RSS Feed How to Train Your Dragon: Smashing
Overview: Story of a boy living in a world of brutal Vikings and dragons. He is the most open hearted and sweet boy, who has to try and discover the truth about relationship between dragons and humans. He faces many challenges, but eventually he rises to the top while suffering some consequences for his bravery.
Grade: A- Genre: Family, Animation, Fantasy
Have you ever seen a movie so well told it does not even matter that it is generic or even practically the same story as the last animated movie you saw. Well “How to Train Your Dragon” is exactly that movie. Like every other DreamWorks Production, the protagonist, in this case Hiccup, is a wimpy but kind and clever boy. He is sort of a misfit, mocked and viewed as a nuisance, but most importantly, he tries to impress his dad. On top of that, this little underdog is girlfriendless, and he absolutely adores this one girl, who is the polar opposite of him both popular and skilled. In the end, our loving hero discovers peace and a wonderful utopia after discovering his unique talent. Sound familiar or like every other DreamWorks movie? Sure, it does, but the interactions between each and every character is intriguing and in a way not what we expect. While I have seen this same type of storyline HTTYD was able to maintain my interest and exceed all my expectations. The fantasy world of HTTYD is definitely different from most stories. At least, I have not seen Vikings training dragons into pets. A key aspect of this movie is the awesome 3-D. Usually I will say that 3-D is simple eye-candy that producers just slap on there to make an extra few bucks. Honestly, I would not recommend you see a movie for it’s 3-D except for this one because it is a truly awesome experience. This movie was beautifully made with some scene of epic proportions. The ending is definitely what most people would not expect and is a little abnormal for DreamWorks movie. Usually DreamWorks pumps out a ton of mediocre films, but once in a while a movie worthwhile (and with cute dragons) will eventually pop out.
It seems like a good family movie.. I agree I think Dreamworks has the potential to create great movies but never quite lives up to Pixar
Just wondering whether the ending is sad and may upset my very sensitive little boy who simply can't do sad!
The ending of the movie is pretty dramatic. I have to say that it might disturb him or stir him up a little. The ending has one big battle scene (no blood or anything gruesome,) but the hero, hiccup loses his legs. We don't see any blood from the injury, but it is pretty suspenseful so he might think that hes dead. The end is pretty happy.
This was just an awesome movie and my three year old could tolerate it. No blood or gore.. a cute story. I would still keep it for kids 5 and over, however. He won't see it again until he's 5 probably.
amI so glad that he was able to enjoy it. I for one did. Thanks for commenting!
Iphone typo sorry
Thanks for all the feedback, especially for all the details on the ending. Very helpful as it will assist me prepare him so that he is able to enjoy it. He has been invited to a friend's 6th birthday at the movies.
Hi saw this move with my friends at the movie tavern [great place] and we loved it we couldn't stop awwwwwwwing at the dragon night ferie i want one now!!! A MUST see
It is a decent movie for kids, but I wouldn't praise its storytelling qualities that much. "...the interactions between each and every character is intriguing and in a way not what we expect. " I really saw every interaction except that of the dragon and the kid (which still isnt very coherent but it looks good if you dont think much about it) to be just what you expect and boring. The girl relationship in the movie is forced and unappealing. Her character is a formula with no personality other than what you expect her to do on the current scene. The relationship with the father is extremely annoying not for the problematic, because you feel you are being fooled into accepting all that happens to have the father/son conflict (which by the way, it is, of course, all the father's fault, never the son's, so the moral for children is that "maybe, your father just cannot understand you"). The arrival to the climax is anything but seemless. The ending is surprising for what someone mentioned, yes, but not the climax and the terrible contrived scene where they attempt to make you wonder if the kid, the hero of the story, is alive or not when it really isnt needed to. I think only the smallest kids were tricked by such a scene, if they wanted cheap melodrama, it would have been better to endanger the father or someone else.
With that said, I don't doubt the 3D can blind you of these flaws, and the movie itself has beautiful scenes, amazing flight sequences and pretty good action scenes plus some pretty nice moving moments.
it was such a heartwarming story greatly displaying the theme of how thing are not always how they seem, just because the world believes something one way, it doesn't mean the world is entirely right.