Sometimes it takes watching a movie all on your own to fully realize the deeper value of it. While viewing films is generally something I genuinely enjoy doing with people (friends and family alike), I can't always pick up on everything I like about the film and simply share my general thoughts -- especially on a first time viewing. The reason I'm sharing this is because, when I first watched DreamWorks' spectacular outing of How to Train Your Dragon, I had been watching over a bunch of kids with my teenage pals at the time and, naturally due to the kids being loud and off the walls, I couldn't pay full attention to it. While not a fully unpleasant experience, it didn't exactly give me the chance to let the film fully resonate with me; I never even had genuine interest in it at the time for fear that it would just be "another dumb kids movie". Years later, though, I gave it another chance after going to see the sequel in theaters with my best friend and did I actually think it was an awesome well put together film for pretty much all ages? Long story short: Yes.
*No need for spoiler tag in this one*
Being based on a children's book of the same name, the premise of How to Train Your Dragon is rather familiar at best. The film sees a scrawny teenage Viking nobody named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) desiring to fit in amongst his village of Berk, which is regularly attacked by menacing dragons. His father, the village chieftain, Stoick the Vast (voiced by Gerard Butler), who hates dragons with a passion isn't proud of him for being so weak and clumsy and the fellow villagers see him as a disgrace and don't always give him the attention he deserves -- particularly his crush, Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera). Hoping to get noticed for a change, he goes out of his way to somehow successfully capture a "Night Fury" -- the most feared and mysterious of all dragons. Even so, in his attempt to kill it, he can't bring himself to do it and ends up befriending it in secret (later naming it Toothless for its lack of teeth). Through being forced into the village blacksmith, Gobber's (voiced by Craig Ferguson), program of "dragon training" by his father and getting to know Toothless without anyone else knowing, Hiccup soon discovers that dragons, menacing and destructive as they are, aren't exactly everything the Vikings make them out to be. And so it becomes a tale of the nerdy protagonist venturing from "nobody" status to becoming an inspiration to everyone around him, a stubborn parent who won't listen at first, disowning his son, then later reconciling, and a "hide the pet" storyline that ultimately is exposed and shamed before everyone sees they were wrong.
The main reason hardly anybody criticizes the movie for having this familiar of a story is because it actually manages to do something that most films with these formulas don't do: pace it well and generate actual emotion. There's no rushing into the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless becoming friends; they take their time to get to know each other and Hiccup is seen actively studying Toothless to see his likes and dislikes as well as why he can't fly -- reason being that Hiccup shooting him down caused him to lose half of his "tail fin", which, in-universe, keeps dragons balanced as they fly. Plus, being Gobber's apprentice and all, Hiccup has experience in blacksmithing and knitting outfits together, which we are shown in his attempts to be creative in finding ways to help Toothless start flying again. On top of that, the relationship between Hiccup and his dad, unlike many similar examples, is given enough depth to make it feel... surprisingly human. Nothing Stoick does makes him an antagonist to Hiccup rather the two just have a hard time understanding each other; for example, Hiccup initially wants to kill dragons, Stoick says they're too dangerous for him, not because he's physically weak, but because he just doesn't have the heart for it. And when Stoick later disowns Hiccup for befriending Toothless and refusing to follow the traditional Viking ways of killing them, he doesn't lock him in a dark room nor is he completely hardened toward him. Instead, he walks away noticeably heartbroken, but continues to go on and try to find the dragon's nest in hopes to put an end to their attacks. Touches like this make the film stand out despite its formulaic setup.
Another thing that stands about the movie that stands out is its aesthetics. The character art style, kiddy as it looks, is easily subverted by the amount of heart that went into the film's story and is enough to give it a kid-friendly look all while adults can enjoy the other aspects. Even I can't get over just how much work went into the backgrounds and environments of this movie; there's enough balance between vibrant and natural colors throughout the village and the more forested, mountainous, and rocky sea areas to where it feels like you've been whisked away into old Viking times. At times, though, the graphical quality doesn't exactly look fully polished, but it's never too much to where it's distracting. If the environments themselves don't sound cool enough, try watching the dragon flight sequences. Simply put, with or without 3D, it's amazing and, even I'm not fully sure how they did it, but something about the camera angles and the high energy adrenaline given off by said scenes makes you feel as though you're the one riding the dragon close to the sea, into the foggy rocks, and through the clouds even. Not only does it "wow" my movie critic side, but it definitely brings out my inner child who wanted to ride on top a mythical dragon like that.
Overall, the running jokes and character interactions as well as the voice work are of note in this movie. Things like Gobber and Stoick gesturing to all of Hiccup who then points it out, Gobber's remarks about needing extra underpants, and some of the side character trends such as the twin's arguments with one another are enough to get good chuckles from me. In terms of interactions, the humor between Hiccup and Toothless as they become friends is fun and enjoyable to watch especially in the "Forbidden Friendship" scene where most no dialogue is present -- a very effective moment, which I will explain later on. When dialogue is present, though, a lot of the voice deliveries, well... deliver. Jay Baruchel is clearly going for the typical nerdy boy sound in his voice as Hiccup, but, weird as his inflections may sound, it isn't completely unbearable to listen to. Voices of the side characters such as Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig are a neat ensemble and each have their own unique characteristics in both running gags and deliveries, but none of them even compare to Gerard Butler's performance as Stoick. Let's face it, in any movie he's in, Gerard Butler packs so much power and might with his awesome voice that it's easy to recognize him, especially when his performance is spot on.
Apart from voice acting, sound design wise, this movie definitely has a recognizable, unique, and "Viking feel" to its soundtrack. Composed by master orchestrator, John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon incorporates many classical string instruments, horns, and other instruments to bring the Viking world to life, truly bringing to life many sequences. From the high energy action scene that kicks off the movie to the amazing flight test and romantic flight sequences, the music never fails to stand out and captures the emotion of the scene perfectly. This is especially the case for me in the aforementioned "Forbidden Friendship" scene; the scene itself, dialogueless as it is, is conveyed completely through the score, which starts off softly then later builds toward excitement to show just how Hiccup and Toothless are finally starting to warm up to each other. In short, watching this scene with the sound off would completely rob it of context and the magic of their developing friendship. And, every time I hear it, straight up chills, most especially when Hiccup successfully manages to touch Toothless for the first time. If anything, I'm still amazed that a movie about something as non-existent as dragons could make me care so deeply about them, especially a E.T.-esque relationship between a boy and his pet dragon of all things.
In the end, of course, there's that moment in which everyone realizes they were wrong about dragons and that, even though not all dragons are good, not all dragons are bad either. Personally, I see this as somewhat of an analogy for how the film turned out to be; it looked to be a dumb, kiddy, cliche-ridden story from the outside, but, on the inside it's a film that, although it does follow a story that's been done to death for YEARS, it's genuine, for all ages, and touchy-feely enough to where it rose above a lot of other movies with similar premises. Between its new takes on old trends, stunning visuals, running jokes and character interactions with good voice acting, and stellar score, it definitely hasn't be ignored amongst audiences and critics alike. Even its success was enough to warrant a franchise with sequels (which I will cover someday) that managed to follow in its footsteps and be adored by kids and adults alike. As an adult who actually likes this movie, I give it an A+ and will certainly recommend it to anyone who can get passed its outward appearance to check it out.
Thanks y'all for reading and, as always, I will see you in the next review!
No comments:
Post a Comment