Dragon Rider

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2012)

Dragons have always been my favorite creature in the fantasy genre; it's hard to say why may'be the fact they can breath fire, their size, or just simply their ability to fly. Seeing things like that makes it feel as though there is more to this world than just contemporary reality we take for granted. There really aren't many movies on dragons, let alone good ones; this film that flew into my radar was the beast I was looking for.
The visuals and the animation is just great. From the background, humans but most importantly the dragons. The dragons are memorable they don't look cartoony, I like the great amount of detail to them but also that each of them are diverse. But I most of all just love how their handled making them like animals; from the way they move, but also behave and each of them feel like they have a distinctive diverse persona.
The flight sequences are spectacular, they successfully created the illusion of flight at times you almost feel like your flying with them. My favorite flight sequence is the one with both Astrid and Hiccup flying together, just what you see along with a wonderful score it's just breathtaking.
But what makes this film fly high for me is that the story does have some heart, which actually makes you care for what happens. I also like the fact this film is more of a straight forward fantasy and not so much a comedy despite some humor which is something I'm rarely seeing in most animated movies. Hiccup (Jay Barnchel) I think is a very good protagonist, I like the fact his character is an underdog, doesn't really fit in. But what's great about him is the fact he's a person ahead of his time, he's an inventor kinda like "Batman" (I said kinda). From that siege weapon he built but also the flight controls he built for the dragon and it's aero dynamic principles. Insightful as he finds and utilizes better and more non lethal ways to stop the dragons, without one or both getting killed. He's ill confidant but he's never short of courage.
Supporting characters are also good, the one that really stands out for me is Astrid (America Ferrera) I just love how she is just feisty and fiery but has warmth. I really like the chemistry between both of them; it's funny how at first like in most romances it's the classic case of misunderstanding she sees Hiccup has sort of a competitor thinking he's trying to one up, even though in reality he really isn't and he fancys her. But of course when she's disillusioned by the misunderstanding , well you can guess what happens next.
But the primary chemistry no doubt is with the dragon Toothless, he's my favorite dragon in the movie. I just love the jet black color, but most of all his design as he looks even acts a bit like a cat. I really like the persona it has, one distinct personality feature it has is it's sense of curiosity as it observes some of what Hiccup does he tries to imitate it, this feature is one of the reasons both of them click is Hiccup is also curious which was part of the reason he helped the dragon. Both of them slowly but surely warm up to each other which is touching because of the amount of humanity both have.
How to Train you Dragon flies high.
Rating: 3 and a half stars.