Worth looking at more for its impressive animation than politically correct narrative

Rating: 6/10 (7 October 2012)

Who knew? Fire-breathing dragons deep down inside are really touchy-feely creatures as long as you know how to train them right. That essentially is the premise of the much-acclaimed Dreamworks animated film, 'How to Train Your Dragon'. Of course there's a deeper message here (quoting the late Rodney King): "Why can't we all get along?".
This is perhaps the first film I can remember where the great pillaging clan of Vikings are not pitted against human opponents and hence their reputation as a group of sadistic, murderous thugs is tempered by the aggression of their dragon antagonists. Leave it to the film's protagonist, Hiccup, the young nerdy son of the Viking leader, Stoick the Vast (curiously voiced by Gerard Butler, with a Scottish accent!), to teach his community an important lesson: it's better to use your brains instead of brawn.
It takes a while for 'Dragon' to get going as the break into the second act doesn't occur until Hiccup begins nursing 'Toothless', the cute but hyperactive dragon (that he's responsible for injuring), back to health. Toothless looks like a leopard with wings but appears to have the temperament of a lovable canine. It turns out that the dragons have an excuse for all their bad behavior: they're beholden to a giant 'killer' dragon who the Vikings fear but who have never seen. Hiccup uncovers the mystery of this frightening behemoth when he flies into its lair after figuring out how to pilot Toothless, without falling off of him, in the air.
Meanwhile back at the Viking village, Hiccup, much to his chagrin, is forced to participate in dragon training school with a coterie of fellow young misfits. Voiced by such comic luminaries as Jonah Hill and Kirsten Wiig, Hiccup's 'associates' all follow the 'macho' Viking line: kill the unpleasant dragons at any cost. Much of the antics of the youngsters are rather one-note, as they parrot the macho posturing of the community at large. Finally, Hiccup, through his sensitive handling of the out of control creatures, turns his colleagues around and trains them how to calm the dragons down, without killing them.
The stakes are raised when Hiccup refuses to kill a dragon at the end of the training and his father disowns him. Stoick, raises an armada of his heavily armed Vikings, and with Toothless in tow (now chained on board the lead vessel), head out to the island where the big, bad monster awaits them. Leave it to Hiccup and his buddies to save the day by flying out to the island on board the formerly imprisoned dragons (back at the training school) and eliminate the monster in a rousing fight to the finish.
With the bad dragon eliminated, the dragon population 'understands' that the Vikings are really on their side and are now quite amenable to being house trained. And of course, even macho Stoick, sees the light and ends up apologizing to his son. I suppose all this is an acceptable children's story but adults will feel a little less satisfied. If underneath, this is a tale about how humans treat animals, it's a rather fanciful conceit that leopards or tigers (which the dragons seemingly represent), can so easily be domesticated. If on the other hand, if the dragons represent a misunderstood group of humans (demonized by the Vikings who lack the insight into their nature), the fact that they ALL suddenly become peaceful (because they're now treated with 'sensitivity' by humans), hardly seems to reflect the reality of true human-to-human interactions. Throughout history, attempts to mollify belligerent peoples through appeasement, have resulted in disastrous consequences.
In short, 'How to Train Your Dragon', is a feel-good tale, politically correct tale, best suited for children. Adults, however, will still be much impressed by the excellent, sumptuous animation, painstakingly created over a number of years by a group of highly talented animators. Whether the animation is enough for the viewer to overlook the rather lackluster story, is a matter of personal taste. For me, 'How to Train Your Dragon' is worth a look, decidedly for its impressive technical achievements, as opposed to its rather predictable narrative.