YOU. HAVE. TO. WATCH. THIS. FILM. LIKE. SERIOUSLY. IT. IS. SO. FREAKIN’. AWESOME. WHY. AM. I. TALKING. IN. PERIODS. BECAUSE. IT. IS. SO. EPIC. THAT. EACH. MOMENT. DESERVES. A. PERIOD. AND. IT. IS. SO. FREAKIN’. AWESOME.


Oh, but I already said that.


Hell yeah I liked this flick! Forget every other animated movie you have ever seen and go watch this one instead. I promise it won’t disappoint, I’d give it a 110% if I could. I was hanging at the edge of my seat, hanging on for dear life, Vikings and Dragons spewing out of a humongous screen! Didn’t I say it was EPIC? And get this— I watched it in IMAX 3D. Watching it any other way would be a BIG. MISTAKE. I typed those in periods again because I can’t stress that enough. WATCH. IT. IN. IMAX.


If you want to know how good it is, now I actually want to tame my own Dragon instead of a Pokemon; it is that AWESOAMBLE (Awesome + Believable)!


If you haven’t watched the film yet, go ahead and watch it now. Go on, shoo, shoo! Don’t go spoiling the movie for yourself; this is a movie you have to experience at the highest degree.




If you are reading this and haven’t watched the film yet, shame on you! Oh well, it’s your call. Mind you, this is a long one; I want to type down every single detail and comment I can remember.

So the movie starts with a lanky kid named Hiccup. Yeah, I know, lame name, but they say lousy names protect you from trolls or something. He lives in a small village called Berk. The village has lived on for 7 generations but the structures are all new, and you’ll find out later on why.


You see, most towns would have pests like mice or mosquitoes, but it’s different around here, and more deadly, that’s because it is infested by Dragons! (I was trying to build a little suspense here, but I guess you knew that already.) So any other normal sane village would evacuate right? Fortunately for us Berk is not like any other normal sane village, it is inhabited by Vikings! And they live for the hunt. Killing off a dragon is your mark as a MAN (that applies to both men and women).

*SPOILER VIDEO* Learn the types of Dragons in a fun way!



*SPOILER VIDEO* A more detailed account on Dragons!


*This is just one example, you can actually see all the Dragon I Illustrations/ Definitions @ Dreamworks in Youtube.


Oh Hiccup would do anything to actually kill off a dragon. You see, as with every village, there is a Chief, and guess who has the Chief as a dad? You guessed right. And he is no ordinary Chief, he is rumoured to have knocked off a Dragon’s head when he was a toddler. And does Hiccup like actually believe that? Yeah he does. Problem is, Hiccup can’t hold up a hammer, let alone face a Dragon in a fight. No one believed he can do it, so whenever there is a Dragon Invasion, he would be asked to stay behind and make weapons, guarded by his dad’s friend with a wooden arm and feet, Gobber. Of course soon later he’ll leave Hiccup behind to fight the ‘dastardly’ beasts himself. He can’t stay away from a good fight, a mark of a true Viking, something Hiccup is still aspiring to be.
Gobber Gobber’s Guide in Battling Dragons



*SPOILER VIDEO*



*SPOILER VIDEO*

But Hiccup has a plan, and he is doing this not just to gain the respect of his father… umm, but yeah, just to gain the respect of his father. So he can’t lift an axe, but boy can the boy invent stuff! So he made like a huge grappling hook to tangle up his first Dragon from the sky. There was this legendary Dragon that no one has ever seen before called that ‘Night Fury’. Not that no one had actually seen it, they have seen flashes and purple fire blasts off it, but that’s pretty much it. Night Fury comes like lightning, beams up havoc and goes as mysteriously as it came.

In the Dragon Guide, Night Fury is labelled as ‘extremely dangerous’ and it is said that if you ever saw one, you are cautioned to hide and pray. (Funny how it is called ‘Night Fury’, it kind of sounds like some sort of sword like ‘Vorpal Blade’. I guess it’s because in most cases they see its purple flashes at night, and it’s, uhh… furious!*pardon the pun*)


So Hiccup got out his grappling hook and aimed at the sky, and guess what he caught? A big fat brown puffing Horrorcow Dragon! (If you nodded to that then that means you are either incredibly sarcastic-which I hope you are- or plain stupid ) Of course he caught a Night Fury! which looks like the last of its kind.

No one believed him and he was even actually scolded for getting out of the hut and causing destruction as he was chased by a ‘Fireworm’ right after he shut down the Night Fury. He was sent back the house, but he sneaked out back and went to track down his first Dragon “slay”.


