HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010) roasts Alice and Avatar

Posted by Stephen Jannise

Like a broken record, critics continue to argue that this new wave of 3D film will succeed only if the stories and character behind the fancy technology remain strong. In that regard, Dreamworks’ latest, How to Train Your Dragon, has trumped other recent 3D hits like Alice in Wonderland and Avatar. Directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, having cut their storytelling teeth on Disney’s 2002 gem, Lilo and Stitch, provide a refreshing take on the story of an outcast who ultimately saves the world and changes society for the better.

Set in a Viking village constantly under attack by marauding dragons, the films tells the story of Hiccup, the scrawny son of the Viking chief who doesn’t fit in with his burly, combative brethren. Desperate to make his father proud, he uses a special catapult he invented to down a Night Fury, the most elusive and fearsome of dragons. However, when he finds the dragon in the woods, injured and afraid, Hiccup cannot bring himself to deliver the final blow. Instead, he befriends the dragon and nurses it back to health, learning in the process that dragons aren’t inherently evil. In fact, they only steal the Viking’s sheep because there is an undiscovered giant dragon lurking in a nearby island cave that demands constant sacrifices from all the other dragons.

Weeeee!

The more time he spends with the Night Fury, which Hiccup calls Toothless, the more he understands the dragons’ ways: what they like to eat, where they like to be scratched, what noises frighten them. He uses this knowledge to excel in the village’s youth training camps. Where the other Viking trainees want to learn how to slay their dragon enemies, Hiccup tries to encourage non-violence. Thus, the film serves as a positive lesson to the children in the audience, reminding them that just because previous generations labeled Others as enemies doesn’t necessarily mean it is true. Of course, it is a bit troubling that, in the end, when Vikings and dragons inevitably become friends, the dragons are described by the Vikings as “pets.” This is either an alarming 11th-hour gaffe on the filmmakers’ part or the most caustic and incisive statement on American foreign ambitions to ever be smuggled into a childrens’ film. I think it’s more fun to believe the second one.

Political statements aside, the film benefits from the same sly humor that Lilo and Stitch did, and the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless, especially following a surprising twist in the final moments, is a poignant one. Finally, the 3D technology, rather than being a greedy, tacked-on afterthought, makes the action sequences really soar. Unlike Alice or the upcoming Clash of the Titans, this film had 3D in its DNA from the very beginning, which means not only that the extra dimension’s presence in the viewing experience feels natural but also that it contributes to the storytelling process rather than distracting from it. To be flying on the back of a dragon through a misty fog, suddenly realizing that you are surrounded on all sides by dozens of other dragons, is to realize the potential of 3D to give the cinemagoer something special, something worth leaving home for.