Overcoming Expectations: A How to Train Your Dragon Review
Michael and I ventured to the local movie theater, excited to see the story of dragons and Vikings on the big screen again after its animated debut fifteen years ago. It was a marvelously reimagined, reuniting director Dean DeBlois with the world that he helped bring to the big screen. While the visuals are fantastically produced, John Powell’s award-winning score musically shines, whisking the audience into flight on top of a dragon.
For those unfamiliar, How to Train Your Dragon began is a children’s book series that debuted in 2003, written by Cressida Cowell. Her books detail the empowering journey of Hiccup, a son of a Viking, that is a little different than everyone in his tribe. At the time of the book’s release, I was delving into the wizards and witches of Hogwarts with J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, but I wish I would have picked up Cressida’s series as well. The series spans twelve years, as readers embark on Viking and dragon adventures, even how to become a pirate. I will be venturing into Mrs. Cowell’s book series soon to discover a world that my childhood self would have enjoyed.
In 2010 when the animated film was released, Dreamworks was languishing, coasting on the award-winning reception to their breakout hit, Shrek, a decade prior. Director Dean DeBlois and writer Christopher Sanders joined together, after having worked on Disney animated films, like Lilo and Stich and Mulan, to bring this story to life and revive the movie studio from obscurity in the animation genre. The critical response after the film’s release was miraculous; not only topping the box office charts but securing Oscar nominations and awards. The duos previous work at Disney capture the essence of How to Train Your Dragon: overcoming outside expectations amidst a divergent mind.
The main character, Hiccup, is the son of Stoick, the village’s chieftain. The village prides itself with killing dragons, though achieving greatness as a dragonslayer is seen as overly ambitious due to Hiccup’s scrawny size. His ingenious mind, from clever inventions to emotional intelligence, made up for his lack of muscles, but his father’s stubbornness could not see it. We all have our own personal expectations for the world and others. Learning to overcome them is a lifelong struggle.
During the opening battle sequence, as the dragons attack the village, Hiccup uses one of his ingenious machines to fire at a mysterious black dragon, known as Night Fury. His catapult makes contact as the dragon falls out of frame, somewhere in the forest beyond the village. The following day, Hiccup is seen searching for its remains, hopeful that he can finally show his dad that he is a dragon killer. Upon seeing the dragon, however, he has a change of heart. Looking into its eyes, Hiccup is torn between compassion and his expectation, deciding, ultimately, not to kill the Night Fury. Feeling distraught that he is a failure, unable to become a dragon killer like his father, he cuts the rope and lets the dragon fly away.
His training to become a dragon killer begins the following day, as he is placed in the dragon-fighting class at the request of his mentor and father. In the training arena with Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, they faced smaller dragons, each with unique flaws that their trainer, Gobber the Belch played by Nick Frost, helps to illuminate. Each person in the arena spans a small section of humanity, from Astrid’s tough and determined attitude, Snotlout’s infatuation with Astrid, and Fishleg’s statistical mind for dragon information gathering. At first, Hiccup is seen as both a failure as a potential dragonslayer and an advantaged son of the Chieftain. Later that evening, he finds the Night Fury dragon back in the forest, unable to fly due to its damaged tail wing. Using his ingenuity for invention, he creates a mechanical tail and befriends the dragon in the process. Naming it Toothless due to its retractable teeth, they take a test drive into the skies.
John Powell’s music, as Hiccup and Toothless bravely venture into the skies, is beyond brilliant. It captures the serene feeling of weightlessness and danger, as they swiftly move up into the clouds, down near the oceans, or between coastal rock formations. The score had won an Oscar for best music back in 2010 with John Powell returning to the helm for the latest film. Thematically, it sounds just as incredible from fifteen years ago with subtle, surprising changes that pull audiences into the action. The particular track of “Test Drive” was so well-received that composers from Warner Bros Games, Chuck Myers and Peter Murray, used it as inspiration for a scene in its game, Hogwarts Legacy. It appears to be unofficially copied, as it is not on the game’s official score and only found in hidden game files with the title, “Lord of the Shore”.
During their flight in the skies, Toothless and Hiccup are herded into a line of dragons heading for a giant mountain, known as the Dragon’s Nest to the villagers. They learn, however, that all of the creatures that they fear had an even bigger monster at the helm, as each dragon dropped food into its home. It is lesson that nature will always have bigger enemies. After narrowly escaping the creature’s attack shortly afterward, Hiccup and Toothless venture back to the village where Hiccup continues in the arena.
Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless allows his empathy and compassion to gleam unique ways to tame dragons. Those ways of taming dragons allow him to succeed in the arena, but at a terrible cost. While his father was proud, Hiccup is tasked to kill a monstrous dragon in front of the village to confirm his dragonslayer abilities. The battle nearly ends his life before Toothless flies into the arena, willfully protecting Hiccup but getting captured by the villagers in the process. Through a climatic revealing of Hiccup’s secret, his father and the other dragonslayers utilize the Night Fury to find the Dragon’s Nest, hoping to destroy all the dragons once and for all.
Given Hiccup’s knowledge of the Dragon’s Nest, he knows that it will end badly without help. So, he decides to ask the other dragonslayers-in-training, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, to fly to the Dragon’s Nest on the smaller captive dragons in the village. After a humorous scene where Hiccup shows his dragon disarming techniques, they all fly into the sky toward the nest. After a chaotic battle, the large monster is destroyed, signaling a new era of peace among the villagers and dragons.
The film wonderfully recreates the animated version, with Mason Thames, playing Hiccup, mimicking Jay Baruchel’s unique vocals while instilling his own flair to the character. Gerald Butler, playing Stoick in both films, confirms his acting prowess as a Viking leader. Nico Parker takes on the role of Astrid with a solid performance that eloquently pays tribute to America Ferrera, who voiced the character in 2010. Recreating the breath of the atmosphere from the animated film was a challenge, but the production team traversed Northern Ireland and the shores of Faroe Island to capture gorgeous shots. Entertainment writer, Ra Moon, detailed the filming locations as well as pop culture tidbits about those locations. The film was captured on Arri Alexa LF, a powerful camera capable of shooting IMAX resolution, thanks to IMDB’s technical specifications.
I adore this movie, for sure. The heartfelt message of overcoming expectations, comedic moments of laughter, and an incredibly powerful musical score propel this film to great heights. The production team mentioned that a live-action sequel is in the works, releasing in 2027. I, for one, can’t wait to set forth into the skies with Hiccup and Toothless again.
