Solidly enjoyable across the board – but again falls short of the high bar set by Pixar

Rating: Null/10 (17 October 2010)

I've said it before but I'll say it again here and that is that it is unfair of Dreamworks to have to compete with the consistently high quality of Pixar films – films that deliver so strongly on so many aspects across the board. I say this because I did really enjoy HTTYD but still found myself wondering how much more character, emotion and comedy Pixar would have brought to the same story. This is unfair of me but yet I cannot help it. HTTYD is a great little tale where a Viking boy learns about the enemy (the dragon) and finds that perhaps everything he has been taught about them is a lie or, at best, one big misunderstanding. The moral of the film is pretty clear as is the general direction of the narrative.
This doesn't stop it being engaging and entertaining though because it is. The story plays out well and is funny and had me interested and caring throughout, while the characters were solid. Problem is that all of it is good – but yet none of it excels. So on the characters: they are all solid and do what is required but none really absorbed me to the point I forget they were cartoon creations voiced by actors. Likewise the comedy, it was consistently amusing and had a few nice touches here and there but the side characters didn't provide the depth or comedic value that Pixar so often manages to do with their equivalents. But it is still good stuff though and children will love it while adults will find it easy to enjoy – I watched with no children and only another adult in their 30's and none of it came over as "below us" or aimed at children with no appeal to us – which, for all my critical comparison, is a hard thing to achieve but this did it well.
The animation is very good of course but in particular they have done the action sequences very well, making them exciting and intense without being hard to follow or see what is happening. The voice cast are mostly OK but they do all suffer from the inability to make their characters real. Baruchel is solid enough in the lead but not great. Likewise Butler turns in another "meh" performance for me but at least here his Scottish brogue helps him and his lack of screen charisma doesn't hurt his voice work. Ferguson is a better piece of casting as his voice is fun and he seems to have a natural humour about him – I don't like his show myself but he did work well here. Beyond them there isn't the dept I would have liked. Hill was so-so, Likewsie Ferrara and Mintz-Plasse – although none of them really impress me too much in other films so no surprise that they don't here either. Solid work by all, but nobody really hit it out of the park.
Overall HTTYD is an enjoyable and entertaining family film that delivers comedy, a good story and thrills to good effect. It doesn't excel in any specific area when viewed on an open field though but, while watching it the film keeps you involved enough so that the comparisons to Pixar occur after, not during the film.