101) How To Train Your DragonDirector: Dean DuBlois and Chris SandersYear: 2010Plot Summary: A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
Pixar have the monopoly of animated cinema and have done since the mid 90s. But now, seemingly out of nowhere, something has come along that rivals even the very best of their work: Dreamworks' most recent release How To Train Your Dragon.
Technically, the animation is right up there with the likes of Wall-E and Finding Nemo. The rich textures give even the most cartoonish character designs a sense of reality I almost lost count of how many times I marvelled at the depth of field in the setting. The sunset, the fire, the lightning, it's all so gorgeous that you'll simply be left stunned.
The most impressive aspect of the animation, however, is the silent dragon Toothless. He doesn't have a line of dialogue but has just as much of an effect on you as any of the voice parts. His slick design in comparison to the zany look of the other dragons makes him intriguing and appealing while the facial movements make you side with him and empathise with him.
But, of course, it's the story that counts the most, and How To Train Your Dragon doesn't fall short on this aspect whatsoever. The main character, Hiccup, is someone you immediately adore from the moment you hear Jay Baruchel's voice - a huge distinction from the strong, brave, courage filled voice acting of the rest of his Viking tribe. But, what I loved most about him was not his underdog nature, but how instead of using his gift to fit in with the rest of his tribe like you'd originally expect in the opening scenes, he used it for invention. Knowledge is power in How To Train Your Dragon and that's a message that I would want my children to learn from. Moreover, this is a pro-empathy and anti-violence story and we could always use more of them in such a violent era of children's cinema.
But none of the morals or politics affect the storytelling at all as they're interwoven into How To Train Your Dragon so effortlessly. Therefore, this keeps it as entertaining as any animated flick you'll have seen in recent memory as, underneath the morals, there's laughs, there's action, there's drama and there is romance.
It's not just aimed at young ones either; adults too will be equally swept along for the ride too. Sure, it might feel a bit predictable to the older audience members, as are any movies aimed at audiences this age will be, but nevertheless, as you watch Hiccup try to teach both his village and his ignorant, violent father of the discovery he made and the peace that can be sought with the dragons, you'll feel warmed, excited, tense and even occasionally moved.
Right up to the bitter-sweet climax, How To Train Your Dragon is the very definition of entertainment. Pixar, look out.
4/5
4 comments:
Eh, I was expecting a lot more. I enjoyed Hiccup's bonding with Toothless but that was mildly. Rest is just a standard animated flick but as much as I like the guy I hope I don't have to watch anything lead by Jay Baruchel since his voice is far too irritating. Love it on the side though. Average film.
Oh, congratulations on hitting the 100 mark but it's still 100 films in 100 days, bro. You might have to step up your game to get to finish line.
And change "watching 500 films in 365 days" to "reviewing 500 films in 365 days". That's the real challenge here.
Yeeeah, the game has been stepped up. Been through a lot of films since I got back home this week and they will all be reviewed in due time. :)
How was Spain? :)
Haha, me too, I've watched a dozen films since I got back. Best first viewings were Lebanon, King Kong (original), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Sleeper.
Spain was great. So goddamn hot. Good times.
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