How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
7.2/10
How to Train Your Dragon is a surprisingly charming children’s film that manages to rise above the pitfalls of others of its kind by managing to both be genuinely exciting and thoughtful in its execution. This was a film that looked completely uninteresting to me when the trailer was released. Then it got near unanimous praise with an unprecedented 98% on film review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. While the site should never be taken as scripture, this still made me reassess my desire to see it sparking curiosity. While Kung-Fu Panda released by Dreamworks two years earlier proves the superior film, How to Train Your Dragon more than holds its own in comparison, being a more touching tale than the former.
The film, based on the children’s book series by Cressida Cowell takes place in Viking times on the island of Berk which is where both Vikings and dragons reside. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is an unconventional looking Viking, scrawny and little. He is not like the other Vikings and is known both for being different and for being the son of the Viking Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler). Vikings spend their time fighting and killing dragons which has become a beloved pastime while the dragons raid the village of their sheep. Catching or killing a dragon is how one earns respect on Berk and Hiccup wants to be respected. His father will not let him train to be a dragon hunter because he, mournfully, does not think Hiccup can handle it and does not want to further embarrass himself by showing the island his son’s incapability’s. Once Hiccup captures a Night Fury, a dragon nobody has ever seen and secretly finds him in the woods to kill, he cannot do it. At the same time that Hiccup realizes he cannot be a dragon hunter, his father finally gives into his wishes to join training with instructor Gobber (Craig Ferguson). As he secretly interacts with the dragon who he names Toothless, he also helps to remobilize him and learns that dragons can be trained, are not angry creatures and welcome friendship if it is offered to them. Hiccup spends a large portion of the film dealing with being taught about dragons during his training and discovering that everything his village knows is wrong through his own interactions with Toothless.
How to Train Your Dragon’s strength is first and foremost in the scenes that showcase Hiccup and Toothless interacting with one another. The friendship they form, through their own established interactions are well thought out, moving and involving. These scenes are supported by John Powell’s score which is memorable and notable, especially in these scenes. The design of Toothless is impressive as well; he has a distinct character without having any lines of dialogue. The characterization of Hiccup’s father Stoick is nicely handled as well. Instead of him being seen as a one note figure of disapproval, the early scenes address his concerns about Hiccup making him a bit more layered than he would have been. Basically he is King Triton from The Little Mermaid.
In fact, the entire film is a composite of The Little Mermaid, Avatar, Pocahontas and any other film that addresses misconceptions between two types of beings. It is not exactly a unique story. However, the execution makes it a worthy addition to these types of films. The dragon training school scenes are consistently entertaining and all of the information we learn about how the Vikings from Berk perceives dragons gives a nice detail that illuminates the specificity of the world. The action scenes actually provide entertainment instead of dragging the film down which is something Iron Man 2 could not completely pull off. Something else that must be addressed is the visuals. While the character design here is not exactly the kind of animation I am personally drawn to, the visuals overall are such a strong point with the 3-D enhancing the film instead of being something the film relied on too much. With or without the 3-D the visuals to be found here are fantastic and should be seen in a theater if possible.
The film does have flaws. The opening voiceover narration overloads the viewer with exposition in a very lazy fashion since Hiccup’s voice only appears haphazardly again at the end if only to justify its use in the beginning. The opening scene is well done otherwise which means the scene should have done without it since it would have been pretty obvious how dragons and Vikings interact based solely on visuals. This is a children’s film though, so a certain amount of dumbing down can be tolerated much more than it otherwise would be. While Hiccup’s love interest Astrid (America Ferrara) is somewhat important, she felt rather pointless as a love interest if not in the other ways she contributes to the story. Hiccup did not need a love interest here as his journey has nothing to do with finding a girl to get involved with. It takes time away from the important relationships which are Hiccup and Toothless and Hiccup and Stoick. Hiccup’s other fellow adolescent trainees should have felt more memorable as a distinct group. Also, while the action is entertaining, the film should have spent a bit more time on character resulting archetypes rather than truly memorable characters that will stick with the viewer.
How to Train your Dragon may not offer anything substantial in its characters or story but it manages to overcome its own conventions and offer a surprisingly entertaining and touching film that succeeds in its execution. It feels as if genuine thought went into this and the balance of elements allows it to go beyond the story’s limitations and make it well worth seeing.
