A tightly-constructed fable that focuses on delivering its message sometimes to the point of narrative detriment.

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2019)

There's a purity of vision in 'How To Train Your Dragon (2010)', one that sees it work incredibly well as a tightly-constructed, somewhat allegorical fable that has a strong central message. It focuses pretty much entirely on delivering this message, sometimes to the detriment of character and, even, story. All in all, it's kind of flat. Its world, and the people within it, are very two-dimensional and only change when the narrative needs them to. This, as I mentioned, serves its themes and, in a way, tightens its plot, but it does make things seem kind of surface-level. It's most noticeable with the father character; he feels like a caricature and, without spoiling anything, must be in contender for the 'worst dad of the year' award. Still, this overall dedication to theme makes for a focused experience that knows exactly what it's trying to achieve. For the most part, it achieves that. The 'all is lost' moment is very frustrating, which goes to show just how invested we are in our likeable protagonist's journey. This is helped by a fantastic soundtrack, which is probably the picture's greatest asset. The animation itself is decent but the actual rendering is slightly off. Most characters feel dead behind the eyes and, in some cases, it's kind of creepy; again, this is most notable with the father character. Still, the story is brought to life well enough and, during the flick's action set-pieces, the visuals often evoke a great sense of speed and spectacle while still conveying character, essentially, above all else. In fact, here character through action is often more successful than character through dialogue. The flick is entertaining, in general. It's not perfect, certainly, but it moves briskly enough that most of its issues come second to its integrity and overall fun. It's probably one of Dreamworks' better animated efforts, though it's certainly no 'Shrek (2001)'. 7/10