I had the opportunity to see two movies in the theater over vacation: Clash of the Titans and How to Train Your Dragon. Spencer has already done a great review of Titans that I mostly agree with; I wasn’t overly impressed with the film. Dragon however was fantastic! Seriously.
I believe this is the first animated movie I have ever seen in a theater. I am not a huge animated movie fan as most are formulaic and trite. This movie does have some of those elements; after all, this is a Disney movie. So of course the mom of the main character, Hiccup, is M.I.A. We never even learn if she is dead or missing or took off or what. In fact there are only three female characters I remember seeing in this whole movie: the sole elder of the Viking tribe, one woman warrior, and the main character’s arch rival/love interest.
Other trite elements include a misunderstood species, a main character who doesn’t fit in to his society and breaks social norms, a gang of bullying peers, and a community-wide crisis.
The refreshing thing is there were enough surprises in the plot to make this movie fun to watch. Of course I can’t tell you all those things or it would ruin the movie, but here is a teaser. There is depth to the enemy forces (the dragons). Though they never speak the characterization of them has depth and they are not one dimensional bad guys. Also, there is actual motivation for the dragons’ actions; they aren’t just an incarnation of evil to buoy the plot.
My favorite feature of this movie is the dialogue. It is witty, intelligent and even snarky in all the right places. At one point in the movie, Hiccup is being reprimanded for screwing up yet again and the Viking charged by his father to keep Hiccup out of trouble gestures towards him and says Hiccup needs to fix this if he wants to be a Viking. Hiccup responds, “You just pointed to all of me!” A great sarcastic line which is just one example of the depth of dialogue in this film. This is a nice surprise as most Disney animated films I have seen have boring, expected dialogue.
So if you are looking for something to do this weekend, give this film a chance. It is very different from most films I like, but it was a refreshing change and I bet you’ll think so too. Plus, it is educational. If you ever find yourself stuck taming a dragon, you will leave this film with all the necessary tips to train yours successfully without getting eaten or burned alive.