Director: Dean DeBlois
Year: 2010
Country: US
Language: English
Normally I try to stay away from modern American animated films because they all seem intentionally directed at children and stripped of any political incorrectness, though there are some decent films like Adventures of Tin Tin, Up, Wall E and How to Train Your Dragon. HTTYD is actualy the only Dreamworks film I've enjoyed since Prince of Egypt in 1998, there have obviously been considerable changes in story and style since then however.
How to Train Your Dragon is about a young viking named Hicup (Jay Baruchel) who wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast (Gerard Butler), will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the specie
A critique I have of this film is that the main plot is an awful like Dances with Wolves/Ferngully/ The Last Samurai/Pocahontas/ Avatar in which the white man realizes he is on the wrong side of the war because the people of native tribe, or in this case the dragons, are not actually that bad. However I will forgive the uninspired plot device because the film is directed at children who have never seen that kind of plot before.
I do think the film is incredibly important because it sends a strong message regarding masculinity to a whole new generation of kids. Hiccup, the weak awkward kid, grows up in a viking town where masculinity means strength and aggressiveness. Basing the concept on masculinity on strength has hurt the structure of our society and both genders who live in it, it is also not doing much for Hiccup's society. How to Train Your Dragon shows that intelligence and kindness is more of a "masculine" trait than brute strength, which is important for kids who are growing up and being told about what their gender roles are.
In conclusion, while How to Train Your Dragon is a bit cliche and predictable, it certainly is an important film for the next generation of kids regarding gender roles and expectations. This film was funny, intelligent and had decent action scenes that sometimes looked like a World War I dogfight. Perhaps animated films like this can help society for the better by showing the next generation the benefits of a less aggressive and more tolerant society. 3/5
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