Movie Review: "How to Train Your Dragon"

Let me start this review off by saying something that I know is going to be contraversial. Dreamworks Animation Studios doesn't know how to make films. They know how to make gimmicks and market them to the right audience. Shrek 3, Monsters Vs. Aliens, and both Madagascars are prime examples of this. They do, however occasionally, strike gold and this fortunately is one of those times. In fact I would put How to Train Your Dragon solidly in the top one or two spot in their entire cannon. It's battling, of course with Kung Fu Panda. Both of these films are rapturously beautiful and when the beauty is on screen it distracts from the clamor of most of the characters.

The sad thing is, even at its absolute best, Dreamworks can't touch the lowliest of Pixar films. Well, maybe Cars, but still. Why is this? Story. I happen to know a someone who works for Pixar and she shared with me that they place all their thought and emphasis on the story. It is their highest priority. They will throw out months of animation work if they realize the story is lacking. This is what film making is about. Story. So few other film makers realize or even care about this fact.

The story of How to Train Your Dragon is pretty much the same exact story you've seen in every other movie ever. The likable outsider is ridiculed by everyone on the inside. He wants to fit in. He's not good enough. Then, he finds he has a special talent that none of the others have (in this case it's training dragons!). Of course tragedy strikes and he must display his special talent and save the village. In the end everyone loves him. Yay! This is where this film goes wrong. Pretty much all the time Hiccup (said outsider) spends in his Viking village is torn right out of the pages of the cliche handbook. His father is disappointed in him. In the end he accepts him! The girl he wants thinks he's a loser. In the end she gives him a very awkward kiss in front of the whole village! Everyone thinks he's a failure. In the end everyone loves him and realizes he was right all along and change their two hundred year old mindsets and customs to accommodate his! Sorry, erm... SPOILER ALERT. The other characters in the village are just characatures voiced by loud, popular comedians aimed at getting more people into the theater. See what I mean about gimmick?

When Hiccup gets away to... ahem... train his dragon, Toothless is when the movie soars out of its cliches into something really magical. There's little talking, but lots of story and it's way more interesting to me than watching a bunch of annoying Vikings make current pop culture jokes. Toothless, animated with that characteristics of cats and dogs and other animals I'm sure, really pops off the screen. He is such a vivid character and never says a word. Their flying scenes together are amazing. Worth the price of the ticket alone. Their relationship is pretty touching too. I don't know why the whole movie isn't this way. They think they have to add in the stupid loud characters for the kids, yet WALL*E proved kids will still love a movie with no talking. They'll love this one too. When they get out of the theater and they're talking about the movie do you know who they'll be talking about? Not the Jonah Hill voiced Snotlout. Or even America Ferrera as the love interests, Astrid. They'll be talking about Toothless and Hiccup. They won't care that they weren't speaking. They be entraced, like I was, by their story.

Now I know I'm being harsh here. This is actually one of the better films I've seen recently. I just know that it had much more potential had they been a little riskier and not fallen into their comfort zones. There is something that they do at the end which was pretty surprising and pretty impressive on a storytelling level. I won't ruin it for you but kudos to them for that. All in all it was a good film. Worth a watch.

B