Last night, Joanna and I went with our friend Amanda to Victoria Gardens, where they offer summer movies in the park. Abby decided to come, too. Though, technically, since it's at a shopping mall, there's no real park. In fact, because of other maintenance, it wasn't even on grass. Nope. We watched a movie on the concrete. However, it was cool that they offered us foam mats to place under our blankets, which were well appreciated. But that's getting away from the movie.
The movie last night was How To Train Your Dragon, an animated film that had the unfortunate luck to go up against Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Film. But as Amanda told us after the movie last night, she felt that it should have won the Oscar and not Toy Story 3 (blasphemy!).
HTTYD, as I saw it referred to (and I can see why, it's a long title), was a good movie. I had read a lot of good things about it when it came out and I still didn't see it. I am glad that I was able to see it now and I have a better appreciation for the movie now. But I still wouldn't give it the Oscar. As I told Amanda, "this movie didn't make me cry like Toy Story 3 did", which is true. There's something about Toy Story 3 that just pulled at every emotion. I'm not saying that HTTYD didn't. In fact, there were several moments that were Kleenex worthy and yet I didn't cry. And yes, I have a heart, so there.
There are also several messages and themes throughout the film, as there are in any sort of movie like this. Not only is the main character, Hiccup, trying to win his father's approval, he is also trying to win the approval of the rest of his tribe. Add on to that his unwillingness to kill dragons and thereby be considered a "real" Viking.
At one point early in the movie, Hiccup is trying to convince his boss (the local blacksmith) that he can be a great dragon hunter (this is after he has caused a lot of destruction in the village). The blacksmith, tells young Hiccup to "Stop trying to be what you're not." Basically, Hiccup wants to be a dragon killer, like his father, and earn his father's respect and the respect of the rest of the village, but at that point in the movie, he's just a clumsy kid that has no potential to be great. It's only with time and learning that Hiccup is able to understand his real place in the village and make changes to their way of thinking, despite the attitude of his father and others. In fact, by trying too hard to be a Viking, Hiccup realizes it's what he's not that is more important to the village and their survival.
The movie plays out like a lot of "coming of age" type stories, though I was a little disappointed that a certain character didn't die because in these types of movie archetypes, a death is what usually pushes the character forward and toward change. The creators of HTTYD managed to do that without an important death and that was very creative.
HTTYD was a good film. I would suggest you rent it or buy it or stream it or whatever you do to view movies nowadays. It has a really good message and does a lot to reinforce the parent trying to accept their child for who they really are, despite attempts at making them what they're not. Plus, it made me want a dragon.
Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment