Who knew that a story involving characters with ridiculous names like Toothless and Hiccup could make such a great movie? Yes, I'm talking about the latest Dreamworks movie: How To Train Your Dragon. It really has all the formulae to make a great movie. It's cliche, predictable and audience-friendly. It has clean and harmless romance, it talks about friendship and family values-- specifically the most fragile of all family relationship, that between father and son. (Whoa, oversharing much?) Nevertheless, even though after only ten minutes you could already expect all the twists and turns in the story line (and yes, I did, especially since it was alarmingly similar to Avatar *cough cough*), the movie was enjoyable still.
Perhaps it's the fatigue of a long day spent performing in front of motley crowd of strangers, who thankfully were appreciative of our effort, that makes the movie especially relaxing. You know, when you watch a movie, especially brainless ones like this animation movie, they sort of do the thinking for you. So what you need to do is to relish those small, digestible bits that they throw at you as the story develops. Or perhaps it's the amazing predictability of the plot that turns the whole experience into a guessing game. Guess what happens next? AH HUH! I knew it! Or perhaps the movie provides a mode of escape from reality, an experience where we are whisked into this world of dragons and vikings. We are given the kind assurance that no matter how shitty and complicated things may turn around, everything is gonna be back to normal and a happy ending is a must-have and a will-be.
Actually, the last proposition is unlikely considering the uncanny resemblance the movie has with reality. Well, not everything and every character are the same as reality, we don't have a pet dragons that take us high up into the galaxies. But there were several things which, against my better judgment, I involuntarily picked up which sort of ruined my fantastical journey into the land of the vikings. It was rather distracting-- it caused some jarring effects which made the supposed-to-be seamless and fluid enjoyment of the movie less than satisfactory. LOL. I'm sorry I'm speaking in cryptic. If it appears as if I'm beating around the bush, running around in circle like a headless chicken and maneuvering around, selecting my words carefully so that I manage to put my point at some level of generality that makes it rather difficult to figure out and grasp-- and thus the ambiguity creates the impression that this point applies to every single issue that there exists in the world-- in addition to this complex and unending sentence that follows, well, that's because I am. LOL.
Anyhoo, the ending of the movie is particularly delicious. I was sorta hoping that the main character, Hiccup, would die so that this meant-for-children movie would not be your typical mean-for-children movie. But it didn't happen, instead (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE MOVIE AND INTEND TO DO SO, CLOSE THIS PAGE NOW!) he lost his left foot, which made him exactly like his pet dragon, Toothless, who had been handicapped in the very beginning of the movie when he lost his left tail wing. Now, the foot pedal thing which he uses to control Toothless when he rides him is linked to his iron foot (think pirates!), which is soober cool because it kinda reflects the strengthened bond between them. Last time it was like a left human foot on a metal pedal, now it's like an iron foot on a metal pedal, perfect match. You get the imagery? Isn't it just scintillatingly poignant? LOL.
Ok, now I need to do my blocking! :( Expresses fatigue and unwillingness. Rolls eyes. Expects hours of twitching in own seat and listening to the same song over and over and over again. Commits painless suicide.
P.S. Happy birthday! LOL.
