How To Train Your Dragon (Review Thread)

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Source - Chicago Sun News Blog

Doing pretty well over at Rotten Tomatoes with 93% (29 reviews).

A couple say "Its better than Avatar"

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Doing pretty well over at Rotten Tomatoes with 93% (29 reviews).

A couple say "Its better than Avatar"

95% with 40 reviews.

[Gamma_Winstead]

huh. Didn't know people were looking forward to this. Doesn't seem like Dreamworks cared about it. It just sort of... appeared.

I'll pass. doesn't look that good imo.

[SquidPuppet]

93% with 45 reviews

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by gamma626

huh. Didn't know people were looking forward to this. Doesn't seem like Dreamworks cared about it. It just sort of... appeared.

I'll pass. doesn't look that good imo.

Huh?? This movie has had great promotion and Ive known about this film for a while now! I havnt seen it but from what I hear its probably Dreamworks best animated film. Got Em!!

[kurtis21]

Originally Posted by gamma626

huh. Didn't know people were looking forward to this. Doesn't seem like Dreamworks cared about it. It just sort of... appeared.

I'll pass. doesn't look that good imo.

HUH?!?! Do you live under a rock? There has been a thousand commercials on tv for this movie! Also...there's this little movie called "Avatar" and "How To Train Your Dragon" was the BIGGEST trailer shown before this movie...IN 3D!!!! So...i'd say that you're in the minority for not hearing about this movie.

[MattW]

I'm going to see it tomorrow in IMAX, because they say it's a good movie and I have Viking blood in me.

[Hi-Def Steve]

Up to 97% with 94 reviews. Pretty damn good!

[PantherG]

Saw it in 3D. It was FANTASTIC!! Take your kids (5+) Younger kids may not get it. The effects are worth it, in 3D, for any adult. The only downside is the increase cost for tickets. $23.00 for two in 3D.

[Yautja]

What a great film this was, I can't wait for the blu release!!!!!!

[thelittleprince]

Toy Story 3 may be the highest grossing animated movie ever but this movie, for me, is the best animated movie of the year!

[Angela Liu]

I'm still bubbling with excitement after seeing the film. It's obviously silly for me to say at this early point in time, but I'll be damned if this doesn't crop up as one of my top five movies of 2010. It's just that good.

My write-up, which I had posted on my LJ account:

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Seeing Alice In Wonderland and How To Train Your Dragon back-to-back this weekend clearly didn't do the former any favors; Dragon was so much more enjoyable that I wished I could've gotten back the cash I'd plunked down for Alice to see the latter again.

It's no secret that Dreamworks Animation has a checkered history in terms of quality releases. Kung Fu Panda was an oyster pearl lying in a sea of disappointment; disappointments like Shrek The Third, Flushed Away, and The Bee Movie. Last year's Monsters vs Aliens didn't exactly make a whole lot of waves either, so it always comes as a genuine shock when a film as good as How To Train Your Dragon comes out from the studio.

Like Panda, Dragon feels less like a typical Dreamworks project, and quite a bit more like a Pixar one. It doesn't go the pop-culture and satirical references route, but simply aims to tell a solid coming-of-age tale, and the importance of acceptance. The twist this time is that it's not just our central character who undergoes this journey, but most of the supporting cast too. The companionship between Toothless and Hiccup (played to meek, geeky perfection by Jay Baruchel) is paced extremely well; the trailers would have you believe that they automatically end up as friends, but that isn't the case. There's a realistic sense of progression to their precarious but growing trust, their bond cultivating into a number of incredible sequences toward the latter half. The affliction between Hiccup's loyalties to his tribe and the dragons he chooses to associate with is a sharp and meaningful contrast that makes for a terrific story.

The overall look of the movie is great, if still a few notches below Pixar's best efforts. The choreography is stunning, though, especially during the exhilarating flight sequences. Avatar still remains the one to beat when it comes to 3D, but Dragon convinces me that this is the second best use I've seen of the gimmick since Coraline.

And John Powell's score is MAGIC. There are strains of Hancock's impossibly uplifting "The Moon And The Superhero" main theme, but more epic, medieval and Scottish. This is no more evident than in the opening track "This Is Berk." Most of the score works both in and out of the film, but "Romantic Flight" brings about a truly lovely sense of elegance for a sequence you simply need to see in context. It's wonderful stuff, and music storytelling at its finest.

How To Train Your Dragon sets the bar for excellent CG-animated films this year, so in addition to living up to the Toy Story legacy, Pixar's definitely got a lot to prove this time around.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Angela Liu

My write-up, which I had posted on my LJ account:

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Good review.