Review of How to Train Your Dragon (2010) by James Z — 23 Nov 2014

Hiccup lives in a Viking village which is often under attack from dragons. When he comes across the most dangerous dragon, The Night Fury, he learns there's much more to these dragons than just pests.

This story is a nice twist on the 'hero's journey' where instead of succeeding through physical strength, Hiccup's intelligence, creativity and compassion for animals are what make him special.

The voice acting in this film is excellent. Jay Baruchel voices Hiccup, a young but somewhat cynical and sarcastic boy who has a great line in humour. It's also great to hear some Scottish voices in the form of Gerard Butler as Stoick and Craig Ferguson as Gobbler. Butler adds some real gravitas and weight to the more serious moments of the film and Ferguson plays a wonderfully light hearted but sympathetic character very well. There are also some very big names in the form of Hiccups friends and competitors, with America Ferrera voicing Astrid, who is a good character but a somewhat forced love interest.

The animation in this film is excellent. The designs of the various dragons are interesting and imaginative and their movements are well created. Toothless in particular is very expressive with just facial and body movements and his mannerisms are very cat like at times.

The film also manages to keep a good pace throughout with a mixture of action and comedy and some surprisingly touching scenes between father and son and boy and dragon.

All in all this is a thoroughly charming and enjoyable film about friendship and caring that can appeal to any age group and sends a good message about understanding and caring rather than violence.