April 1, 2010

How to Train Your Dragon

Movie Review

As more IMAX 3D movies are coming out, I always get worried that the magic of the effects will fade away eventually and that this new entertainment experience will slowly become what we expect from any movie we set out to see. But until that happens, if it ever does, I keep enjoying every single piece of cinema I experience through this new medium with the excitement of a 6-year-old :)

How to Train Your Dragon, in that perspective, is every single bit as stunning as the other 3D movies that recently hit the theatres. However, and that’s the great thing about it, the whole thing is not only about highly-polished images and jaw-dropping effects. It’s a very, very cute little story.

In a nutshell, the story is about Hiccup, a little Viking dude who doesn’t look, move, think or behave anything like his people. Everyone expects him to become a dragon killer like his fellow villagers, but he’s not really cut for the job. He’s more of an inventor and likes to tinker in the blacksmith’s shop. On a night his village is being pillaged by dragons, he takes a shot at an elusive Night Fury, the rarest and most feared of all dragons. Against all odds, he shoots it down and the dragon plummets into the nearby woods.

After the fight, nobody believes Hiccup has shot anything and he is ridiculed. But when he sets out to find the dragon in the woods, he’s in for a big surprise. He will make an encounter that will change his life.

Aside from very few ugly bothering little annoyances (Vikings with Scottish accents, WTF – a few really corny scenes - and inexplicably blurred 3D when the camera makes a swift pan during flying scenes), this movie is pure candy.

Toothless, the dragon character, is just lovely. If he doesn’t win your heart in the first couple minutes, you’re either dead or a tax collector. The village folks are overblown and funny, the environment is gorgeous and the story’s engaging and well-written. Add a couple unexpected jokes, some good surprises and breathtaking visuals, and you’ve got yourself a very nice, enjoyable piece of entertainment.

How to train Your Dragon is definitely a kid’s movie. That is, a movie for kids of all ages.

2 comments:

  1. Okay! i'm not the only one to have cringed every time a Viking opened his mouth and Scot came out!

    Hollywood people! Research?!!?

    Never got to watch the end... it was a bit much for my 6yrs old :)

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  2. Really? Too bad, because the end's awesome!

    The Vikings stop fighting dragons and the kid loses a foot.

    I think it's great :)

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