How to Train Your Dragon
Posted by The Skyliner on April 7th, 2010Kyra Alexander
Staff Writer
The writers and directors who brought you Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan and Lilo and Stitch bring you a different kind of movie about a boy and his dragon.
Based on the novel by Cressida Cowell, How To Train Your Dragon is about a boy named Hiccup. He is the son of Chief Stoick the Vast on the island of Berk. Hiccup’s village is plagued by dragons, which raid the village and steal from their stock of sheep. Because Hiccup is not the normal Viking, small and skinny, he works as an apprentice to the blacksmith Gobber the Belch in hopes of one day killing a dragon of his own and proving to his town that he is a true Viking.
One night during a dragon raid, Hiccup hits the never-before-seen Night Fury dragon, but nobody else in the village is around to see it. Attempting to get proof, Hiccup travels into the forest where the dragon has fallen. He comes to a small canyon and sees the Night Fury tangled in his net. After struggling with himself, Hiccup cannot bring himself to kill the helpless dragon and sets it free.
Hiccup decides to befriend and observe the dragon, which he names Toothless. He then begins to have great success in his dragon fighting classes, to the amazement of everyone.
In contests with his other classmates, Hiccup takes down all the dragons with tricks he learned by observing Toothless and wins the competition. As winner, Hiccup “gets” to take down a dragon on his own and kill the dragon in front of the whole town, something he did not want at all.
Follow this quest through the love, friendship, pain and laughter.
Some familiar voices in this film are Gerard Butler from P.S. I Love You and Law Abiding Citizen, Jay Baruchel from She’s Out Of My League and Night at the Museum, Craig Ferguson from The Late Show with Craig Ferguson and America Ferrera from Ugly Betty and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
All in all, How to Train Your Dragon was amazing for any type of audience. It is a wholesome family film. There are lots of laughs and a fairy tale ending. The movie teaches the importance of friendship and of being yourself.
How to Train Your Dragon is rated PG for sequences of intense action, some scary images and brief mild language.
Tags: Spring 2010, Vol. 110 - Issue 10