Welcome back everyone to something that I plan on doing every time a new release in a franchise comes around, and that is throwback reviews. This type of review is basically to get ready for a new franchise film release by reviewing the rest of the films in the franchise. Now I only plan on doing these if the franchise has a reasonable number of entries (like 3-4) but do not expect me to do these types of reviews with franchises exceeding 4 entries like the MCU, those instead will probably rankings. Now with that out of the way, to get ready for the release of How to Train Your Dragon the Hidden World (which I will be seeing next weekend) lets take a look back at what many people consider to be Dreamworks animations best work to date.
In this first entry, we are introduced to the Viking village of Berk, who seem to have a pretty bad pest problem. These pests of course are dragons who are always attacking the village for food. It is during one of these attacks that we are introduced to a young boy named Hiccup who is son of the village chief, Stoick, and is not exactly the strongest nor the most popular individual around. He is always yearning to make his dad proud of him and join the other kids who are learning to combat dragons, and he finally gets that opportunity when he shoots down a Night Fury, seemingly the most dangerous species of dragon there is. No one believes him of course so he go’s out to get proof, and kill it. But when he stumbles upon the beast he cannot bear himself to kill, and releases it from its trap. Instead of attacking him though it runs away which makes Hiccup follow it, and observe its habits. As time goes on he starts to visit the dragon more and more, and even to starts to befriend the creature calling him Toothless. Also the more, and more he learns about dragons through Toothless, he starts to become very popular thanks to him acing his dragon training. But with his father putting more pressure on him, and his friendship with Toothless growing, can he be able keep his secret, and maybe convince everyone that dragons are not all that bad?
Now at first glance the story does not seem like much. It sounds pretty by the numbers, and generic, a sort of boy meets dog tale, and the nobody becoming a somebody cliches having been done to death so many times before. Admittedly the story does not contain many surprises, and follows a very familiar trajectory. But, what it lacks in originality it more than makes up for with its execution. The story succeeds in making Hiccup a likable protagonist whom the audience wants to root for, thus making his journey very compelling. Of course another big part why the story works so well is the relationship Hiccup develops with Toothless (who is so adorable in many scenes) which has many great interactions between the two, and it is very nice to see these two individuals who are more alike than they think learn from one another and become true friends who protect, and help one another through the toughest situations. Of course this also ties into the many themes of acceptance, and being true to who you are which is presented throughout this movie very prominently and leads to some very emotionally satisfying scenes.
But the things that stand out from this movie the most is its world building, and animation. This movie does such a good job, at introducing viewers to this world with all of the different types of dragons that all have visually creative designs, and the way the Viking village functions, and how they protect themselves from the dragons. It truly is world building at its finest, that is benefited from the glorious animation, which truly gets to shine during the flight, sequences. These scenes are considered the highlight of the film for a very good reason, with John Powell’s exhilarating score and the feeling that you truly are flying on the back of a dragon, making this one of the best movies to see in 3D (which is impressive considering I do not really pay much attention to whether a movie looks good in 3D or not). The action is also really well done showcasing the abilities of both the Dragons, and the Vikings in battle, and the massive scale of the feature.
As for the voice acting, everyone does solid work across the board. Jay Baruchel does a nice job as Hiccup capturing his teen angst very well, as does America Ferrara as his love interest, Astrid. As for the other trainees voiced by Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Mintz Plasse, they all provide a lot of good humour to their parts, the characters themselves are not developed that much. But the true standouts Gerrard Butler as Stoick, and Craig Ferguson as Gobber. They are just brimming with enthusiasm as both Hiccups tough but deep inside loving father, and his mentor who cares for Hiccup just as much as his father, and they bring a lot of personality to their roles (Ferguson in particular has some very good lines, and is responsible for a lot of the best laughs).
In conclusion How to Train Your Dragon is a thrilling adventure story, that while not the most original, is still brimming with a lot of creativity, and heart. It is definitely deserving of its great praise (even if there were better animated movies in 2010), and a spot among the best films made by Dreamworks Animation. As for its sequel How to Train your Dragon 2 well, we will be looking at that masterpiece really soon.
Rating: A-
Share your thoughts down below in the comments, and see you guys next time!
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