Vikings Versus Dragons!!!

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2010)

This groundbreaking animated actioneer from co-directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders about a teenager who grows up on an island that flying dragons constantly raid is terrific from fade-in to fade-out. Basically, "How To Train Your Dragon" tackles the theme of intolerance. Hiccup is the son of an intimidating Viking warrior chief, Stoick (Gerard Butler of "Gamer"),and the Vikings have been waging a war with the dragons since the dawn of time and killing them. Nevertheless, the dragons keep on coming back to raid the island of its livestock and fishing hauls. Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel of "She's Out of my League")dreams of becoming a Viking, but his dear old dad is pretty dubious about the prospect of his son having anything remotely to do with combat. Hiccup wields a small cannon with a projectile that looks like a net to trap a dragon. Hiccup doesn't trap just any dragon. The dragon that Hiccup brings down is an exotic specimen that his Viking ancestors have left virtually blank in their recognition manual of dragons. Eventually, Hiccup discovers the poor little dragon trapped in the depression of a lake because it cannot attain enough altitude to escape. It seems that one part of the dragon's tale fins that stabilize its ability to fly is missing. Relying on his ingenuity, Hiccup fashions a prosthesis so that will enable the little fellow to fly. Of course, all of this is like the scene in a venerable western where the kid tames a horse and learns how to ride it. Hiccup winds up calling the dragon by the nickname of 'Toothless.' When the dragon isn't prepared to chow down, it appears as if it doesn't have teeth, but Toothless does have teeth. Naturally, Hiccup's father is impressed when a fellow Viking tells him that Hiccup isn't the waste of breath that his father believes that he is. Indeed, Hiccup and his father sit down and have their first face-to-face conversation together because they have something to share.
Incidentally, "How to Train Your Dragon" could be subtitled "How To Train Your Father." You see, Hiccup's mom is only a memory, having died years ago. Gerald Butler provides the voice of Hiccup's father and he is a joy to hear. Predictably, Hiccup faces his greatest challenge when he survives all the tests in an arena with various dragons. All these dragons look ridiculous rather than scary. Anyway, when he is given the chance to slay his first dragon, Hiccup has to turn it down. Hiccup cannot kill, but he can make any dragon bow down to him. The 3-D effects are stunning. The formulaic plot takes on an entirely different significance with an ending that you'd NEVER imagine you would see in a kiddie flick. The generational gap that separates father and son and the prejudice that the father has toward dragons (the only good dragon is a dead dragon sums up his attitude) could be apply to anything or anybody who hates something or somebody because of the dictates of tradition. Sure, Hiccup emerges as the ultimate underdog hero, and Toothless is such an adorable little fellow. Picture the head of a catfish, the wings of a bat, the tale of a dragon all the color of soot black. You will want one of these exotic Night Fury dragons for a pet! This movie has many surprises in store for you, great action sequences, and a never before seen ending that contains more realism that we have come to expect from such a movie. Yes, there is a happy ending. Okay, some of the dragon sequences might frighten impressionable little kiddies.