To be honest, I entered the cinema without any expectation for this movie. I simply decided to watch this movie since I had nothing else to watch.
I originally thought “OK, this is going to be another common movie about heroism, friendship, and other usual stuff the producers throw for any animated film. The scenes will be standard and I will be bored to death.” Well, I can’t be more mistaken – about the being bored to death part. The movie turned out to be quite a ride.
The story is about an skinny teenager – called Hiccup – who is good for nothing according to the standards of his community (the Vikings – that is). All he wants is to be like the others – brawl and all – and fight dragons not to mention to have a date with the blonde tough warrior to be – called Astrid.
Everything changed since he managed to shoot a dragon down. Well, no one believed him, so he searched for the fallen dragon himself. He found the dragon and in the twist of tale, Hiccup didn’t kill the dragon as planned. Instead, he named it Toothless, grew attached to it, pet him, and RODE it. He became the first person to ride a dragon.
So…. OK.. the story is typical. However, the action and flying scenes are amazing. They take your breath away. However, the best part is ….Toothless – the dragon. He is a dangerous, smart, brave, willful, a wonderful friend and pet (dog like) somewhat child like dragon with ability to fly supersonic and shoot lightning bolt. Whenever he is present, Toothless steals the scene. In addition, the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup is described wonderfully. They started as two beings not trusting each other but grow so connected that they were willing to go to war together. The scene where they draw on the ground and ending with Hiccup slightly placing his hand Toothless for the first time and earning his trust is the most memorable scene in any animation to date.
I’ve watched this movie several times now and still find the movie appealing and wonderful. And, yes, I love Toothless. I’ve never watched other animated films with such a solid characterization. The movie is an example that a simple story can be made into an exceptionally different movie altogether if the non human characters are well described. They should not be portrayed as silly good for nothing sidekicks who can somehow speak. Instead, they should be given a personality and lose the ability to speak.
I would recommend anyone – young and old – to watch this movie.
