How to Train Your Dragon (2010) Review

“Is that it?”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

When you’re so used to be part of one thing, you would never expect something else to change you in more ways than one.


PLOT


Based on Cressida Cowell’s titular book series, How to Train Your Dragon takes place in the fictional island of Berk where its human village of livestock is constantly endangered by dragons. Chieftain Stoick the Vast has been determined to find the Dragon’s Nest to put an end to the constant species rivalry. His son Hiccup is eager to be a part of the cause with other teenagers, but everyone deems him too weak to fight that he is being a blacksmith under apprenticeship with Gobbler. One night, he proves himself when using a bolas to shoot down the rarest of dragons, Night Fury, but no one believes him. He goes to the forest to find it trapped as he expected, but can’t bring himself to finish it, resulting in freeing it and the dragon returns the favor by sparing him before leaving. Hiccup does try telling his dad he doesn’t want to be part of the cause anymore, but Stoick has already enrolled him in dragon fighting classes since that was what he originally wanted. He insists to give it a chance as he goes with a fleet to find the nest. The classmates would include: the overconfident Snotlout, knowledgeable Fishlegs, twin pair of Ruffnut & Tuffnut, and Hiccup’s crush Astrid. Hiccup does go back to the forest to discover the Night Fury can’t fly due to the bolas tearing off half of its tail fin. He slowly befriends the creature when making a prosthetic fin and a harness that allows him to ride him, and name him Toothless for his retracting teeth. Learning dragon behavior from the Night Fury gives Hiccup an advantage to subdue dragons during training, which earns him admiration from all but Astrid who gets jealous. When Stoick returns home unsuccessfully finding the nest, he would be pleased to know his son is fitting in without even knowing the how. When Hiccup finds out the final exam involves killing a dragon, he considers running away until Astrid follows him. She would be of course to see the Night Fury, but is convinced by Hiccup to join him on a flight to prove his friendliness. This would unintentionally lead to them being taken to the nest and both see firsthand every dragon uncaptured from Berk like Toothless is hypnotically drawn to it by a gargantuan one, the Red Death, summoning them to feed copious amount of live food to being eaten themselves. Realizing why exactly Berk has been targeted for so long, Astrid considers telling Stoick of the discovery but Hiccup begs not to for the sake of protecting Toothless. The following day, Hiccup is tasked to face a Monstrous Nightmare for the final exam and ends up trying to show how to subdue it in order to prove dragons can be peaceful. As Stoick’s disappointment & anger demands the fight to be stopped, this causes the other dragon to attack. When Toothless senses his partner in danger, he intervenes at the cost of being captured. With this aftermath, Hiccup does try explaining to his dad Toothless is friendly, but inadvertently mentions the nest. Learning only a dragon can find it, Stoick uses Toothless to take him right to it, ignoring his son’s pleas to avoid walking into foreboding danger and disown him in the process. With no other choice, Hiccup quickly convinces Astrid and his classmates to learn what he’s learned with the dragons in order to save the tribesmen. Stoick does get overwhelmed by the Red Death, but all are saved by the teens who use their dragons as a distraction. Stoick apologizes to his son in the midst of the commotion, giving him needed motivation to end the conflict. Hiccup & Toothless are able to defeat Red Death by destroying its wing membranes that cause it to fatally crash. The explosion to come from the crash causes Hiccup to be knocked off by Toothless, but the Night Fury is able to catch him at the cost of his left foot. Upon recovery, the teen protagonist wakes up with a new prosthetic thanks to Gobber. As he begins a relationship with Astrid and is admired by the whole village, the film ends with Berk beginning of a new era of peace with the dragons.


