Jason KingHow to Train Your Dragon (8/10)
March 24th 2010 06:27
:
COOL ANIMATION
Category: No Category
All I can say is thank god I saw a decent film with How to Train Your Dragon - I have seen nothing but rubbish for weeks and my celluloid emotional levels were in decline. Thank you Dreamworks for saving me with this funky animation.
From the studio that brought you SHREK, MADAGASCAR and KUNG FU PANDA comes HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell, the action comedy tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn't exactly fit in with his tribe's longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup's world is turned upside down when he encounters a dragon that challenges he and his fellow Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view.
One thing I noticed during this screening is that this film is Avatar, it is Pocahontas and it is nearly every animation ever told. They all have the same story with different animation every time. You have your lead, or hero, who has different ideals from the community. He, or she, is normally a small person and doesn't believe in the status quo. They face mass adversity and by the end they are right and have become the hero. It is Shrek, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, all of them have the same story and for me all of them are absolutely brilliant. It reminds me of that old quote that is taken in so many ways (
) "It's not the size of the wand, it's the magic within". For this film, as opposed to a man's member, it relates to the quality of the tale, it relates to how it is told. And within this tale is abundant magic.
This is at its heart a film made for children with so much heart to it and astounding graphics that it will make all adults who view it fall in love with it. In regards to animation this CGI filled 3D animation has the best hair reproduced that I have ever seen. Hiccup's hair is superb and to me it's one step closer to replacing the need of "real" actors. When it is dry it blows in the wind strand by strand and when it is wet I was amazed at how lifelike it was. And the best thing about this film is the flying scenes in 3D - when you watch it sit in the front half of the cinema dead centre - as close as you can to the front really and when Toothless flys, you get to fly with him. Screw standing on the front of the Titanic - fly on the back of a dragon instead. (Side note: I am not dissing Titanic, my equal number one film of all time).
The 3D is some of the best I have seen and it is by far the best 3D since Avatar and piles dragon pooh on top of the effects of Alice in Wonderland. But this film isn't all about effects, it also has an amazing dramatic story to it with asides of comedy. It lets you know you should stand up in what you believe in and be kind at heart. It also teaches us that just because things are huge and appear mean that they may be a softy at heart. It's pure Disney and while bright and colourful it is way less sugar coated than The Blind Side.
The list of the voice talent is impressive with Jay Baruchel leading up the cast as Hiccup. Jay was the scene stealer in Tropic Thunder and is about to come out in another Paramount film Sean reviewed for Salty Popcorn last week, SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE. For me, this is his best work. It has abundant character and is scratchy and youthful. He is clumsy and goofy and it works so well in this film. He needs to do more animation!! His father in the film and the head of the Vikings is voiced by Mr 300, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera voices his love interest and there are notable mentions to Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and even David Tennant. All perfectly selected. The film has many characters and they are all enjoyable.
One of the most amazing characters is Toothless himself. He is the cute black dragon that Hiccup ends up befriending and learning from. Before I go on I need to whine about one thing. The names of "Hiccup" and "Toothless" are two of the worst character names I have ever heard. The names bugged the hell out of me but thank god the characters themselves did not. But I digress, Toothless looks like a big black flathead with wings but is actually modelled after Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch" which is the director, Dean DeBlois's previous film. He even has some of Stitch's characteristics but is WAY more cooler. He is like the stealth bomber of dragons with an X-Wing's firepower. I want one
The film is going to have kids going stir crazy with excitement and anticipation. You are going to love it yourself. It will be too dark for really young kids due to battle scenes but they are few and far between. It release tomorrow, the 25th of March and I say GET THEE TO A CINEMA AND WATCH IT IN 3D STAT!!!!!! Worth (8/10)
From the studio that brought you SHREK, MADAGASCAR and KUNG FU PANDA comes HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell, the action comedy tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn't exactly fit in with his tribe's longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup's world is turned upside down when he encounters a dragon that challenges he and his fellow Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view.
One thing I noticed during this screening is that this film is Avatar, it is Pocahontas and it is nearly every animation ever told. They all have the same story with different animation every time. You have your lead, or hero, who has different ideals from the community. He, or she, is normally a small person and doesn't believe in the status quo. They face mass adversity and by the end they are right and have become the hero. It is Shrek, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, all of them have the same story and for me all of them are absolutely brilliant. It reminds me of that old quote that is taken in so many ways (
) "It's not the size of the wand, it's the magic within". For this film, as opposed to a man's member, it relates to the quality of the tale, it relates to how it is told. And within this tale is abundant magic. 
