How to Train your Dragon
I went along to watch this one with 2 younger siblings, really hoping for something good -oh please let it be something good. The title was a bit childish and ..hokey is the word I think, but nevertheless I wanted to see it (Chris Sanders of Lilo & Stitch co-directing was encouraging) and it blew me out of the water, it really did. When the credits rolled I and had a huge grin plastered all over my face that stayed there for a good ten minutes after. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but then again maybe not.
For those who don't know (shame on you), the film centres around young Viking-in-training, Hiccup. He's not particularly strong, brave or beefy, all the things that his village values most and all the things that would help him make his mark in the long feud his village has with the dragons that routinely plague it. Inventive rather than violent, Hiccup manages to snag a dragon with a rope-loaded catapult of his own design but when it comes to killing the injured beast he just can't bring himself to do it. The more he observes 'Toothless', the more he realises that his new pet is more than just a vicious creature, but his friendship with the dragon clashes with his attempts to fit in with the rest of his village. Eventually of course, bigger events overtake them all and Hiccup and Toothless both have to battle in order to secure the future of both the village and the dragons.
Long story short, I was impressed. There were so many ways this story could have gone cliché but somehow it managed to shuffle round all of them and produce a film that was pretty epic for it's small scale setting, funny, sweet, dramatic and also genuinely moving. Also the soundtrack is a bit fantastic.
Story clichés were mostly avoided. Of course all the conventions were there; the misfit, the overbearing father, the comedic peer group, the feisty love interest, but none of them are overdone to the point where they become cheesy. A few celebrity voices do appear but that's not the point, which is a great note for Dreamworks and something they've struggled with in the past, where famous voice actors have been the pull rather than a strong story. Characters have dark sides, Toothless in particular is prone to being a brooding sulking beast, and I liked the fact that this film was happy to be ugly. The dragons, while being unique and brilliantly rendered, are by no means pretty. Even Toothless (whose resemblance to Sanders' previous creation, Stitch, has not gone unnoticed) is not the most graceful of animals. He's somewhere between a cat, a dog and an axolotl (google it) and his idea of cute is to sick up a fish. There's also a little twist on the ending that most other “kids films” would not have the guts to even try (Praise be to Sanders, I'm pretty sure that was his doing) that I genuinely did not see coming, but it not only saves HTTYD from a sickly-sweet ending, it also cements the friendship between the boy and the dragon in the last few moments of the film. And it's good like that. It's a strong ending, a better one for it's imprefection.
Although there are a lot of comic elements, this is not primarily a comedy film, which again makes a nice change from Dreamworks' previous offerings of Shrek et al. and Kung Fu Panda. While both a lot of fun, comedy did seem to be forming the staple of Dreamworks' animated films of late. This film is based on a relationship, and a very believable one at that. So it's a familiar pattern, but there's also a quirky edge to it which is really refreshing.
But the thing that really sold it to me was the character animation, or acting, or whatever you want to call it. It was really ...real. The characterisation of each of them was really “well seen”, as my tutors would say. Hiccup in particular is very noticeable for this; he doesn't do anything generic in terms of movement. The scene where he has to eat Toothless's fish is wonderful, just for the little gagging motion he makes after he swallows. I remember looking at it and thinking 'I do that! I make that face!' but it's not the caricatured expression you might expect from something more cartoonish, it's a real face, a real expression, and somehow it's funnier that way. Since Toothless is most definitely a wild animal and doesn't speak once (thank goodness) a lot of the dialogue in the film is done via gestures and body language, and they've really done a good job. Near the end of the film Hiccup discovers something very sad and although nobody speaks, his emotions are completely clear. Of course there are a few gags, but in the more emotionally touching moments of the film this observation and realism carries them through very well.
A note on the 3D-ness: I watched it in 3D, but within five minutes I had totally forgotten that this was the case. It's used subtley and well, there weren't any gimmicks or annoying shots where they try to poke you in the face with something. I've seen a couple of films in 3D now and I think the clincher for them all is going to be whether or not you care. I don't care that it was in 3D, and I wouldn't have cared if it was 2D either, I was too tied up in the story to notice. That said they do use it to their advantage. The flight scenes in particular were excellent -better than Avatar's in my opinion- there was a great sense of movement , speed and depth and some of the shots were wonderful, I really felt part of the ride rather than just observing, and with the first person camera mainly on the extremely dexterous Toothless, there are some pretty awesome feats to look at. He seems to be the dragon equivalent of a peregrine falcon, one of the worlds fastest and most acrobatic birds, so following him around is a lot of fun.
Think... Think of Up. It was a good, honest film that was genuine with it's emotions and just a little bit on the fantastic side. Slightly sad in parts, but all the more joyous for that. But now, rather than some light-spirited geriatric hi-jinks and talking dogs, throw in a few fire breathing lizards, some really big swords, and Actual Mortal Peril. Yeah it's your classic unlikely-friendship/coming-of-age story, but there's something just a little bit special about this one. A little bit of originality, and a thoroughly satisfying story.
I'm going to watch it again this weekend. :D
Now a change of pace. Here's some pictures by C. Billedeux, who I've been watching lately.
I have a week left of my holiday, and have I done much work? Not really no, but I think I needed the space to settle my head. I refuse to have a repeat of Semester 1 at this point in the game, so to not think about work for a week or two was a good way to recover. But I have my plan, and I have... about 5 weeks.
5 weeks.
When I realised that I nearly had a bit of a meltdown, it seems such a short amount of time, but I have to believe I can produce some good work in that time. No more small projects, but big, extensive, imaginative final pieces. That is the goal.
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