How to Train Your Dragon (movie) Review

Title: How to Train Your Dragon

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance, Mythology

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

General Set-up: Hiccup is a viking, rather on the small side, who wishes to prove that he is just as useful as everyone else. In an attempt to prove this, he builds a contraption to help him catch a dragon, so that he can gain status in his village. But nothing goes according to plan.

Characters: Hiccup is a rather interesting character. Not a child, nor an adult, he seems to be in his early teen years. He is notably smaller than the vikings that surround him, and less blood-thirsty, but perhaps remarkably smarter. His desire to prove his self-worth resounds in the hearts of the audience. What, in my opinion, makes Hiccup so endearing was his sense of humor. Sarcasm abounds in this movies, mostly in Hiccup’s lines. As is seen in the very first lines of the movie, Hiccup will be the one to guide us through this story. Right away, we are introduced to another major character: Stoic the Vast, Hiccup’s father. He is the rather stubborn leader of Berk. At times relatable, frustrating, and heart-warming, the father-son relationship is explored through fantastic storytelling. The other two characters of note are Gobber (the Blech--if you read the novels) and Astrid (who, to the best of my knowledge, is an original character). Gobber is Stoic’s friend, the local supplier of dragon-fighting tools, and also the person who teaches dragon fighting. Astrid is the local dragon prodigy and Hiccup’s crush.  

Much to my disappointment, very few other character were fleshed out. Now, I believe that was mostly due to time constraints, but I am glad that we got to see more of them in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Dragons: Race to the Edge. Because of the unique setting, storytelling, and animation, more is always a good thing.

Plot: What makes this movie go from mediocre to great lies in the way the story is told. The plot is clear and concise, but the dialogue is a thing of beauty. From the opening line describing where Berk is located, to comments (from Hiccup) about Berk, the laughs keep coming. Perhaps because it is both a underdog story and a coming-of-age story, you cannot help but cheer on Hiccup in his sometimes ridiculous endeavors. The plot gets rolling, and never stops. It can go from tugging on your heart strings, to having stitches in your side from laughing so hard. The plot never seems slow, nor does any of the dialogue seem to be wasted. From the first line to the final line, this is storytelling done right!

Ending: The ending does have a conclusion to the current problem that Hiccup faces. It ends on a bittersweet note that leaves the audience satisfied, but leaves the option for sequels. As we all now know, How to Train Your Dragon did get a sequel, along with several animated series.

  

Sound/Music: John Powell! Do I need to say any more? For those of you who don’t know, John Powell is one of my favorite composers ever. His resume includes titles such as Prince of Egypt (song: Playing with the Big Boys), Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2, Shrek, and Rio. And what do all of these titles have in common? Amazing choice in music, of course! What I love about John Powell’s work, mostly in animated films, is that he chooses a few lines that become the “theme” of the soundtrack. Then, he works those notes into every song, ‘uniting’ the whole soundtrack. And when you hear those notes, instantly, you think of the film. His music turns mediocre films like Rio into decent movies. Thus it stands to reason that in How to Train Your Dragon, his music turns the film from a work of art into a masterpiece! Between his work on How to Train your Dragon, and Kung Fu Panda, I have a hard time choosing a winner.

Animation: In (now) typical Dreamworks fashion, this film is animated with 3D animation. For the time that it came out, the animation was spectacular. Yes, when you compare the animation of the original to its sequel, it seems dated. But the film is always smooth, rather detailed, and uses a variety of colors. The biggest difference in the animation between the two films is that the newer film chooses a light color pallet and has more detailed facial expressions and clothes.

Even so, the animation is still breath-taking to this day. The characters are uniquely designed, and the dragons are different, yet each is interesting. Unlike many stories with dragons, the animators chose not to “cut and paste” a dragon, but each dragon had a unique, not traditional design.  

Things to watch out for: N/A

Other media: How to Train Your Dragon is actually based off a book series by the same name written by Cressida Cowell. While some things remain the same, the book series has a different tone. Many of the characters overlap including Hiccup (Horrendous Haddock III), the dragon Toothless, Fishlegs, Stoick the Vast, Snotlout, and Gobber (the Belch). However, other than a common setting and characters, many of the similarities end. The How to Train Your Dragon book series is like a set of short stories and is geared to younger audiences. Rather than relying on sarcasm as the main source of humor, Cowell tends to use situation that are ludicrous and many “3rd grade boys” joke. After all, they live on the isle of Berk (British slang for fart) next to Meathead island. The books are written at about a third grade reading level, and the content reflects that age group.

There is also the sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2, with How to Train Your Dragon 3 in the works.

 I thought that I would also mention the animated series that can be found on Netflix. The only one that I have personally watched is Dragons: Race to the Edge. This series has a feel far more similar to the book in both the way it is presented, and the simplicity of the plot. Nonetheless, it is still worth the watch. Netflix also has How to Train your Dragon: Legends, which focus on Gobber, and Dragons: Dawn of the Dragon Racers, a short about how the game seen in the first scene of How to Train your Dragon 2 is played.