This is at its heart a film made for children with so much heart to it and astounding graphics that it will make all adults who view it fall in love with it. In regards to animation this CGI filled 3D animation has the best hair reproduced that I have ever seen. Hiccup's hair is superb and to me it's one step closer to replacing the need of "real" actors. When it is dry it blows in the wind strand by strand and when it is wet I was amazed at how lifelike it was. And the best thing about this film is the flying scenes in 3D - when you watch it sit in the front half of the cinema dead centre - as close as you can to the front really and when Toothless flys, you get to fly with him. Screw standing on the front of the Titanic - fly on the back of a dragon instead. (Side note: I am not dissing Titanic, my equal number one film of all time
). 
The 3D is some of the best I have seen and it is by far the best 3D since Avatar and piles dragon pooh on top of the effects of Alice in Wonderland. But this film isn't all about effects, it also has an amazing dramatic story to it with asides of comedy. It lets you know you should stand up in what you believe in and be kind at heart. It also teaches us that just because things are huge and appear mean that they may be a softy at heart. It's pure Disney and while bright and colourful it is way less sugar coated than The Blind Side
.The list of the voice talent is impressive with Jay Baruchel leading up the cast as Hiccup. Jay was the scene stealer in Tropic Thunder and is about to come out in another Paramount film Sean reviewed for Salty Popcorn last week, SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE. For me, this is his best work. It has abundant character and is scratchy and youthful. He is clumsy and goofy and it works so well in this film. He needs to do more animation!! His father in the film and the head of the Vikings is voiced by Mr 300, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera voices his love interest and there are notable mentions to Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and even David Tennant. All perfectly selected. The film has many characters and they are all enjoyable.
One of the most amazing characters is Toothless himself. He is the cute black dragon that Hiccup ends up befriending and learning from. Before I go on I need to whine about one thing. The names of "Hiccup" and "Toothless" are two of the worst character names I have ever heard. The names bugged the hell out of me but thank god the characters themselves did not. But I digress, Toothless looks like a big black flathead with wings but is actually modelled after Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch" which is the director, Dean DeBlois's previous film. He even has some of Stitch's characteristics but is WAY more cooler. He is like the stealth bomber of dragons with an X-Wing's firepower. I want one
The film is going to have kids going stir crazy with excitement and anticipation. You are going to love it yourself. It will be too dark for really young kids due to battle scenes but they are few and far between. It release tomorrow, the 25th of March and I say GET THEE TO A CINEMA AND WATCH IT IN 3D STAT!!!!!! Worth (8/10)
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Comment by Mike Cullen
The Authors Cafe
The Life Design Experiment
OutFlicks
Pop Culturer
Film Mage
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Thanks for reading
Comment by Mike Cullen
The Authors Cafe
The Life Design Experiment
OutFlicks
Pop Culturer
Film Mage
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Def do the Imax - it would be worth it - it's so bright and colorful and the flying will kick ass on a screen that big.
Have a good one
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory
Hmmm - perhaps I should just take your word for it - seldom are you too far off the mark.
What caught my eye is the deliberate rip off of the movie poster from ET - well the ones on the sides of bus shelters I've seen lately at least - rather than the 3D versions.
S'pose they had to skimp somewhere in the creative dept.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
And yes, I think it is that good - it scored an 8 - not a perfect 10 but it's close and it's really fun - one of the best out in a while.
You would probably also enjoy The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Much better if you haven't read the book and it's out now.
Comment by Journeywoman
Great Hair Style Tips
I Dream of Hollywood
Fashion Peach
It's animations like this that keep my love of Hollywood alive, even after it gets severely tested by yes, all the crap that's been churned out lately. Great review Jason.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
I have instructed my mum to keep her excited vocalisations to a minimum - she gets very excited and I know she is going to go nuts in this one
Comment by Anonymous
The only thing that I didn't like was thein consistancy among the different characters accents. Some where scottish (which was aweosme...they all should have been scottish), some where British and some where American.
But that is just me being super picky. AWESOME FILM
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Glad u liked it, have been twice now and can't wait to buy it on Blu Ray
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by K @ the Lair
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness