The Undeclared Variable

In the past couple of years there has been a surge in 3D (stereoscopic) movies. Many times it seems that directors simply try to add what is missing to a film by making it 3D. I have seen way too many movies in 3D that could have been easily enjoyed just the same in 2D. Even Alice in Wonderland failed to really justify the extra ticket price. Avatar wasn't bad in 3D but the story still seemed a little on the weak side. Until today the only movie that seemed to be worth the extra ticket price to see in 3D was Pixar's Up.

How to Train Your Dragon is the first movie since Up that used 3D to enhance what is already a solid story, character development, animation, and rendering! This movie really does kick ass in every department. The design and camera work is truly complimented by the 3D, especially the flight sequences. I can't say enough good things about this movie, but I will try and say a few more.

The volume rendering (fire, smoke, clouds) was spectacular and certainly made me envious. Normally CG fire makes me a little sick and even though the fire effects weren't exactly realistic it still fit into the overall look. Texturing was spot on making the weapons and equipment all felt a little bit dirty and used. Character design worked well with the actual character animation as well.

I was happy to see that even the voice of Gerard Butler (who I am getting a little bored of) was a great choice for Stoick, who is the father of the main character; Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel). Both Butler and Baruchel both have other movies playing today that don't seem to be doing as well so I have to admit that going in there was some doubts but within 15 minutes all my worries were gone. The overall combination of voice talent really does work with the on screen characters.

Maybe it is the recession tightening its grip on the film industry, or maybe Hollywood is starting to come to its senses. Either way I am grateful that movies are starting to fit into a reasonable time frame which means when I walk out of the theater I don't need to stand out by my car for 15 minutes stretching my legs while waiting for my ass to wake up. How to Train Your Dragon is a comfortable 98 minutes. In fact none of the movies at my local theater are over 2 hours:

• How to Train Your Dragon: 98 min
• Repo Men: 111 min
• The Bounty Hunter: 106 min
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 91 min
• Green Zone: 115 min
• She's Out of My League: 105 min
• Alice in Wonderland: 109 min

How to Train Your Dragon is worth the time and the price. Even in this recession (and my inability to find work) I would seriously consider going to see it again. It feels great to walk out of a good movie, it feels even better to walk about of a movie that has its visuals enhanced by 3D to compliment the story (rather than make up for it). I tried hard in this review to avoid any spoilers because I really do want people to go see this movie because I can truly say that this is my favorite Dreamworks release to date.

Official Site
IMDB
Review at Rotten Tomatoes

- Ed

PS. Congrats to my chap, Chris Armsden, who was a lighting TD. This movie is certainly something to be proud of (despite all the crap I may give you about everything else).