THOUGHTS


Just when kids were getting Shrek fatigue with Shrek Forever After and Pixar peaked in storytelling with Toy Story 3, it was time for Dreamworks to dabble with a whole new lore of children’s stories with How to Train Your Dragon that would blow the world away and boy has it ever to this day. The first note to hear from John Powell’s score is all that I needed to get me hooked because it’s hard to not be compelled of it. You can say what you want with the remakes bringing a fair amount of enhancement for the setting, but the animation here remains flawless. As you digest the landscape of Berk, you’re in awe with each dragon you get to see. You can be intimidated of Red Death, be impressed with the likes of Monstrous Nightmare and Stormfly the Deadly Nadder, or giggle over a Gronckle & a two headed Zippleback. In the end, we’ll all be in awe of Toothless who brought an amazing mix of adorability and ferocity that can be expected of any animal today. It is the Night Fury's bond with Hiccup that teaches me the great value that is finding common ground from one another and embracing individuality. If these things are not part of our lives, then society collapses in the blink of an eye. Actor Jay Baruchel has us connect to Hiccup so quickly in his voice performance because we sense all the empathy he is all about. All he wants to do is fit in the world his dad brought him in, only for him to realize being physically strong is not his suit, but in fact mentally. He connects with Toothless better than his own kind because they relate to being outsiders, as the dragon doesn't hunt for the nest the way others do. The moment the dragon allowed the boy to pet him after they spared each other was the first step of their bond. It is the time Hiccup makes with him that helps him come out of his shell because the knowledge he gains is what helps him be part of his village, proving he didn't have to be violent to prove his worth. It is a bummer that it took both of them to be handicapped for them to strengthen the bond. In the end however, journeys have the most unexpected beginnings. As part of this bond, it also inspired Hiccup to speak up to the one person who expected too much of him. Gerard Butler makes a great dad out of Stoick because despite letting his stubbornness spark his confidence, he is still concerned for his son who gregariously wants him to make his mark sooner than later. In his generation, being physically strong was his transition to adulthood and saw it as the only way for everyone else after him. It was a lot to take for his son to go against tradition but when he got to see it bring him all the confidence he needed, he realized it is good to be different. I also don't think he would've not been so open minded had it not been for his friend Gobber. Craig Ferguson made him so likable because he's the least grouchy and was snarky enough to know things don't work unless you try it, hence pitching Hiccup to be in dragon training. Had he not suggested it to Stoick, there's no certainty on if his son would still reach needed maturity. Putting aside adults, it was nice to see the boy find his inner circle with people his age. The other kids were honestly what brought the comedy to the story and was done quite fluently. Christopher Mintz Plasse had me smile as he made Fishlegs so gentle due to his bookishness he brought to the table. He gets paired with a Gronckle due to their open sweetness. Jonah Hill had me laugh in making Snotlout boisterous to the point until he gets his own chance in proving himself, such as being part of distracting Red Death and actually attacking its eyes. He gets paired with Monstrous Nightmare because they match each other's aggression which also paid off. TJ Miller & Kristen Wiig were even a funny pair of their own in making Tuff & Ruffnut so impulsive & almost anarchic to the point you can't believe they've made it this far bickering 24/7 and survive. It's also fitting for them to share the Zippleback due to how they match fractiousness that comes from both of their heads. Last but not least, America Ferrera has us adore Astrid for being far more a natural in terms of being self assured and independent of a figure. She is paired up with Stormfly solely off of expected courageousness. Her relationship with Hiccup is an opposites attract situation because he is trying to build those traits while she already has that. It was fitting for her to be suspicious towards his improvements in dragon training because it's obviously not easy to pull it off overtime like he did. She ends up showing respect by keeping Toothless secret until that came out on its own because she understood how much he meant to him. And she takes a chance on him in the long run because she saw how big his heart is, blossoming one of the best relationships in animation history. If she can see the best in him with the given time she had, anyone can do the same for us when it matters most and that is what I enjoy most of this pairing. This movie will continue to be on my soft spot, but there are still things that have confused me upon re-watching. Like how exactly has Berk managed to survive when they go through constant dragon attacks to begin with? If they're low on cattle, it's a miracle that village isn't extinct. The Monstrous Nightmare even messes up by choosing to try biting Hiccup rather than breathe fire. It's not like the fire breath is limited like the Gronckle, so I don't see the point of it acting with a simpler and effective move. Stoick is of course far too harsh when saying he had to clean up Hiccup's mess in the opening because it was the dragons that attacked first and he would've not used the bolas had there not been any dragons. Even Astrid overreacts in telling Hiccup to pick a side during training because it's obvious he is with his people, even though no one knew yet about Toothless. And no one seeing the eel Hiccup uses against the Zippleback or the grass against the Gronckle is ridiculous because there were so many around the arena like the elder. Also if Hiccup got so popular in his dad's absence, it's a surprise that someone like Astrid didn't follow him to the cove sooner where Toothless was hiding. Moving on, I don't blame Stoick for wanting to end the rivalry by immediately going to the nest once he knew how to find it. But if there was a council in the first place on when to take a fleet every other time, I don't see the point of there being one if he can do what he wants so easily as chieftain. Ignore this, then you'll still love it for what it is. In short, the directing team of Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders succeed in making How to Train Your Dragon Dreamworks' best animated flick post-Shrek for bringing in a whole new level of creativity in terms of storytelling and world building. If that is your preference, see this now.