Rating of
4/4
dragons steal the show
sreekirch - wrote on 02/22/12
Fire breathing creatures existed once upon a time and now they have been never great before. With a soul stirring tale and some terrific animation directed by Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois distributed by Dream works Based on the book by Cressida Cowell and co written by Will Davies tells the heart touching tale of a young Viking who teaches a lesson that dragons are not meant to be harmed. When we all heard of dragons in the past flicks like Dragon Heart, Reign of fire, and Dungeons and Dragons they were fierce. Here is the different case. The skin is toned down and the scaly thorns on the back are completely reduced. Giving a cartoonish look to the scary dragons is a different approach and finally one can say that dragons were never so fierce. A 3D treatment is all it deserved and delightfully makes the viewers get attracted to the effects they produce
The plot is all about a young Viking (Hiccup) who is so desperate to kill the most dangerous dragon of all time called the Night Fury. His father (Stoick) does not want him as he may face some serious problems. Never giving up he manages to capture the Night Storm with his special equipment. No one believes him and he is now forced to be locked up and they leave hunting for dragons. But Hiccup escapes from there and sees that Night Fury is alive. Now he gives some food for it and slowly develops the bond with it. Meanwhile Stoick has decided to train young fellows in which there is hiccup’s girlfriend (well so to speak only on his part) Astrid who always wants to battle the dragons. Stoick decides that hiccup will now become the next Viking and sets open a dragon to finish it off. What will hiccup do now? How is he going to face the truth and will he satisfy his father? Will he keep the trust on his people is all to be watched.
With the long glimpses of Viking rocks in the middle of a sea and the grazing sheep suddenly getting caught and people shouting Dragons attack! We all feel the depth in the beginning. Having a runtime of 100 minutes the movie promises a real kick start for all the heart pounding action coming ahead. Thanks to the director he had not taken too much of human elements to drive insane. When the movie shows the girl character I thought probably the movie will follow the same track where the girl gets caught and our hero tries to save his loved one and get along with the fragile screenplay where most movies do and this one is not that case. It provides a heart touching tale that focuses more on character understanding and depth towards the script and also giving a glimpse of romance did not go wrong. The first forty five minutes gives the plot and a strange proceeding that will recur in the second half. With Hiccup being accepted as Viking thereby fulfilling his father’s wish was the one we waited for throughout the first half. But until how long this burying truth is going to affect Hiccup while he has a friend dragon like a dog faithful to him.
Gerard Butler voices for Stoick. His voice had some roughness and really it needed for such a character. Craig Ferguson voiced for Gobber the person who cares for Hiccup and also makes Stoick learn the greatness of his son. America Ferrera voiced for Astrid a desperate girl who wants to be decided as the new young Viking plays a good voice with some humor. Voice lending was just fantastic for all the characters. Every character had their importance and the main characters were just perfect. The dragons I thought probably needed voices. But anyway they were just brilliant.
Animation was fabulous and the locations (mountains sea storms ships and of course the dragons with their big eyes) and caring pet nature did give a glimpse of all sort of spectacular work. The humans were slightly down in the emotions but yet they satisfied with the dialogues. John Powell gave a fantastic score that was deep and raising the tempo in the crucial scenes where dragons fly above the sky and get the best stunts they can do. There was one big dragon called the Queen which was bit fierce and had its many small eyes giving us the example of dragon like Cyclops. The art work was fabulous and editing made its mark in not lengthening the scenes and kept it the way it was.
My word: How to Train Your Dragon is fast. It has a deeply seated story with some interesting characters and great development. Movie will satisfy all ages. With the children upon I give them the first 70 minutes. The last part is slightly scary enough and with those who do not care the size and large eyes of the queen will be mesmerized by the visuals and humor generated from the lead characters. How to Train Your Dragon is all about getting things right and listening to the wonderfully told truth with a message winning the hearts of audience.
