Geekatana Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

As for the usual I want to do a quick review of the first two How to Train Your Dragon film before we dive into the third film cause it helps in giving us a wider perspective of all the movies of this franchise as a whole.

Since this movie came out way back in 2010 I will probably have some spoilers in this review. But I think everyone has seen this film by now so I don't see that as much of a problem. But just in case I'm putting that idea out there before we dive into this one.

The plot is about a hapless young viking named Hiccup as he tries to become a dragon hunter to cement himself to his fellow viking people that he has come of age and prove himself as one of them. And yet in a funny twist of fate he ends up befriending one and not just not any dragon but one of the rarest and fiercest dragon their clan has known. From there he tries to convince his other vikings that dragons are more than what they appear to be.

Although the plot is nothing the movie is very funny and entertaining ride from start to finish. The visuals are impressive enough to give this world of dragons and vikings come alike. This is also thanks to the excellent voice acting of each character with each having their typical adorable stereotypes. The movie gives nothing new to the already long line of story archetype yet its old stuff we all know and still love.

This film isnt without its flaws though as there are some things that happened that is confusing and could have easily remedied with five more minutes of extra footage. During the third act Hiccup lost his leg when they fought the big dragon Queen yet didn't show how he lost it. Was it burned? Did he broke on the way way down? Toothless saving him shows he covered his entire body from the flame so I doubt that was the cause. The film just skip that part.

Also they took out that Queen by shooting a flame through its open mouth to burn it from the inside. Yet no other dragon done that that before. Not one of the other dragons that have failed to bring the Queen food has tried to fire one flame even as a dying breath when it was eaten by the Queen.

I might sound like I'm seriously finding fault at the film but I think it's a foresight that should have been addressed in the film itself. Certainly a few minutes of runtime of explanation wouldn't have hurt the movie. Still it's pretty minor of a complain compared to how awesome the film is in all the other aspects.

The film is its own fantasy world and the filmmakers had a lot more free reign on what they want to show. The dragons on the film is uniquely their own and unlike the dragons that are mostly found in most fantasy books. Toothless dragon design was a black panther/cat creature with bat wings that seem to shot electric charged flames. he also has large eyes and ears to show emotions.

How to Train Your Dragon was loosely based on the 2003 book of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The movie shows these companies really know their stuff and although it lost to Toy Story 3 in the animation department it is still regarded as a fan favorite to this day.

The movie has inspired a game and its own television series and although the film was a lot different than the book it has delighted fans both kids and adults alike. Being a fan of the franchise I'd probably given the film a higher score but I have to draw in this as the film didn't quite make that mark yet. Still i'd easily recommend this film to anyone who folks animated movies or any film fan in general.