Animated character follows his own path in ‘Dragon’
Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is the kind of guy who would be
out of place in most places. He’s a skinny, scrawny redhead with
freckles who has a short attention span and a penchant for getting
himself into trouble. But Hiccup is especially out of place in the
world of Vikings, where he lives on a remote island in the North in
the Dreamworks animated film
”
How to Train Your Dragon.
”
All the people around him look like body builders and the men
have ample facial hair
– especially their fearless leader, Stoick (voiced by Gerard
Butler).
Animated character follows his own path in ‘Dragon’
Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is the kind of guy who would be out of place in most places. He’s a skinny, scrawny redhead with freckles who has a short attention span and a penchant for getting himself into trouble. But Hiccup is especially out of place in the world of Vikings, where he lives on a remote island in the North in the Dreamworks animated film “How to Train Your Dragon.” All the people around him look like body builders and the men have ample facial hair – especially their fearless leader, Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler).
In addition to being an icy place where no crops grow, the island is constantly barraged by dragon attacks. Hiccup works for the blacksmith Gobber (voiced by Craig Ferguson) and is responsible for repairing broken weapons. What he really wants to do is be outside fighting the dragons himself. His father, Stoick, forbids him from entering dragon training for fear his weakling son will be injured.
The island is attacked by a variety of dragons, each with its own unique characteristics, from a two-headed dragon to miniature ones. They all fly and breathe fire, which makes them hard to fight. Hiccup longs to capture the elusive night fury – a dragon that no Viking has ever seen. The dragon flies high and breathes fire like a sonic boom. It is gone before it can be seen.
Life changes for Hiccup when he takes out a cannon one night when no one is looking and he shoots a net into the sky. He hits something in the dark night sky, but he is not sure what it is. The next day his father once again sets out by sea to find the dragon’s nest. Stoick believes if they can destroy the nest, the dragons will leave them alone. Hiccup uses the time to search for the animal he hit, with intentions of bringing some part of it back to his father as proof of his kill.
When Hiccup finds the animal trapped in his net, he can’t bring himself to kill it. He lets it go. Hiccup finally accepts that he is not meant to be a dragon killer. Unfortunately, his father has finally decided Hiccup is ready for dragon training and while his father sets out on one more sea adventure to find the nest, Hiccup begins training with several other young Vikings, including the beautiful, but tough Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera).
In between training lessons, Hiccup keeps sneaking back to the night fury, which he realizes is hungry and injured. He slowly finds a way to make the dangerous creature accept him, much the same way a person would lure a stray dog. He offers up food and affection to the creature. Hiccup names the animal Toothless and soon he is creating a mechanical tail to replace the part he injured. He even makes a harness so he can ride the dragon in much the same way one might ride a horse.
The book is based on a children’s novel by Cressida Cowell, so the themes are ones that are common in young adult literature –of outcast turned hero. It also covers the theme of a young adult gaining independence from a parent. But more than that it is about Hiccup’s discovery that everything he was taught and believed about dragons could be wrong.
The directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois (who wrote the screenplay), do a reasonably good job of making Toothless relatable to the audience. The creature is not nearly as ugly as the other dragons and his actions have a mix of dog- and cat-like behaviors. The first time Hiccup touches the animal, he avoids contact and approaches it from the side, much the way a trainers suggests humans do when meeting a new dog. And at one point, the dragon lands in a field of grass and rolls around on its back like a cat in a field of catnip.
By spending time with Toothless, Hiccup discovers how to train a dragon, from grasses and spots to rub that will calm them, to creatures they find averse, such as eels. He is soon the top of his dragon training class. The only problem comes when he is selected to kill a dragon in the ring in front of his entire community. He doesn’t want to do it and instead wants to show his skills at calming the beast without force.
Things don’t quite work out how he plans and it is up to him, with the help of the other young Vikings, to save his father as Stoick sets off to find the dragon’s nest one last time.
The movie may be a little bit frightening for younger children, but is sure to be a hit with kids over 7 and adults.
Melissa Flores can be reached at mf*****@pi**********.com. See her blog, http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com, for excerpts from Benjamin Bratt’s talk at Cinequest film festival in March. Next week she will review Bratt’s latest film ‘La Mission,’ which opens in limited release in the Bay Area April 16, in the Pinnacle.