7.2/10
How to Train Your Dragon is a surprisingly charming children’s film that manages to rise above the pitfalls of others of its kind by managing to both be genuinely exciting and thoughtful in its execution. This was a film that looked completely uninteresting to me when the trailer was released. Then it got near unanimous praise with an unprecedented 98% on film review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. While the site should never be taken as scripture, this still made me reassess my desire to see it sparking curiosity. While Kung-Fu Panda released by Dreamworks two years earlier proves the superior film, How to Train Your Dragon more than holds its own in comparison, being a more touching tale than the former.
The film, based on the children’s book series by Cressida Cowell takes place in Viking times on the island of Berk which is where both Vikings and dragons reside. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is an unconventional looking Viking, scrawny and little. He is not like the other Vikings and is known both for being different and for being the son of the Viking Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler). Vikings spend their time fighting and killing dragons which has become a beloved pastime while the dragons raid the village of their sheep. Catching or killing a dragon is how one earns respect on Berk and Hiccup wants to be respected. His father will not let him train to be a dragon hunter because he, mournfully, does not think Hiccup can handle it and does not want to further embarrass himself by showing the island his son’s incapability’s. Once Hiccup captures a Night Fury, a dragon nobody has ever seen and secretly finds him in the woods to kill, he cannot do it. At the same time that Hiccup realizes he cannot be a dragon hunter, his father finally gives into his wishes to join training with instructor Gobber (Craig Ferguson). As he secretly interacts with the dragon who he names Toothless, he also helps to remobilize him and learns that dragons can be trained, are not angry creatures and welcome friendship if it is offered to them. Hiccup spends a large portion of the film dealing with being taught about dragons during his training and discovering that everything his village knows is wrong through his own interactions with Toothless.
How to Train Your Dragon’s strength is first and foremost in the scenes that showcase Hiccup and Toothless interacting with one another. The friendship they form, through their own established interactions are well thought out, moving and involving. These scenes are supported by John Powell’s score which is memorable and notable, especially in these scenes. The design of Toothless is impressive as well; he has a distinct character without having any lines of dialogue. The characterization of Hiccup’s father Stoick is nicely handled as well. Instead of him being seen as a one note figure of disapproval, the early scenes address his concerns about Hiccup making him a bit more layered than he would have been. Basically he is King Triton from The Little Mermaid.
In fact, the entire film is a composite of The Little Mermaid, Avatar, Pocahontas and any other film that addresses misconceptions between two types of beings. It is not exactly a unique story. However, the execution makes it a worthy addition to these types of films. The dragon training school scenes are consistently entertaining and all of the information we learn about how the Vikings from Berk perceives dragons gives a nice detail that illuminates the specificity of the world. The action scenes actually provide entertainment instead of dragging the film down which is something Iron Man 2 could not completely pull off. Something else that must be addressed is the visuals. While the character design here is not exactly the kind of animation I am personally drawn to, the visuals overall are such a strong point with the 3-D enhancing the film instead of being something the film relied on too much. With or without the 3-D the visuals to be found here are fantastic and should be seen in a theater if possible.
The film does have flaws. The opening voiceover narration overloads the viewer with exposition in a very lazy fashion since Hiccup’s voice only appears haphazardly again at the end if only to justify its use in the beginning. The opening scene is well done otherwise which means the scene should have done without it since it would have been pretty obvious how dragons and Vikings interact based solely on visuals. This is a children’s film though, so a certain amount of dumbing down can be tolerated much more than it otherwise would be. While Hiccup’s love interest Astrid (America Ferrara) is somewhat important, she felt rather pointless as a love interest if not in the other ways she contributes to the story. Hiccup did not need a love interest here as his journey has nothing to do with finding a girl to get involved with. It takes time away from the important relationships which are Hiccup and Toothless and Hiccup and Stoick. Hiccup’s other fellow adolescent trainees should have felt more memorable as a distinct group. Also, while the action is entertaining, the film should have spent a bit more time on character resulting archetypes rather than truly memorable characters that will stick with the viewer.
How to Train your Dragon may not offer anything substantial in its characters or story but it manages to overcome its own conventions and offer a surprisingly entertaining and touching film that succeeds in its execution. It feels as if genuine thought went into this and the balance of elements allows it to go beyond the story’s limitations and make it well worth seeing.
