Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon

Now...this sentence may shock you...but I absolutely LOVED this film.

Everything just works here: the voice acting, the amazing animation, the right use of 3d, the good story, and the endearing message. Believe me, it surprises me too for Dreamworks has never been Pixar good, dribbling out films like the Shrek sequels, Sinbad, the Cat in the Hat, Shark Tale, and Madagascar. Recently however, they have shown promise in 2008's Kung Fu Panda, which I thought was awesome. I'm glad to see that they're putting effort and love into their films now and that they're finally a contender with the Pixar giant (not that I have anything against Pixar).

One of the deciding factors for an animated film is the voice acting and here, it is of the highest order. Our lead character (adorably named Hiccup) is voiced by the awkward comedic actor Jay Baruchel who works well in his role. His friends are voiced by America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher "Mclovin" Mintz Plasse, and Kristen Wiig. The only other main characters are Hiccup's father played by Gerard Butler and the dragon slaying coach voiced by talk show host Craig Ferguson. They both surprised me in how good they were in their characters. Butler surprised me because normally I can't stand the man. Ferguson because he is not an actor, but he was lively and great. They all play Scottish vikings so you'd think that the young Americans would detract from the viewing but it is not the case only because the plot is so engaging.

You would also think that you would be able to predict what would happen but you don't really think about it because you care so much about the characters and the plot. Hiccup is a scrawny, useless, teenager in a town of large, fearless vikings. He really wants to be who is father is and to please him but it's just not who it is. He wants to be someone he's not which is sad but rewarding when he finds himself at the end of the film. The relationships with his father and his "friends" are sad but engaging throughout the film and the confrontations he has with his father are real. But it is not all sad sub context the film is also funny and full of heart especially in the relationship between Hiccup and the dragon he befriends who he names Toothless.

I didn't review Avatar because it took a long time for me to see it in the Imax and I thought I should only review it if I saw it in its meant to be seen form. The 3d looked good yes but I preferred the 3d in Dragon more because a. it wasn't distracting b. you could tell what was going on and c. Dragon has better things going on, on the screen. The animation really is terrific from the texture of the dragons/landscape to the detail on the characters. I found myself saying out loud, "That looks SO good!" Aloud in the theater.


I can't recomend this enough, in 3d of course, and I look forward to what DreamWorks will put out in the future.

Martin.