How To Train Your Dragon (Movie Review)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010)
Directors:  Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
Stars:  Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson

Hiccup (Baruchel), a young Viking living in the island village of Berk, has a problem;  he's never going to get a date unless he kills a dragon, the number one pest in the area.  But his stoic father, um, Stoick (Butler), village leader and general badass, won't let him near a battle, due to his clumsiness and feeble frame.  One night, Hiccup manages to sneak out and, using a device of his own, downs a dragon.  Elated, Hiccup trudges through the woods, finds the entangled dragon. . .  but can't bring himself to kill it.  Instead, Hiccup and the dragon (Who he names "Toothless"), form a bond that transcends the gulf between their species.  But will their newfound friendship be enough to bring this destructive conflict to an end?

Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois are the writer/directors of one of my favorite films of the last decade, Lilo & Stitch, so I was really excited to see their follow-up film.  Immediately following Stitch, they had been working on a movie called American Dog for Disney, before being shit-canned by John Lasseter (The bits and pieces of that project were eventually turned into Bolt).  So, Dreamworks being the next best option, off they went.  Up until a year ago, Dreamworks animation was a mark of shame (Sorry, Shrek fans!), but Kung Fu Panda was, against all odds, actually good, and this shit takes the company to a whole 'nother level.

I first watched this upon original release, in IMAX 3-D.  I'm not a member of the Cult Of 3-D, but let me tell you;  the effects in this were mind-blowing.  Best 3-D I've ever seen, hands down.  When Hiccup is riding on Toothless over the ocean, soaring and tumbling through the clouds, I had a true sense of vertigo and exhilaration.  When the characters are walking through the woods, I felt like I could reach out and grab a vine, swinging away like Tarzan.

So, I was a little nervous to watch it on video.  I don't have one of those giant TVs.  Would it still hold up?  Thankfully, I loved it just as much the second time.  The story, while predictable, is compelling.  The characters are distinctive and lovable (Side characters are voiced by such talents Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse).  The dragon designs are diverse, cute and terrifying.  Toothless looks like a cross between a salamander and a panther; other dragons look like warthogs, Zilla, and several other things.

The vikings look cartoonish, as if they bulked up at the Rob Liefeld School of Bodybuilding, but that's the whole point;  there's no "Robert Zemekis Uncanny Valley Effect" here.  The environments, however, often look extremely realistic and "lived-in".  The lighting effects are amazing, and legendary DP Roger Deakins acts as a Visual Consultant here, in the same capacity that he worked on Pixar's WALL-E.  John Powell's score is equally impressive, utilizing bag-pipes and sweeping, highlands sounds to transport you to a far-away land.

I also like that the characters aren't modeled after the actors that portray them.  That's not an uncommon thing in animation, particularly with past Dreamworks efforts, and always seemed a bit lazy.  Some may take offense that they found a way to turn America Ferrera into a blond-haired, blue-eyed twig, but I find it refreshing that they've stretched their imagination enough to feature Minz-Plasse as a gigantic warrior.

It has a good message about cross-cultural tolerance, forgiveness of past sins, and looking outside of ones own culture for answers.  It has fantastic action scenes, and the animation prowess to back them up.  It has a humorous and exciting script, with characters who you'll want to spend more time with.  I, for one, am definitely looking forward to a sequel.  I was originally going to give this a "Great" review, but, upon rewatch. . .

FREDERICK OPINES:  MASTERPIECE

Buy it through Blunderbuss!  How to Train Your Dragon (Single Disc Edition)
                                               How to Train Your Dragon Blu Ray (Single Disc Blu-Ray 2010)

Rebel Without A Cause (Movie Review)

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
Director: Nicholas Ray
Stars:  James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo

Jim (James Dean), Judy (Natalie Wood), and Plato (Sal Mineo) are three middle class teenagers who have everything they could ever need;  except for the attention of their parents.  Jim, who's father has been emasculated by his mother and grandmother, has taken to violently lashing out at any perceived insult to his "honor", and drinking heavily.  Judy is perhaps too eager for attention from daddy, as she feels heartbroken when he refuses to kiss her on the lips.  She hangs out with the bad kids at school (How bad are they?  Dennis Hopper bad.).  Plato's dad left him long ago, and his mother essentially leaves him with a nanny.  Plato has decided to take his frustration out on some puppies.  By shooting them.

This might sound like the set-up for three different episodes of Degrassi High, but what makes this movie work so well is the incredible performances, the whip smart script, and the fantastic direction by Nicholas Ray.   Ernest Haller, Oscar winning Cinematographer of Gone With The Wind, uses color with shocking effect on the cars, jackets, switchblades;  and perfectly balances his work with Ray's frenzied framing.  As the camera sharply tilts while Jim argues with his mother on the staircase, you can feel his world shifting around him.  There is nowhere safe for him, or any of these characters.  Even the ground beneath their feet is unreliable.

The appearance of Dennis Hopper in a supporting role is appropriate, since this is Blue Velvet 1955.  This isn't about some tenement slum and big city gangsters;  this is about the danger simmering beneath the freshly mowed lawns of suburbia.  The blemish in paradise, that everyone would rather just sweep under the rug, and out of sight.  The signs of impending doom are everywhere, not least of which when the kids go on a field trip to the planetarium to witness the end of the solar system.

Sexual energy is seething out of every frame of this film.  Director Ray was bisexual (James Dean is commonly believed to have been, as well), and crafts the friendship between the three leads into an unspoken, unconsummated love triangle, while simultaneously paralleling it with their own fractured home lives.  Even in an attempt to create a new family, none of them can escape the shadow of their past.

It's a simple tale of teenage rebellion, an allegory for the era and an olive branch extended to the youth culture of the time.  There are many lines, movements, and shots which are layered with several meanings; some overt and some delightfully subversive.  This is the kind of movie that film criticism and analysis was made for.

Don't let any of this make you think that the film is stodgy or boring.  There are some tight little action/suspense scenes, and unless you have zero tolerance for old cinema, it hardly feels dated at all.  Don't watch it because it's a "classic";  watch it because it speaks to the outcast in all of us.

FREDERICK OPINES: MASTERPIECE

Rebel Without a Cause (Two-Disc Special Edition)