How to Train Your Dragon:
This is a film I regret not seeing in theaters. It follows the exploits of a young man named Hiccup, who lives in the ancient Viking island village of Berk. He is weak and awkward, constantly disappointing his warrior father Stoick the Vast, who is the village's chief. He is also the laughingstock of the village, and no one believes him. The village must constantly fight off and/or capture hordes of seemingly malevolent dragons. One that keeps escaping them is the infamous Nightfury, a super-fast and stealthy dragon known for his unique purple fire breath. One night, Hiccup is able to (miraculously) shoot it down and it lands somewhere in the village's surrounding forest area. No one believes a fuck-up like Hiccup could manage to take down the most dangerous dragon in the land, so they think he's just trying to get attention. To prove them wrong, Hiccup goes to the forest to find that the Nightfury, who he dubs Toothless, is badly injured and afraid, and forms a bond with the dragon, secretly training it so he can fly it and they become inseparable. Unfortunately, if word gets out about Hiccup training a dragon, his father will be humiliated, Hiccup mocked and ridiculed, and the dragon most likely killed. Hiccup must choose between helping his new companion or impressing his father and village.
This movie was genuinely surprising, considering at the time, Dream Works wasn't really doing that well at the time. Sure, they had some good films with Shrek, The Prince of Egypt, Spirit, Madagascar, Shrek 2, and even Shrek Forever After, but with films like Shark Tale and Shrek the Third under their belt, their reputation was getting tarnished. This is the film that re-cemented their place as a respectable animation studio, a real rival for Pixar, and made people interested in seeing their films again. The filmmaking duo behind the film, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, are no strangers to critical acclaim. They are most famous for directing Disney's Lilo & Stitch back in 2002, so they were experienced in how to make an enjoyable animated movie. It, like Shrek, is based off a cool, underrated kid's book, this time a British series by Cressida Cowell.
The voice acting, featuring the talents of Jay Baruchel (whose unique voice and mannerisms in turn make Hiccup a memorable and unique animated character), Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and David Tennant (who previously did audio book narrations of the book series), is excellent. Video game mo-capper and voice actor Robin Atkin-Downes (famous for his work with Naughty Dog on Uncharted and The Last of Us) voices a background character named Ack. All the actors' voices fit their characters perfectly, and you can tell the filmmakers and writers really cared about who was being cast, not just casting people because they're famous, but because their voice and mannerisms fit the character.
The animation is fluent and beautiful, and the all the character and environment designs are original and memorable. The filmmakers even consulted cinematographer Roger Deakins to help with lighting, to give the film a "live-action feel" (USA Today, November 2009). The movie has a lot of unique dragon designs, and the action sequences are pretty exciting for a family film.
Overall, How to Train Your Dragon may not be perfect, but it's an enjoyable underdog story with enough action and humor to keep everyone happy. I really hate the term "fun for the whole family", I find it to be overused and to just sound dumb, but I guess that's the best way to describe this movie. I'd say give it a watch or two. It won't disappoint. 4/5 stars.
How to Train Your Dragon 2:
I knew I had to catch this movie in theaters, considering I regretted missing #1 when it was still in theaters. In this film, Hiccup has turned from village outcast to it's most beloved citizen. His father Stoick, proud of his achievements as a warrior, and as teacher to everyone in the village, is considering putting him in the position of village chief, now that he is 20. Everything is going well for Hiccup, until, while flying with Toothless through unexplored lands, encounters dragon catchers, who work for a mysterious and ruthless figure named Drago Bludvist, who once attacked the Berk villagers, killing all the warriors but Stoick. Hiccup believes he can reason with him, and, against his father's warnings, tries to find Drago. He encounters another dragon trainer who he believes can help him on his quest, but also finds out the hard way that Drago may be too much for him to handle.
This movie has a slightly darker tone than the previous installment, as most middle parts in a trilogy do (take Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and The Dark Knight as great examples). Oh yeah, there's already a planned third and final installment. The action is more intense, the characters grow even more, and there's a more threatening villain. Yeah, last time there was terrifying massive dragon, but this time, there's an actual human threat, who can control dragons that are even bigger.
Speaking of characters, the voice acting is still impressive, and the character and dragon designs are creative and memorable. Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig and T.J. Miller all return from the previous film. New additions include Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, In America, Amistad, Blood Diamond) who voices the villain Drago, and Kit Harington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, Pompeii), who voices anti-hero Eret. I was glad to see these two, underrated actors get work in a big blockbuster like this.
The action sequences are cool and fluid, and the animation is still stunning. This time, only DeBois returned to direct, but I think he does a good job on his own. It's not as faithful to Cowell's book as the first, as far as I've heard, but I think it works as it's own thing altogether.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a great movie. It's got humor, likable characters, amazing animation, and an original concept. Not to mention a fair deal of exciting action. My only complaint: the title. Why not How to Fight With Dragons? How to Fly Your Dragon? Something a little more creative, as there's not really any training in the movie. But I digress, it's a minor nitpick. Again, check it out. 4/5 stars.
(Images: Wikipedia)
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