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Yoda
03-31-10, 01:55 PM
Saw this yesterday, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. What's that, you say? A review? Well, okay:

How to Train Your Dragon

http://www.movieforums.com/images/main/how_to_train_your_dragon_main.png (http://www.movieforums.com/reviews/how_to_train_your_dragon.html)

As is the case with most animated fare, the story is a familiar trope in an unfamiliar setting. This time, they've taken the Kid That Doesn't Fit In and made him a Viking ... All the adult Vikings are impossibly broad-shouldered, and their middle names are always "the." Erik the Red or Olaf the Chartreuse. ...READ MORE

4.5
TheUsualSuspect
03-31-10, 02:00 PM
I'm honestly surprised at how well this film is being reviewed. 97% on RT and a glowing review from Chris.

I had no intered in it, but am having second thoughts.
Yoda
03-31-10, 02:05 PM
Yeah, the Tomatometer number is crazy. But it's a bit misleading, since that particular measure is up/down, rather than a sliding scale. It's the kind of movie that pretty much everyone is going to enjoy, even though it's not really downright brilliant. It's built to get a lot of people to like it quite a bit, but not in a way that blows many of them away.

For example, it's scoring 74 on Metacritic at the moment, which factors in the degree to which people like it, rather than just a binary yes/no.

Don't get me wrong, it's very good at times, but that 97% is mostly a reflection of how broadly appealing it is.
Justin
03-31-10, 03:24 PM
Glad you liked it as much as I did, Yoda. Nice review, as well.
meatwadsprite
03-31-10, 06:37 PM
Yeah I want to check this one out, but I gotta save my money for movies this year. Kick Ass - Iron Man 2 - Toy Story 3 - Inception - Scott Pilgrim , all releasing back to back - month to month.
ChasingButterfly
04-14-10, 06:58 PM
Great review! I really enjoyed this movie but typically enough when I came out of the cinema I was disapointed that I couldn't have my own dragon.
Powdered Water
04-14-10, 09:43 PM
Just a spectacular flick! Loved almost every second of it. Can't wait to get the DVD so I can see it again.
sallyjc
04-14-10, 11:02 PM
I loved this film as well! I wasn't even expecting much from this film but it blew me away. I actually loved the 3D in this film, and I found Jay Baruchel quite lovely in this film. You also can't forget Craig Ferguson, heh.
terapattrik
04-26-10, 09:41 AM
Thank Yoda, for your brief and to the point review. I liked the movie. It is still in the first position in the 5 the week.
bob13bob
05-22-10, 11:09 PM
not as good as i had hoped. does not work for adults. the whole thing was pretty boring and predictable, kind of similar to my experience with avatar. just not enough new material for me.
Harutoon
05-26-10, 03:51 PM
This was excellent animation movie. Disney need to take some advice from Dreamworks.
[rono]
05-29-10, 04:32 AM
With their acquisition of Pixar talent, I think Disney might make it.
Has anyone seen The Princess and the Frog?
stevo3001
05-30-10, 01:01 PM
This was excellent animation movie. Disney need to take some advice from Dreamworks.

Not if the excellent Princess and the Frog is any indication. And as for their Pixar arm, the best team of filmmakers in the world work on an utterly different level to Dreamworks.

That said, How To Train Your Dragon was lovely. A touching friendship and thrilling aerial stuff and fights. Toothless was wonderful. The rest of the dragons were kind of lame though, and the movie didn't kick into gear until the kid found the downed dragon, but this is easily Dreamworks' best effort yet.
Yoda
05-30-10, 01:05 PM
Agree on all acounts, stevo. Particularly about the other dragons; they were creative and interesting, but a bit too cartoonish. I would've liked to have seen what the designers could have come up with if they'd been (presumably) instructed to go a more realistic route, as they did with Toothless.
[rono]
05-31-10, 06:50 PM
Not if the excellent Princess and the Frog is any indication. And as for their Pixar arm, the best team of filmmakers in the world work on an utterly different level to Dreamworks.

That said, How To Train Your Dragon was lovely. A touching friendship and thrilling aerial stuff and fights. Toothless was wonderful. The rest of the dragons were kind of lame though, and the movie didn't kick into gear until the kid found the downed dragon, but this is easily Dreamworks' best effort yet.

Agree on all acounts, stevo. Particularly about the other dragons; they were creative and interesting, but a bit too cartoonish. I would've liked to have seen what the designers could have come up with if they'd been (presumably) instructed to go a more realistic route, as they did with Toothless.

Actually, I thought that Toothless had one drawback: For a feersome dragon that "never steals food, never shows itself and never misses", it looked a little too cute. But maybe that's just me. :D