"How to Train Your Dragon" Film Review

How to Train Your Dragon

Rating: 4/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    Dragons are the stories of myths and legends, with vikings having a complex love/hate relationship with them in Norse mythology. There have been stories with fearsome and terrifying dragons and viking riders, conquering lands and destroying everything in their paths. However, Chris Sanders' and Dean DeBlois' film is more focused on what if there was a viking that didn't want to kill dragons or cause destruction. What if there was just a smaller viking, the outcast of his village made even worse as his father is the chief, who just wants to be different than the path he was put on at birth, and ends up friending one of the rarest dragons in the world? Their film paints this picture quite well in the first film of the How to Train Your Dragon series, which is such a fun joyride from beginning to end, despite some flaws in terms of story and character development. 

    That smaller viking's name is Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), and he simply doesn't know where he fits in the land of Berk. Fighting dragons is the norm for the people who live there, and you can't consider yourself a viking if you don't kill your first dragon. It is made especially hard for him when his father, Stoick (Gerard Butler), is the chief of the land and one of the best dragon-killers in the world. When Hiccup attempts, and fails, to kill the rare dragon known as the Night Fury, he finds the injured dragon in the woods, and attempts to help it instead of killing him. Because of this, it starts a beautiful friendship between Hiccup and the dragon, who he names Toothless. However, their friendship is threatened by the ideology of the village, and Hiccup must find a way to convince his father and the people of the village to see dragons more as allies than threats. 

    Perhaps the best thing this film does is the world-building. The Isle of Berk and the locations the movie visits are all vast and very detailed, really allowing the viewer to immerse themselves in this beautiful world of dragons and vikings. While some animated movies focus on certain locations for a large portion of their runtime, this movie seemingly wants the viewer to explore all of Berk, including the outskirts. It allows this location to pop off the screen, adding such depth and detail to the story.

    At the same time, it adopts a very large cast of characters that all work incredibly well. These characters include Hiccup, Toothless, Stoick, Astrid (America Ferrera), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig), Tuffnut (T.J. Miller), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Gobber (Craig Ferguson), to name a few. All of these characters are so unique and have such great qualities that make them stand out from each other. They are all so much fun together, and the performances from these incredibly talented actors really make the characters burst off the screen. At the same time, they all do a great job of quipping with one another and really crafting such fun and humorous dialogue that progresses the scene forward and build these relationships between the characters. 

    With the combination of this extensive world-building and fantastic cast of characters, it allows the movie to create such a fun and light-hearted atmosphere from beginning to end. It focuses on some heavy topics that the older viewers will pick up on, while also entertaining the younger audience quite a bit. There is so much here to enjoy and appreciate in this world that Sanders and DeBlois brought to the screen; I watched this movie for the first time at the age of twenty-two, and I found myself drawn in and enjoying every second of this movie, as well as appreciating the themes they were conveying. 

    However, while it has all of these fantastic elements throughout the movie, the film suffers from the lack of plot and character development. The movie focuses a lot on the dragon fights in the arena, as well as Hiccup trying to help Toothless fly and fix his broken wing. It touches on some elements that could allow character growth for Hiccup and Stoick, but it just casts the supporting characters in a very small light, showing how they're just used for comedic relief. I really wish there was a lot more character development for not only Hiccup, but for the rest of the characters. At the same time, the story doesn't really have much going on, like I mentioned earlier. There are only two major plot points here, and I think this movie could have benefited a lot more from making a more complex plot that moves the story on much quicker. 

    Despite the flaws here in terms of character and story development, this is such a fun and wonderful movie that everyone can enjoy. This movie beautifully creates a world and cast of characters that are so much fun and magical, showing these stories of vikings and dragons and how there is so much more to explore. I don't think this is the best entry in the franchise, but this is definitely a fantastic start to this beloved series.