How To Train Your Dragon

How To Train Your Dragon is set in some sort of a mythical “viking” world, mostly on an island called Berk. It tells the tale of a boy who meets a pet that changes his life (although this pet just so happens to be a dragon). The leading character, named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), is the son of the chief of his village, (Stoick the Vast - voiced by Gerard Butler) and an apprentice to the blacksmith, Gobber the Belch. For his entire life, Hiccup has been taught that killing dragons is simply the viking way of life.

When I sat down in the cinema to watch How To Train Your Dragon I honestly felt more than a little out of place. I was certainly the oldest person in the audience without kids! And as the film began I sat there questioning the historical inaccuracies and the out-of-place Scottish accents. In fact...it took me almost 20 minutes to realise how ridiculous I was being. After all, this is a kids' film at heart. And as soon as I let myself recognise that fact, my own inner child was able to enjoy the film for what it really is. So it turns out I actually kinda love How To Train Your Dragon.

One of the things that is handled perfectly here is the humour. Unlike something like Shrek, you don’t get a bunch of jokes aimed specifically for adults. What it does well is to give you a chance to reconnect with the child within all of us. And in doing so it provides loads of laugh out loud moments. It’s worth mentioning that the special effects are pretty breathtaking. I didn’t see it in 3D, but it didn’t matter - I was still 100% immersed in this fictional viking world. The flying scenes especially are just amazing.

How To Train Your Dragon takes a fantastically simple story and makes it brilliantly compelling. The characters are all really believable. I for one was always rooting for Hiccup and the love interest of the film, Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera). Her tough character takes a little while to warm to his quirkiness. And surprisingly, they turn out to be a hugely convincing couple (all the more surprising for an animated romance - which often aren’t convincing at all). I won’t let myself get to the end of this review without congratulating the animators. Their work is outstanding, and Hiccup’s pet dragon (Toothless) has to be one of the cutest animated creatures ever.

So in short, How To Train Your Dragon is a wonderful story - it’s a truly exceptional children’s film, and definitely one of my favourite animated features. I hope that you can rekindle a childlike sense of adventure just like I did. I had loads of fun watching this film, so much so that I’m going to take my little sister to see it just so I can justify a second viewing!

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