REVIEW:
How to Train Your Dragon is just an okay movie. The world where it’s set in, where these Norwegian-like people live their lives around babaric customs, and slaying dragons, is kind of fun. But the story itself is very routine and ordinary. Out main character, Hiccup, is a young man who doesn’t like all of the dragon hunting and doesn’t fit in. And yet his father is the leader in charge of the clan that he’s a part of. And so this young man is forced into world of training to become a soldier and a dragon slayer.
Well, not long after we are introduced to the world and the character, he meets a dragon himself, and does not kill it. Instead he befriends it. And the two of them continue on with a friendship that lasts throughout the movie. Obviously the goal here is to teach all the people in this tribe that not all dragons are bad. It’s incredibly transparent. And when a new subplot arises more than halfway into the film that features one giant, villainous dragon, it feels like they’re giving us that just to have something to use for a big exciting climactic, action packed ending. The world-building is good here, including all of the characters who Hiccup trains with, (voiced by actors like Jonah Hill and Kristin Wiig,) but the story itself is pretty paint-by-the-numbers predictable.