Whoa! Dreamworks Animation has found its latest champion. Pixar will have to be careful this year because HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is an awesome fire-breathing contender. The term ‘roller-coaster ride’ has been loosely used in movie reviews these days but… it never fits better than on HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. It’s thrilling, breathtaking, absolutely enjoyable with a solid father and son story that will melt even the toughest viking heart. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is one of the best animated films you’ll ever see this year.
From the studio that brought you “Shrek,” “Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda” comes “How to Train Your Dragon.” Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell, the action comedy tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn’t exactly fit in with his tribe’s longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup’s world is turned upside down when he encounters a dragon that challenges he and his fellow Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view.
I still don’t like Jay Baruchel’s voice, it’s nothing personal but his voice and the teen character hiccup just seem like a mismatch but hiccup is somewhat of a geeky nerd and Baruchel is the in-demand actor right now for such a role so Baruchel does know how to approach awkward, nervous, misfit character like Hiccup. It’s funny though to hear all the teens in the Viking village have American accent and yet all their parents sound Scottish. Gerard Butler specifically amplifies his accent even more here than ever.
But HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is about that roller coaster ride again. I love the flying scenes in this movie. It’s fast, it’s got suspense, sometimes it’s even surprisingly relaxing. And the 3D aspect is more than just depth of field. For once, it’s actually one of those 3D effects that make you feel like you can almost touch the tree branch.
Whatever Dreamworks has done to this film, it works wonders. You’ll be glad to just watch it for those moments when Hiccup and toothless are soaring way up in the sky. This is a movie that makes you feel like a kid again, where you put your worries aside and just fly. Dazzling animation, it may not be as detailed as Pixar’s movies but HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON does enough to make you just focus on the ride and nothing else. This is entertainment at its best.
Last year, the father and son story in Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs won our hearts, that movie’s winning point was in its hilarious jokes. The father and son story in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is no less different, it’s not too emotional but it’s not forced either. It’s the story of what it means to be brave like a Viking.. simply looking like one? Or becoming one in your own unique way?
But HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON’s winning point lies in the elaborate, intricate action set pieces, the way the dragons maneuver themselves. The final battle scene is absolutely magnificent to say the very least, it’s explosive and thunderous, the fight between the giant and the teamwork of toothless and Hiccup is a sight to behold, Dreamworks has outdone itself.
Kids will enjoy hiccup’s fun little methods in taming the dragons, as he slowly but surely learns what they fear, what they like, what calms them down and the adults will find joy in watching the interaction between toothless and hiccup that more or less resembles a dog or a horse and his master. The difference is Toothless can be stubborn when it wants to be, that personality itself is amusing.
* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film
