How to Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks is the David to Pixar's Goliath. In recent years, Dreamworks has been producing high quality fare; Although not on par with Pixar's repertoire (I'm a Pixar fanboy), they at least hold their own. Dreamworks usually relies on gags and pure star-power to pull people into the theatre, so it's a breath of fresh air to see the studio step out of their comfort zone. Dreamworks manages to release a film that pulls at the heart strings by showing depth and growth, traits that many of their previous films lacked (*coughbeemovieandoverthehedgecough*).

'How to Train Your Dragon' is a story about a boy, Hiccup, who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his village of dragon-slaying vikings. All he wants is to fit in and gain his father's approval. His life is forever changed when he meets a dragon, Toothless, that challenges everything he once knew. It sounds like any other underdog story, but it is still a very well-rounded movie. Movies like this, despite their cliches, manage to become timeless because of their universal themes. That is probably why they film's source material is so popular.

One of the only things I had a problem with was the voice-acting. Although well-done for the most part, I struggled to understand why all of the adults in the village had strong, Scottish accents and all of the children had plain, American accents. Maybe it was to show the vast separation between the generations, but all it managed to accomplish was distracting me. Another thing was the voice of the main character. Although I can see why they cast Jay Baruchel as the lead, his voice lacks any emotional range. Baruchel is usually cast as the wimpy underdog, and he matches his character's personality perfectly... It was just difficult to get in sync with the character's emotions unless he was interacting with the dragon.

One of the other problems I had with the movie was the design of most of the dragons. Some of them were beautiful (ie, Toothless) and others seemed amateurish in design. Many of them looked like they were designed by students in a beginner's 3D modeling class. It created a disconnect for me between the humans and the dragons because the art direction for the two of them seem so different. It didn't help that the design of the dragons prevented them from showing as much emotion as the star dragon could. I think that is what angered me the most.

Speaking of anthropomorphic design, my favorite part about the movie was Toothless. I was so glad that they didn't give any of the dragons a voice. One of Dreamworks' trademarks is giving voices to its animal stars. This forced the designers of Toothless to rely on the dragon's facial expressions and body language, creating, in my opinion, one of their most memorable characters to-date.

Overall, the movie is one of the studio's best releases. I would recommend it to just about anybody. The pacing of the movie was exceptional and it never failed to deliver an exciting moment, up until the credits rolled. Catch this flick whenever you get the chance. You won't be disappointed. :)