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Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon
Mar. 22nd, 2010 10:06 pmSince Hewlett-Packard and DreamWorks teamed up to create computer-animated films, HP employees and their families have had the chance to see DreamWorks films for free about a week before their commercial release. My father is an HP employee, so Devon and I have been able to go with my family to see five films so far—the best of which was Kung Fu Panda until last weekend when we saw How To Train Your Dragon. (Do excuse the Japanese poster art—it's cuter.)
How To Train Your Dragon
DreamWorks 2010
Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
From premise to plot, How To Train Your Dragon is entirely predictable—and for once, there's nothing wrong with that. How To Train Your Dragon is the story of a young Viking in a village beset by a dragon infestation; unlike other villagers, Hiccup is blessed with brains rather than brawn and has never killed a dragon. But when he manages to capture a dragon at last, Hiccup finds that he can't kill the beast—instead he releases it, and begins to discover that his people know nothing at all about the monster's they're fighting.
It's about what you'd expect as a story of a geeky black sheep and a culture that finds out that "Everything we know about them is wrong": world building at the beginning, the protagonist's difficulty fitting in, the first interaction with the "other," learning that knowledge about the "other" is wrong, the protagonist's secret revealed, and then the protagonist and his secret both justified so that the society changes and the protagonist now fits in. There are plenty of stories like this, so it isn't the concept or the plot that make the film a success.
It's everything else. Almost every aspect of the film has that certain spark that makes it the best it can be and turns the final product into something greater than the sum of its parts. Hiccup's enduring character design and impeccable voice acting make him easy to relate to, whether or not the viewer is also a black sheep. The Viking-styled setting may be a historical atrocity, but it is fun and new. No matter how predictable a plot point, each is handled with grace, plentiful sharp humor, and surprising emotional sensitivity—so while secondary characters are a bit flat and the plot is predictable, How To Train Your Dragon has startling authenticity and heart. The film is a joy to watch, engaging and funny, uplifting and good-hearted without treading too close to maudlin.
But the best of all is Toothless, the dragon that become Hiccup's friend. Toothless is a wonder of computer animation—because of him, there could be no better medium for this film. In his willful, distrusting, protective personality, in his intriguing character design, silk-smooth animation, and the wondrous flight sequences, Toothless brings out the best in Hiccup and in How To Train Your Dragon. The highlight of the film is the development of Hiccip and Toothless's friendship—it's a slow growth of knowledge and trust, peppered with humorous quirks of dragon physiology to keep the mood light, capped off by flight sequences for which I can find no better word that "wondrous": they inch a little too close to bombastic but are more often carefully crafted action sequences that still have emotional impact and importance to the plot. Flight in the film is breathtaking, rich with a sense of freedom and wonder, and it stirs the heart—I never before understood the draw of dragons and of dragon flight, but now I do.
(We saw the movie in 3D, which for once is used with more skill than cheap thrill and so does help bring the flight sequences to life—but I wouldn't say it's an essential aspect of the film, and I would have preferred to see in in 2D. That said, I've never enjoyed a 3D film—I find the concept gimmicky and the glasses uncomfortable [and you would too, if you were wearing another pair of glasses beneath them]—so I'm biased in this regard.)
How To Train Your Dragon has its flaws and I would have liked to see some changes—in particular I wish that the dragons didn't slowly morph into pets over the course of the film, and I could have done without the unrealistically perfect final sequence—but I enjoyed the film wholeheartedly. All five of us did, coming out with smiles and nothing but good to say about the film; my mother and I both wanted to own a copy immediately. Not every DreamWorks film has been an outright success, but How To Train Your Dragon is—it's deligtful, sensitive, beautiful, and a pure-hearted joy. I recommend it with all enthusiasm.
How apropos:
How To Train Your Dragon
DreamWorks 2010
Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
From premise to plot, How To Train Your Dragon is entirely predictable—and for once, there's nothing wrong with that. How To Train Your Dragon is the story of a young Viking in a village beset by a dragon infestation; unlike other villagers, Hiccup is blessed with brains rather than brawn and has never killed a dragon. But when he manages to capture a dragon at last, Hiccup finds that he can't kill the beast—instead he releases it, and begins to discover that his people know nothing at all about the monster's they're fighting.
It's about what you'd expect as a story of a geeky black sheep and a culture that finds out that "Everything we know about them is wrong": world building at the beginning, the protagonist's difficulty fitting in, the first interaction with the "other," learning that knowledge about the "other" is wrong, the protagonist's secret revealed, and then the protagonist and his secret both justified so that the society changes and the protagonist now fits in. There are plenty of stories like this, so it isn't the concept or the plot that make the film a success.
It's everything else. Almost every aspect of the film has that certain spark that makes it the best it can be and turns the final product into something greater than the sum of its parts. Hiccup's enduring character design and impeccable voice acting make him easy to relate to, whether or not the viewer is also a black sheep. The Viking-styled setting may be a historical atrocity, but it is fun and new. No matter how predictable a plot point, each is handled with grace, plentiful sharp humor, and surprising emotional sensitivity—so while secondary characters are a bit flat and the plot is predictable, How To Train Your Dragon has startling authenticity and heart. The film is a joy to watch, engaging and funny, uplifting and good-hearted without treading too close to maudlin.
But the best of all is Toothless, the dragon that become Hiccup's friend. Toothless is a wonder of computer animation—because of him, there could be no better medium for this film. In his willful, distrusting, protective personality, in his intriguing character design, silk-smooth animation, and the wondrous flight sequences, Toothless brings out the best in Hiccup and in How To Train Your Dragon. The highlight of the film is the development of Hiccip and Toothless's friendship—it's a slow growth of knowledge and trust, peppered with humorous quirks of dragon physiology to keep the mood light, capped off by flight sequences for which I can find no better word that "wondrous": they inch a little too close to bombastic but are more often carefully crafted action sequences that still have emotional impact and importance to the plot. Flight in the film is breathtaking, rich with a sense of freedom and wonder, and it stirs the heart—I never before understood the draw of dragons and of dragon flight, but now I do.
(We saw the movie in 3D, which for once is used with more skill than cheap thrill and so does help bring the flight sequences to life—but I wouldn't say it's an essential aspect of the film, and I would have preferred to see in in 2D. That said, I've never enjoyed a 3D film—I find the concept gimmicky and the glasses uncomfortable [and you would too, if you were wearing another pair of glasses beneath them]—so I'm biased in this regard.)
How To Train Your Dragon has its flaws and I would have liked to see some changes—in particular I wish that the dragons didn't slowly morph into pets over the course of the film, and I could have done without the unrealistically perfect final sequence—but I enjoyed the film wholeheartedly. All five of us did, coming out with smiles and nothing but good to say about the film; my mother and I both wanted to own a copy immediately. Not every DreamWorks film has been an outright success, but How To Train Your Dragon is—it's deligtful, sensitive, beautiful, and a pure-hearted joy. I recommend it with all enthusiasm.
How apropos:
