How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon

Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders. Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson

This has got to be the best animated movie coming out of Dreamworks. Shrek was possibly the funniest, but this has some of the most beautiful sequences and a great heart too.I wasn’t so sure at the start, as it all felt slightly too noisy and a bit too busy, but once it got into the story, it was an absolute delight and even if it’s not up there with those 5 stars classic, it’s actually pretty close. For a start it is beautifully animated (Roger Deakins himself is credited as visual consultant): the flying scenes are breathtaking (one of the few instances the 3-D gimmick actually added something) and the action is slick and exciting (and never confusing).I also appreciated how the film took its time to develop the relationship between Hiccup, the protagonist and Toothless, the dragon, not only making it all feel more earned and rooted in reality but also adding an air of mystery to the proceedings. It clearly owes a lot to movies like ET (the fear, the bond… and then the flying) and it won’t break the mould for originality, but it managed to feel fresh and different even if the story at the core of it is very familiar.

There’s an infectious sense of joy and fun at play here (also thanks to the rousing score by John Powell) making this a perfect family film. One that excites the kids and doesn’t alienate the parents (and also doesn’t resort to the usual wink-wink post-modern jokes that only grown ups get).

And for once the moral lessons are not down pushed down your throat.

Honestly I can hardly find a single fault with this one.

And now we’ll be looking forward to its sequels.