He found the Night Fury tangled up in his grappling hook ropes. He went near it with a knife in the air. Its big scary cat-like yellow eyes stared right back at him, and with a hint of defeat, it closed them, ready to die. But unlike any other person with Viking blood running in their veins, let alone the Chief’s son, Hiccup couldn’t do it. He swished the knife and cut the ropes. You might think this is suicide, everyone thought so too, but all the Night Fury did was give him a dose of bad breath. Night Furies are supposed to be the fiercest Dragon that roamed the earth, so why did it not kill him?

*SPOILER VIDEO*



Along this time his father, the Chief, went on a quest to find the Dragon Lair. With that, he left his son to his weaponsmith friend Gobber, to actually begin his writhe of passage to become a Dragon Slayer Viking by Dragon Training. Of course everyone thought Hiccup was not supposed to be there. He was often teased at by his peers, and was even looked down on by his blonde warrior crush Astrid.

Although while this was all happening, he was beginning to tame the Night Fury he caught, who still can’t fly and was stuck in a valley because of a missing fin. Through this experience he was actually able to find out all about a Dragon’s weakness and began to think that everything the tribe knew about Dragons was wrong. He eventually named him “Toothless”, thanks to his retractable teeth. Soon he attached a mechanical fin that he used to control Toothless during flight.

*SPOILER VIDEO*



He used this knowledge to his advantage and became the top of his Dragon Slaying 101 class. His mentor and peers can’t understand what was going on. He doesn’t hold a sword or a shield (Gobber Tip: The shield is the most important weapon of a Viking. If you have to pick between a sword or a shield, pick the shield) but Dragons seem to calm down or cower with fear in his presence. Of course there is a trick behind all this, he knew Dragons’ weaknesses after all, thanks to Toothless. He became an instant celebrity, and everyone wanted to be his friend, except Astrid. A strong girl like Astrid did not want to be overshadowed by a wimp, and she knew he was hiding something.


He followed him one time in the woods, and guess what she found? Absolutely nothing and she went home with nothing to tell. Or not. She actually found that existence of Toothless. Before Hiccup can explain, she ran off, which is a time of panic for Hiccup. Good thing Toothless is quick on his wings and grabbed Astrid by the shoulders. Astrid didn’t want to hear any explanations, so she was able to understand through flight. At first Toothless was mad and made the trip unbearable, but when she apologized, it became the ride of the century, it was almost romantic. Or maybe she was just hanging on to Hiccup for dear life.

.

The flight did not end without a hitch though, Toothless suddenly became weird and began following a flock of Dragons, that actually lead to THE Dragon’s Lair, the one his father was looking everywhere to find. Inside they found out the Dragons did not actually eat the fish they stole from the village; they dropped it in a lava pit. Great, how would the Villagers feel when they found out all their hard work are tossed down a big crater. Although that was not exactly the case, inside the pit was actually the ‘Queen’ Dragon (as Astrid called it) that controlled the Dragons and was a hundred times larger than a typical sized one. The Dragons would all gather in the pit and offer fish. A little fat dragon burped out a tiny fish and got eaten by the monster in the process. In any case, they had to keep this their little secret, as if Hiccup’s father were to find out, Toothless is toast.

*SPOILER VIDEO*

It just so happens that the Chief is now very proud of his son for finally becoming a ‘real’ Viking, a good candidate to be a ‘Dragon Slayer’. Hiccup was set to actually slay his first real Dragon, a Fireworm, the type of Dragon that burst in flames, the same one that got him in trouble before. But Hiccup had a plan, well sort of. He didn’t want to kill the Dragon, he wanted to show the people that they can be friends. Tough beans that happening, but he had to try.


As it turned out, when he tossed the Viking Hat declaring that he is not a Dragon Slayer and went to tame the Dragon in the Arena, his father got furious, bust in the ring, and told him to get out. This aggravated the Dragon Hiccup was just about to tame; it went rabid and spewed fire all over the place. Hiccup was in grave danger, and Toothless sensed this from miles away, as he came flying down to the rescue. Toothless went head on with the Fireworm and defeated it. But of course, this alarmed all the other Vikings that a Night Fury was in the arena and caught him in no time.


The Chief was furious with Hiccup and did not listen to Hiccup when he tried to explain that everything they knew about Dragons was wrong. His father did not listen and even got information from his son that there exists a Dragon Lair and that Toothless can bring them there. They strapped Toothless to the boat and sailed off. Man was Hiccup in a pickle. His best friend was held captive and he has effectively sent their whole tribe sailing to their doom, as they didn’t know about the existence of the ‘hundred times more humongous than the typical Dragon’ Dragon, as Astrid was so kind to point out. But Hiccup was not out of luck yet, he has done stupid things, but now it is time to do something crazy. He gathered all his young peers and paired them up with a bunch of Dragons.

As it turns out, the whole Viking Tribe was running for their lives right about now when they spotted the ‘hundred times more humongous than the typical Dragon’ (If someone can give me a name for this thing, that would be most helpful).

