{"id":4668,"date":"2010-03-31T02:42:29","date_gmt":"2010-03-31T07:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4668"},"modified":"2010-03-31T02:46:20","modified_gmt":"2010-03-31T07:46:20","slug":"the-movies-how-to-train-your-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4668","title":{"rendered":"Manekochan @ the Movies: How to Train Your Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it\u2019s finally happened. I\u2019m writing a movie review for IAT. Those of you that have been hanging around on the forums know me, but I\u2019m mostly a behind-the-scenes member. This weekend, however, Vault and I wandered over to the local Cineplex to see How To Train Your Dragon<\/em>. <\/p>\n

I have to admit that I was excited to see it. Anyone that knows me can attest to the fact that I will watch anything whatsoever if it\u2019s animated. And How To Train Your Dragon<\/em> had the added bonus of 1) being bookended by narration (which I\u2019m a sucker for \u2013 from Pete and Pete<\/em> to Arrested Development<\/em>) and 2) starring an animal companion that just about broke the cuteness meter. I knew I had to see this film. <\/p>\n

I should note that I\u2019m not a fan of tossing 3D onto movies for no apparent reason, but I was willing to watch Dragon<\/em> even if it meant paying the equivalent of an extra ticket. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Luckily, I didn\u2019t have to as our city had a 2D copy as well as the 3D version. So you won\u2019t find this review waxing poetic on any \u201cbeautiful 3D imagery\u201d as my viewing was blessedly 3D free. <\/p>\n

I went in expecting a fun, slightly poignant (maybe depressing), but overall comedic movie starring a loser boy and his cat-like dragon. What I got was\u2026 a fun, slightly poignant, but overall comedic movie starring a loser boy and his cat-like dragon. That isn\u2019t to say that\u2019s all there was to it. The time it takes Hiccup (the main character) to gain the trust of the dragon he downs and dubs Toothless is much longer that one would think for a children\u2019s movie. It\u2019s a gradual process and takes place over several days in the film. It\u2019s a bittersweet realization when it becomes apparent that their uneasy truce and friendship is essential to not just the progression of the film, but to the dragon\u2019s survival. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

As is usual with a children\u2019s film (UP aside\u2026), you get some pitfalls. The main character of Hiccup is an everyman that doesn\u2019t fit in with any of his fellow villagers. We\u2019ve all heard that story before, but Dragon<\/em> manages to do it without really calling attention to it. The background characters are archetypes without much to them and most of their names are harsh or gross to \u201cfrighten evil spirits away\u201d (or to sell action figures with mucus themed names to young boys) and they have little in the way of character development. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

In the previews, you hear Hiccup comment, \u201ceverything we know about them is wrong\u201d in reference to the dragons. So, if dragons are really nice critters that feed on mostly fish what in the world are they doing burning down his village every week and stealing sheep? Well, the answer to that is one of the big reveals of the movie and it is left in question for quite some time before it\u2019s answered. If I have a fault with the movie, it isn\u2019t the reveal itself, which was handled nicely and was unexpected, but the sequence in which they eventually do something about it.<\/p>\n

The movie itself was fun and engaging, but really it was worth watching for Toothless alone. The dragon has the charisma and demeanor of a giant, exuberant kitten. He\u2019s a joy to watch\u2014his facial expressions and movements relay his emotions easily and his eyes are very well done with realistic irises. You can find details in nearly every shot. <\/p>\n

Overall, I give the movie an A, pretty much on the basis of the fact that I would pay to watch it again.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it\u2019s finally happened. I\u2019m writing a movie review for IAT. Those of you that have been hanging around on the forums know me, but I\u2019m mostly a behind-the-scenes member. This weekend, however, Vault and I wandered over to the local Cineplex to see How To Train Your Dragon. I have to admit that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[487,34],"tags":[2585,488,27],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-1di","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8997,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=8997","url_meta":{"origin":4668,"position":0},"title":"ManekochanReview: Night Fury v2","date":"August 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"On a recent outing to Wal-Mart, I was surprised to discover a second wave of How to Train Your Dragon figures. Although this series contained mostly repainted versions of the previous dragons, I was stunned to see a newly sculpted Toothless figure. But would he be better than their last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4677,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4677","url_meta":{"origin":4668,"position":1},"title":"ManekochanReview: Night Fury & Hiccup","date":"April 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm back!! My movie review yesterday was just a prelude, boys and girls, for I have not covered the travesty that is the Wal-Mart Exclusive How To Train Your Dragon line. If you want Toothless underoos, you can buy 'em. A hooded towel? No problem. T-shirts? Backpacks? Viking Helmets? Easter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21828,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21828","url_meta":{"origin":4668,"position":2},"title":"Review Round-Up (October 29th-November 4th)","date":"November 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been a hectic last couple days, but I couldn\u2019t miss Review Round-Up! This week could be called Metalhead week! It\u2019s not all TMNT this week though. There weren\u2019t many comic book toys, but Hobbit figures are getting more love and we\u2019ve always got a healthy chunk of MOTU reviews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21308,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21308","url_meta":{"origin":4668,"position":3},"title":"Vault Review: MOTU Classics Dragon Blaster Skeletor","date":"October 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Masters of the Universe Classics usually does a fantastic job of updating vintage figures with a more modernized look. \u00a0I was particularly excited to see what Dragon Blaster Skeletor\u2019s would look like.\u00a0 Unfortunately I think my expectations were too high. I never had Dragon Blaster Skeletor as a kid, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/dbsk07.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23082,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23082","url_meta":{"origin":4668,"position":4},"title":"Vault Review: TF Prime Beast Hunters Hun-Gurrr","date":"April 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As fate would have it, a couple days after my Twinstrike review I stumbled across another Predacon on a trip to Walmart.\u00a0 So since I'm still having fun with the little guys, the next figure on the way to completing Abominus is Cyberverse Legion Hun-Gurrr. Unfortunately I don\u2019t have any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/hngr10.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22030,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22030","url_meta":{"origin":4668,"position":5},"title":"Review Round-Up (November 12th-25th)","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After a break for Thanksgiving, Review Round-Up is back! And we\u2019ve got a massive list featuring two weeks\u2019 worth of content. This time around we\u2019ve got a ton of Marvel links, plenty of sites getting in on the Star Wars action, and folks actually buying \u201cNew 52\u201d figures from DC\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4668"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4676,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668\/revisions\/4676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}