How to Train Your Dragon Review!

 Alright! Today I’m reviewing the 19th film from DreamWorks Animation, How to Train Your Dragon. Loosely based on the novel of the same name, the film follows a scrawny Viking who becomes friends with one of the deadly dragons that terrorize his town. A heartwarming and funny adventure, it’s one of DreamWorks’ finest, up there with the likes of The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda, and Shrek.

The first thing you’ll notice about the film as the designed-to-be-chaotic exposition goes on is how gorgeous the animation is. While CG films can quickly become dated, How to Train Your Dragon barely shows its age 12 years later, razzling and dazzling in surprisingly clandestine ways while being bombastic and loud when the older Viking characters and giant set pieces require it. 

The second thing you’ll likely notice is how hilarious the film is. I love funny kids' movies because there are two types - the humor of the lowest brow (The Boss Baby) or humor that’s funnier than most comedies (The Mitchells vs. the Machines). How to Train Your Dragon is adamantly the latter, crafting its humor through a combination of slapstick, character beats, adorable dragons, and verbal wit. It’s a well-balanced humor arsenal and one that, like the Night Fury, always hits its target. 

The third thing you’ll notice is the soundtrack. The music by John Powell is absolutely fantastic, delicately representing scenes of unparalleled animated beauty and two best friends going on an adventure with the greatest use of bagpipes in any film score. I especially enjoy the “Test Drive” track, which accompanies its scene in the film to perfection. I love it when movies give their characters room to breathe and show off why I should care about the world they live in. For that, the “Test Drive” scene is exemplary.

I love the two leads of the film and a few supporting characters. The scrawny nerd who’s “not like the other boys” is a tired trope by this point, but Hiccup is so awkwardly charming and so hilariously unlike his cartoonishly buff Viking counterparts that it works. Toothless is absolutely adorable and a cinema icon and his cat-like personality is hilariously paired with his docile nature. Stoick the Vast is yet another legendary animated father (After Mufasa), and Astrid is a fun twist on the one-dimensional love interest. 

However, some of the ensemble work is my only truly critical take on the film - the characters of Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut are all hilariously underdeveloped, barely having any depth past their singular personality trait (Book smart, “womanizer,” and stupid). Of course, this is a problem exacerbated by the sequels and thus looks worse in hindsight here - when taken on its own, the ensemble here is still underdeveloped, but it works. 

For the most part, I loved the fights in the film. The dynamics that dragons bring to the Viking warfare were all excellent choreographed and often more witty and smart within the limits of the plot than not. All of the action in the film has consequences as well, which is a welcome change of pace after years of consequence-free blockbusters. There’s an escalation to every single battle that builds into a grand finale where things are actually lost and people take damage. It’s wonderfully refreshing.

The movie also captured a very nostalgic vibe. I’m a sucker for those “summer of magic in a fantastical land” combined with a tale of instant success and unexplained popularity, and How to Train Your Dragon does both perfectly, capturing the vibes of both to make it feel instantly and deeply nostalgic. 

With its instantly absorbing nature, expansive world, and already nostalgic feel, How to Train Your Dragon has some of the most iconic and grand characters and moments of the 21st century, all held together by a magnificent soundtrack from John Powell.

Overall, I give How to Train Your Dragon a 10/10. “Gorgeously animated and heartwarming, How to Train Your Dragon is some of the best content Western media has to offer.”