Cute dragons and a wild adventure

DVD Review: How to Train Your Dragon

 

By Jenn Markham

ew to DVD, from directors

Dean DeBlois (Thumbelina,

Lilo and Stitch) and Chris
Sanders (Lion King, Beauty and the
Beast, and Aladdin) How to Train Your
Dragon, which rocked the big screen
when it came out last spring, is set to
do the same in the comfort of your
own home. It’s hilarious! The humour
reminds me of similar movies, like the
Shrek series, where younger viewers
might not pick up on or understand all
the jokes but can still have a lot of fun.

The main character, Hiccup, is
a Viking inventor who belongs to a
society who battle against Dragons.
That is, until the day he befriends one.
Jay Baruchel, who you might know
from She’s Out of My League and The
Trotsky, plays the voice of Hiccup
and suites the character perfectly. His
performance is definitely one of the
film’s take away highlights.
Heart-warming and even sad at

times, it was similar to most Disney-
like stories in this way. The sad parts
complimented the plot modestly,

which in my opinion, was also a
strength. Another thing of note, given
that I don’t usually notice things

like this, was the level of skill in the
actual animation of How to Train
Your Dragon. It stood out to me. In
particular were the scenes where the
dragons are flying across landscapes.
They were very well done.

Besides the dragons being
incredibly adorable, the look of the
characters fit their personalities to a ‘t’.
With most animations, it’s easy to give
a certain amount of logical leeway,
but an inconsistency that bothered me
was that the Vikings had Irish accents.
Without getting into all the reasons
why that’s impossible, and a’chough it
might sound nitpicky, it’s somewhat
distracting. But, even with the decade
gap in accents, all in all, it’s a fantastic
film. A great movie if you’re looking
for one to watch with kids, or for a
movie date to take a break from the
dramatic suspense and gory horror. So
take some time out, grab some assorted
five cent candies or your favourite
movie snack, and find your inner kid.