A brief and precise way to describe this movie would be to say that it is a cross of Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Finding Nemo. It isn't that great but it has its moments and I'd admit that some of the scenes would look really cool and awesome in 3D (I watched it online - like comedy, I wouldn't pay to watch any animation at the cinema).
HTTYD charts the story of a young Viking named Hiccup. Being small in size, he is comsidered as weak to join his own people in their effort to protect their village from attacks by dragons and being out-of-the-box-thinker makes him a weirdo and a laughig-stock in the village. Just like Mulan who worked so hard to prove that she could do just about any thing any man can do, Hiccup has the same aim as well. Things however take a turn, for better or worse, when he befriends a type of dragon his people have never seen before, not to mention it is never done before considering they kill dragons on a daily basis, and this unlikely friendship bore great resemblance to that of Lilo & Stitch. This puts a pressure on Hiccup's relationship with his father, the supremely massive chief of the village (surprise, surprise!!!), since he has always wanted to prove that he could kill a dragon, not befriend them. The subplot about Hiccup's relationship with his father does appear a little similar to that of Finding Nemo.
So, it was not original. It's a very typical coming-of-age, rite-of-passage kinda story so I guess it does not appeal to me. There are times when I like such kind of movies but I'm old now. Then again, it probably is not aimed to me. This film was probably made for kids and they probably added the 3D effect to try to appeal the older crowds. Despite being unoriginal, I guess it could be excused considering there's nothing wrong with reminding the children (maybe some adults too) again and again what it means to be proud of your own identity, to have courage and bravery, to stand up for what's right, to protect your friendship and all those moral values Disney is soooooo full of.
Animation wise, the drawing looks as if it's meant for some cheap TV show which is kinda surprising really considering it's produced by the same studio that came up with Shrek and Madagascar. I guess DreamWorks Animation have yet to beat Disney or Pixar when it comes to producing good animations. Like I said, I didn't watch it on 3D but there were some scenes that I think would look really awesome in 3D. Other than that, the jokes were not funny at all and despite some action-packed scenes, I did think of just stopping the movie to just go to sleep. That is saying something considering the movie runs less than 90 minutes.
Oh well. 3/5.
Reference: http://eyesonbothsides.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-train-your-dragon.html
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