But looks, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane! No, it’s a bunch of teenagers riding very well suited Dragons off to the rescue! Hiccup effectively saved his dad, but his deed was not done yet. He had to save Toothless, who was currently about to burn with the boat that caught on fire with all the Humongous Dragon fire breathing. Some pillars broke off and Toothless began sinking down the ocean still attached to his chains. Hiccup tried to save him but ran out of breath in the process. That’s when a big beefy guy came forth and saved him, of course, it was his dad. When Hiccup was safely ashore, he dived down to rescue Toothless. Hiccup got on his trusty buddy and was about to set off when his dad told him he was sorry, that he was proud of him, and that he did not have to do this. But it was something Hiccup knew he must do, for the Village, AND the Dragons.

So here comes the TOO. EPIC. part. The ‘hundred times more humongous than the typical Dragon’ came chasing after Hiccup and Toothless, it was neck and neck. I was speechless. The battle, or rather the Humongous Dragon, was so life size and real on screen. You have to see it to understand (but of course if you are reading this, I am assuming you already did!) It is EPIC. Twist and turns, in and out of the screen. Purple beams and lightning fast Dragon chases! They didn’t think the ‘Fat Thing’ that stayed in the crater to eat could fly, but boy could it ever. It even spewed like a whole sky of fire breath, and boy was it fat and ugly. So the duo did the smartest thing to do at that situation. Go up high, high in the air and come speeding down, bringing the ‘Humongous Thing’ down with them, where it crashed amidst its flames while they went up.


At that time, Toothless’ mechanical fin burned out, so of course that’s big trouble as they came plummeting down the ground to their deaths(?!) The whole tribe watched in horror as this scene unfold in front of their very eyes.

The Chief paved his way through the smoke and saw Toothless-
alone. So of course when he actually starts crying and reminiscing, was when Toothless revealed Hiccup was under his wing all along ( You saved him! *sniff*), and not dead, in case you missed that part. I think Toothless did this on purpose to make the dad realize how much he actually loved his son. (Aww, yeah, bad Toothless!)


So next scene, Hiccup woke up to find that all that has happened was actually a dream…

Psych!


Well, he thought it was a dream, as even if the whole village was still infested with Dragons, they were now living harmoniously with them. Of course, he did not die. He lost a foot, but after defeating that Huge Monster, he’s lucky to have come out of it with only a missing foot. Believe me, he was lucky. If anything, the metal foot is the ultimate sign of a Dragon Slayer. He is a real Viking now, just like his proud dad and his dad’s pal Gobber with the wooden arm and leg.


Astrid punched him for scaring her ‘to death’, and then kissed him, ‘for everything else’. Just like how she punched him for kidnapping her during their first Dragon Flight together, and kissing him on the cheek for- you guessed it- ‘ everything else’.


So he got the girl, the respect of his dad, his peers, the whole village, and a Dragon as his best friend that would sacrifice his life for him. Life couldn’t be anything but sweet for our little lanky Hero here. Sometimes, it does pay to be skinny and different.


So how did you guys find the movie? Wasn’t it as awesome as I said it was— and more? Man, it was so life like! The visuals are top knotch, the story line is seamless, the characters are lovable, the sky scenery is breath-taking, the Dragons were too cool, the girl was too hot, the romance was just right ^_~, the Vikings were humorous, the Humongous Dragon was, well, Humongous, and Tootlhless is every kid’s dream Dragon. He is THE Lightning-fast, Loyal, Lovable, Little Lackey.

I’m gonna watch it again.


Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON BOOK

This is actually based on an EPIC book that is totally different but similar at the same time. For one thing, Hiccup knew how to fight with a sword, and Toothless was no legendary Dragon. The village also have been taming dragons for centuries there, instead of hunting them down. I think I might actually pick up a copy myself and read it, might even make a review. *Shrug* Or maybe you can read it and just tell me all about it.

Storybook and 3D Viewer (DreamWorks 3-D)


HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON THE GAME (Nintendo Wii) (DS) (Xbox 360)
There are actually games out already and I think it’s pretty cool. I guess here you can relive the adventures of Hiccup. Dragon taming, flying, and fighting. I think it might actually be pretty cool, if not too kiddie. It kind of looks  like Harry Potter/ Spore/ Pokemon VS to me. You get to fly through hoops (like broomsticks but Dragons), get to customize your own Dragon, and get to fight other Dragons. I’m sure it has a bit of RPG going on as well.


HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON SOUNDTRACK (John Powell)
There is also a pretty cool soundtrack. If you know Dreamworks, they would only put in quality musics in their movies. Makes you feel that you are actually flying with a Dragon in the sky, if you close your eyes.


Here are some random featurette (totally unrelated clips) I found along the way:

The Art of How to Train Your Dragon

 Link to this page

 Link to this page

Posted in Animation, Movie Review