DreamWorks’ latest animated film, How to Train Your Dragon, is almost as good as any Disney Pixar movie.
Artwork by Rebecca Holt
Most know the Disney-owned company, Pixar, as they are the best when it comes to making computer-animated movies. Since Pixar started this popular trend, many other companies have created computer-animated films, as well. The biggest name next to Pixar is DreamWorks Animation (owned by Paramount) and in my opinion, some of their films are good, but nothing compared to Pixar’s. However, DreamWorks Animation’s latest movie, How to Train Your Dragon, was almost as great as any Pixar masterpiece.
While I have enjoyed some of DreamWorks Animation’s films such as Kung Fu Panda, Bee Movie, and Madagascar, most of them do not live up to any Pixar movie. Flushed Away and Shark Tale should have gotten flushed and eaten by sharks respectively, Monsters v Aliens was good but nothing monstrous, and by now I am just SICK of the Shriek franchise (I sure hope number four really is “The Final Chapter”). In my opinion, Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks’ 2008 wonder) was probably DreamWorks’ best animated film because it felt almost as wondrous as any Pixar movie. However, that was before Po (Kung Fu Panda’s main character) came face-to-face with dragons.
How to Train Your Dragon takes place in the Viking village of Berk (which, as far as I know, is a made up location). The film’s protagonist is a young Viking named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel, She’s Out of My League) who does not look like a true Viking. Then again, neither do any of the teenage children as, for the most part, they are squeaky-voiced toothpicks who are trained to become true, big and buff Vikings. “How?” One might ask. Well, as Hiccup begins to tell, “The only problems in our village are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have… dragons.” As the film begins, the audience is introduced to the dragons as fierce, fire-breathing monsters who snatch the sheep up from the ground while the Vikings seem to protect their village from them. Especially when they breathed fire, the dragons seemed to come to life in 3-D, as the fire breath brightened up the screen and the theater as well.
Hiccup’s father Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, The Bounty Hunter), the king of the Vikings, does not seem to understand Hiccup, as he just wants his son to become a true Viking. When it comes time to train new Viking teenagers to become dragon-fighting warriors, Hiccup, by convincing his father to do so, enrolls in the dragon-fighting class taught by Gobber the Belch (Craig Ferguson, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson). When introduced to the different dragons the new recruits had to battle, I could not help but think they resembled Pokémon, as they each had different structure (small, fat, two heads), colors, and personality, as did the other Viking teenagers (who were voiced by Ugly Betty’s America Ferrdra, Superbad’s Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Saturday Night Live’s Kristen Wiig, and Cloverfield’s T. J. Miller).
As action-packed as How to Train Your Dragon may sound by this point, do not worry, as the story begins to get really good. During the film’s beginning, Hiccup shoots down a rare dragon called a Night Fury with a cannon he made. After Hiccup’s dragon-fighting class the next day, he journeys into the woods, hoping to prove to his father that he is a true Viking by killing the dragon. As he finds the Night Fury, however, Hiccup cannot harm it because he does not really want to kill any dragons, and sets the dragon free instead. The dragon, who Hiccup dubbed “Toothless,” eventually begins to form a bond with the young Viking, which leads to Hiccup’s journeying to the woods every day to spend time with Toothless. Being directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois who helped create the 2002 Disney animated film, Lilo & Stitch, Toothless is said to be almost identical to the Stitch character. While I do agree the two have similar facial expressions, I’d say Toothless is a more memorable character, as his tame animal-like personality makes him my favorite dragon character ever. While Hiccup was befriending Toothless, I did not think of him as a terrifying dragon; I thought of Toothless as more of a huge and timid, but lovable pet.
Compared to other DreamWorks Animation films, How to Train Your Dragon is probably their best yet. I did enjoy the 3-D effects because not only did it have the usual objects coming at the audience (such as dragon fire breath, Viking weapons, and splashes of water), but it had some of the best depth I have ever seen in a movie, animated or not. The 3-D sequences where Hiccup and Toothless took flight were a hit among many critics; some of them even stated they were better than Avatar’s flight scenes. As one who did not see Avatar in 3-D, I cannot compare its 3-D effects to How to Train Your Dragon’s but I do see why the flight sequences were so popular, as while watching them, I too felt like I was riding atop a dragon.
If moviegoers do not get to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D, that should not stop them from watching the regular version, as while the 3-D effects are great, they are not necessary; it is the story that makes the film possibly DreamWorks Animation’s best yet. The dragons DO NOT TALK (thank god)! Honestly, if the dragons characters would have been more human-like, it would have ruined the entire movie, as it is their expressions (especially Toothless’) that give these beasts personality. How to Train Your Dragon not only has great dragon characters, but the story itself is original too, as it has it all: action, comedy, drama, and even a little romance. By the end, viewers will be wishing for their own dragon like Toothless, as he is really the main character here.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
