DVD Reviews

How to Train Your Dragon – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Oct 25, 2010, 22:37 GMT

How To Train Your DragonA winner with audiences and critics alike, DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon rolls fire-breathing action, epic adventure and laughs into a captivating and original story. Hiccup is a young Viking who defies tradition when he befriends one of his deadliest foes – a ferocious dragon he calls Toothless. Together, the unlikely heroes must fight against all odds to save both their worlds in this ...more

How to Train Your Dragon is an entertaining family film that is filled with adventure, laughs, and even a good message or two for the kids.

The film has incredible animation with a variety of dragons flying across the screen, and plenty of laughs thanks to the screwball antics of some of the Vikings.

Based on the book by Cressida Cowell, the film adaption features the direction of Dean DeBlois (Mulan) and Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch). It also benefits from a great voice cast which includes Gerard Butler, Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig.

The film follows the family animated movie formula with the young Viking hero Hiccup (Baruchel) being a bit of a screw-up in the eyes of his father Stoick (Butler) – who happens to be the leader of the village. In his dad’s defense, Hiccup does tend to leave damage in his wake, and the village is under constant attack from a variety of dragons. The dragons (who come in all shapes, sizes and colors) like to dine on the village’s sheep and other tasty treats.

During one attack, Hiccup has an encounter with one of the deadliest dragons – a Night Fury – and soon after is put into dragon fighting school so that he can learn to protect the village. Taught by the loveable Gobber (Ferguson), Hiccup is forced to face his dragon fear along with fellow classmates Astrid (Ferrera), who is a tad bit of an overachiever and wants to be the best at dragon fighting; Snotlout (Hill), who picks on Hiccup and seems to have a thing for Astrid, and the fraternal twins Tuffnut (Miller) and Ruffnut (Wiig), who fight each other as much as they fight dragons.

As Hiccup goes through his dragon fighting school, he discovers the Night Fury that he saw during the opening dragon raid. It is not too long until he has befriended the creature and named him Toothless. He also discovers that dragons aren’t as bad as he first believed.

His adventures with Toothless help him excel at his dragon fighting courses, and catch the eye of Astrid – who wants to be the best and is determined to discover how Hiccup got so good so fast. They also discover the truth behind all the dragon raids – which leads to a big battle between the Vikings, dragons and the even bigger baddie of the film.

How to Train Your Dragon is simply a blast to watch and is entertaining for the kids and the adults. I saw the film on the big screen with my son (who has read all the books), and I honestly think I enjoyed it more than him. He kept having some trouble with changes the writers made to the story for the film.

The movie is predictable with Hiccup discovering that he has the potential to be a hero in the village, his dad learning to listen to his son, and Astrid discovering she doesn’t have to be the best. There is also the message of not judging a book by its cover as we discover the truth behind the dragon attacks.

The film moves at a fast pace so the predictability is never a problem, and it is filled with belly laughs thanks to the talented voice-cast.

Baruchel does an excellent job in the role of Hiccup and makes the character’s doubts and shortcomings understandable without making him a total loser. His character grows into the hero by the end of the film, and it is a fun ride taking the journey with him. Ferrera also fills her character with lots of confidence and quickly establishes that in dragon training a girl can take down a dragon just as good as a boy.

Ferguson and Butler provided me with the most laughs as both actors seem to be full on Vikings with every line they delivered. Butler especially makes the most of his booming voice (a little bit of 300 light for the kiddies), but also delivers the goods for the quieter father/son moments of the film.

The film is family friendly, but there is some violence with the dragons and the big battle at the end might be a tad scary for some younger viewers. The animation is crisp with the dragons bringing a ton of color to the screen.

The DVD comes with some standard special features that take a look at bringing the story to the screen and designing the dragons. There is also a version available that includes the animated short Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon. The short first appeared on Cartoon Network and sees Hiccup and his friends joining Gobber on a quest to face the Boneknapper Dragon.

How to Train Your Dragon is a film the whole family can sit back and enjoy. It has a great blend of action, laughs and a good message. The animation is great and the actors are perfect in their roles. I highly recommend it!