ‘Toothless’ thanks to retractable teeth) and that it can lead him to the lair.
The writing is quite good, and I enjoyed watching the bond develop between Hiccup and Toothless. It was organic, which is something movies, especially animated ones, can lack. Watching Hiccup put what he’s learned while bonding with Toothless to good use in the arena was hysterical, especially coupled with Astrid’s increasing anger. While daddy issues are nothing new in movies like HTTYD, it did manage to bring a little tear to my eye towards the end when Stoick finally got over his prejudices and supported his son. The flying scenes actually managed to make me regret having not seen it in 3D, which speaks volumes. The final battle, which featured one of the best end bosses I’ve seen in an animated movie, stood out as one of the cooler battles I’ve seen in recent history. Even if the story felt a little tired at times, the sum of HTTYD’s parts was completely satisfactory.
Like most of the Dreamworks catalog, HTTYD has fantastic voice acting to help complement it. In addition to Baruchel and Butler, talk show host Craig Ferguson voices the loveable, hook-handed drill sergeant Gobber the Belch, America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) voices the badass tomboy Astrid Jonah, and Jonah Hill (Cyrus), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass), T.J. Miller (She’s Out of My League), and Kristen Wiig (MacGruber) as the other rough-and-tumble Viking kids. Everybody played their parts to the T, especially Baruchel and Mintz-Plasse as the RPG-obsessed Fishlegs.
The animation was terrific as well, and it didn’t hurt that the dragon designs were very cool and very well-crafted. If there’s one thing I love, it’s variety, and the dragons of HTTYD had it in spades. From the flaming Monstrous Nightmare to the colorful Deadly Nadder to Toothless’s slick, uniform design, they were all very cool. I look forward to seeing more types in the next film.
How to Train Your Dragon was a lot of fun. Pixar might have a chokehold on the animated movie department, but Dreamworks has found a worthy opponent and a perfect franchise to replace the recently concluded Shrek series. Rarely do I see an animated movie that makes me want to read the source material, but that may be the case with this one, courtesy of a dragon named Toothless and his boy Hiccup.
Overall Score: 8.30 – Great. (Movies that score between 8.00 and 8.50 are great representations of their genre that everyone should see in theaters on opening night.)
At the end of the day, How to Train Your Dragon was a delight. Fun characters, cool dragons, and great flight scenes kept me enthralled, and at no point did I feel like I was watching a kid’s movie.
Also, for those that stuck it out this long, here's one of my favorite LOST verticals, courtesy of 'more-chan' (made horizontal for your viewing pleasure):
