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Laramie Movie Scope:
How to Train Your Dragon

Nice dragons, friendly dragons

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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April 1, 2010 -- “How to Train Your Dragon” is a good, solid animation feature film from the folks at Dreamworks. If this was a Pixar film it would be a favorite for an Academy Award for best animated feature. It might even win an Oscar, if Pixar doesn't release a film this year. It is that good. The story is a bit similar to that of another fine animated feature, “Kung Fu Panda.” You have a wimpy lad who wants to be a mighty Viking like his father, but never measures up to his hulking dad. The wimpy kid becomes a hero through a combination of guts, guile, ingenuity and humanity.

The hero also has a very unlikely name, Hiccup. The Vikings sound a lot like Scots, thanks to the voice acting talents of some of Scottish-born actors, including Craig Ferguson, who provides the voice of Hiccup's boss and teacher, Gobber, and Gerard Butler, who provides the voice of Stoick, Hiccup's Viking Chief father. Yet another Scottish actor, David Tennant (a Doctor Who), reportedly provided the voice of the Viking Spitelout in the film. Tennant also narrated the audio version of the Cressida Cowell novel on which the film is based. Perhaps the Scottish accents are there to remind us of another upcoming Dreamworks movie of a hero with a Scottish accent, Shrek. Hiccup wants to be a true Viking warrior, but is very small and scrawny. When he finally gets a chance to kill a dragon, he finds he doesn't have the heart to kill him, so he lets the dragon go. Eventually, he befriends the injured Night Fury dragon, Toothless, and in the process learns more about dragons than any other Viking. He uses this knowledge to help both the Vikings and the dragons against a very dangerous common enemy.

The characters are the strong suit of this film, and the story is very good as well. The animation and 3D effects are excellent, especially the flying scenes, which are reminiscent of the flying scenes in “Avatar.” Hiccup is an unlikely hero and he has a crush on an anatomically-correct Viking girl warrior, Astrid. Along for the ride are some other Viking kid warriors, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Snotlout. The story plays against type often, with the dumbest-looking kid being one of the smartest and one of the smallest kids being the best warrior. The dragon called Toothless, though wordless, has a very expressive face and is a key character in the film. There are a half-dozen different kinds of dragons in the film, each with a distinctive shape and personality.

The film looks great, in part due to the contributions of visual consultant Roger Deakins, an Academy Award-winning cinematographer. I saw this at a theater where the projector brightness was too dim, creating a presentation that looks too dark. This is a problem in many theaters, but especially in theaters with 3D capability. With 3D you need an especially bright image to offset the fact that each eye is blocked from seeing anything half the time. I'm lucky to see most 3D films in an auditorium with a very bright image. I sure missed that bright image when I saw this film at the Capitol Stadium 12 theater in Cheyenne. This film rates an A.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2010 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)