In the ancient times when vikings pillaged the Nordic seas, dragons were once their only foe. And for vikings, hunting dragons was a celebrated (and inescapable) pastime, due to the rash of dragon attacks affecting their lands for years. Unfortunately, for young Hiccup (who's a hilarious dead-ringer for Justin Bieber), dragon-hunting is not his forte. Hiccup decides to change things when he proves his worth for dragon-fighting school, after incidentally shooting down a young dragon. However, when Hiccup begins to bond with the dragon, who he names "Toothless", he discovers there's more to the fractitious relationship between humans and dragons than he originally believed.
Dragon is a meaningful story about learning acceptance for others and following one's dreams. Yet in true Hollywood fashion, it's cleverly disguised as a vivid, CGI fantasy tale for kids. The pace is brisk and the voice acting is stellar. Not quite sure why all the vikings speak with Scots-Irish brogues, but it amused me for sure. At least they didn't have them go all-out "Swedish Chef", or something horribly stereotyped towards Scandinavians. The story does unearth some of the typical good-versus-evil cliches every now-and-then, especially towards the conclusion. But there is actual pathos in Dragon, rather than a cop-out happy ending for sentimentality's sake. There's lessons to be learned for each of the characters, and that's what makes the film most significant amongst the crop of kids flicks of the past year.
8/10
Peace,
- Jon
No comments:
Post a Comment