Guys, This Is Totally a Good Movie
I’m as surprised as all of you, but I really enjoyed How to Train Your Dragon. I didn’t see it in theaters because, you know, I don’t get excited about cartoons, and the title of the thing doesn’t promise much, but it’s a real movie. It just happens to be animated.
It’s funny, exciting, the characters are all more than punchline machines, and the voice acting is that perfect blend of big and lesser names who are all perfect for the characters they play. It is, essentially, the anti-Shrek, which is a movie that represents everything I hate about modern, disposable, crude and ugly CGI cartooning.
Some of the shots in this movie are quite honestly beautiful. There’s some real art in here. There’s real danger, too. The stakes never feel flimsy, and the battles aren’t won without sacrifice. At the end of the movie (SPOILERS) the main character loses a limb. That’s some pretty serious shit for a mostly funny kids’ film.
I wasn’t planning on ever seeing it, and I sat down with my roommate to watch it just because I was bored. I haven’t been this pleasantly surprised in a long time. More of this, please, Hollywood. Less Shrek and Megamind.
