Starring the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrara, Jonah Hill, and T.J. Miller, How to Train Your Dragon was simply a delight. Although Dreamworks Animation still falls short of the brilliance of Pixar, its newest creation continued their tradition proudly offering a film with some of the emotional depth of Kung Fu Panda with the comedic maturity of the Shrek films. The film also offered a wonderful 3D experience, that is to say one that was fairly seamless and didn't make me feel sick throughout.
How to Train Your Dragon didn't offer the most original of plots: Hiccup (Baruchel) the dorky Viking village misfit who only wants to please his father (Butler) who happens to be the big and beefy clan leader inevitably proves wiser than his elders by extending friendship and tolerance towards the misunderstood dragons, saves the day, gains the respect and admiration of his father and the cool kids of his training class, and gets the girl (Ferrara). --Sorry if you didn't see those spoilers coming!
Other reviews of the film ran a full spectrum. I enjoyed the review in the New York Times because I think it best recognized the fact that the film is one that aims to pull at our heartstrings and make us feel good. It aims to make you smile, and it succeeds. Other reviews, like Roger Ebert's, I felt were a little harsh, focusing on the wrong things like the strange Scottish accents of the Vikings; it was like he forgot it was a fun family film. He and other critics raised great points, especially about the lack of originality of some interactions--but I ask, is that a bad thing? The inter-species interactions straight out of the ranks of Wall-E and Lilo and Stitch (Hiccup's dragon, Toothless was also markedly reminiscent of Stitch by the way) were hardly original, but they still made me feel great. On that note, the review by Alex Zalben on filmcritic.com, which I did not completely agree with, did make a very resonant point about the mastery of the "silent simplicity" of the initial interactions between Hiccup and Toothless. There is a growing trend in many of the great animated films recently released, of beautiful silent dances (which you don't even realize are silent at the time!) between characters that literally take your breath away. This is a sign of the true artistry of these films- no dismissing them as childish cartoons!
I think a great testimony to the success of the film was the 98% rating on RottenTomatoes.com. It has been my experience that if Rotten Tomatoes gives a film that kind of rating, you are going to enjoy it. I really enjoyed How to Train Your Dragon. If you're looking for a light-hearted film that is cute, not too heavy, and can appreciate sweet and awkward unlikely heroes then I think you will, too!
[Images from Film-o-Filia gallery at filmofilia.com.]
