How should you train a dragon? Apparently you shoot it down from the sky into a crater. Then you feed it fish until it likes you. As long as you don’t get eaten that is.
This movie is the latest flick from Dreamworks Animation and it was one that made me say, “Okay I’m buying that when it comes out on DVD!” This statement is usually reserved for films from studios with names like ‘Pixar’ and ‘Universal’.
It’s weird, these dreamwork folks. Their movies are either hit or miss. It’s almost as if there are two different studios working to crank out the 3D animated films. One half produces Kung Fu Panda, Chicken Run and How to Train your dragon, while the other half is silently cranking out films like Monsters Vs Aliens, Shark Tale, and Over the Hedge. It doesn’t look like there is an end in sight either if ‘Over the Hedge’ can return over three times the $100,000,000 spent to make it.
Now this has little to do with the actual film of Vikings and Dragons, so I’ll get back to that. Here is the basic synopsis of the movie…
“A Viking teenager named Hiccup lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. The teen’s smarts and offbeat sense of humor don’t sit too well with his tribe or its chief… who just happens to be Hiccup’s father. However, when Hiccup is included in Dragon Training with the other Viking teens, he sees his chance to prove he has what it takes to be a fighter. But when he encounters (and ultimately befriends) an injured dragon, his world is flipped upside down, and what started out as Hiccup’s one shot to prove himself turns into an opportunity to set a new course for the future of the entire tribe.”
This movie is great! It did have me wondering at points where exactly the audience was being led. At times I was having a little trouble trying to figure out where the movie was taking me as the story’s twists and hooks kept darting around my expectations.
This movie is a lot of fun. The author Cressida Cowell
There was one character who kept giving stats of different dragons including type of breath weapon, range, and movement speed. Clearly it was making fun of Dungeons and Dragons, but it could make a neat world setting for a simple role playing system. They did keep referencing a book with all of the dragons and their powers. Being curious about this, I did a google search for ‘How to Train Your Dragon RPG’ It looks like I wasn’t the only one to make this obvious connection. Hopefully I won’t be coming across as dorky as some of the results I have found!
This is one to see on the big screen, you won’t be disappointed.
