Silver Screen Selections: How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Studio: DreamWorks Animation
Director: Dean DeBlois
Released: June 13th, 2014
Genre: Animation / Fantasy

Summary:

It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snoutlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

[From Metacritic.]

Review:

As sequel to one of my favorite animated movies, How to Train Your Dragon 2 had some comically oversized shoes to fill. For the most part, it does so with aplomb, continuing the first movie's tradition of seamlessly melding comedy and action with more tender moments, but there are a few snags along the way.

This film is heavier on the action and lighter on the quiet, character-building moments of the first. This is to be expected with most of the important relationships (Toothless and Hiccup, Hiccup and Stoick, Hiccup and Astrid) now firmly established. That's not to say that there aren't such moments. A new character with ties to both Hiccup and Stoick is introduced in the film's second act, and with this introduction comes a number of the movie's best scenes, many joyous, some subdued, all reminiscent of the original How to Train Your Dragon.

Like its predecessor, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is mostly light-hearted and hopeful. There's a lot of comedy, much of it from a hilarious side plot starring Ruffnut, the female half of the twin duo, but the film does have a dab of tragedy. One moment in particular treads darker paths than most western animated films would dare.

Toothless and Hiccup are as adorkable as ever. Hiccup trades witty quips with friends and villains alike while Toothless gambols about, alternating between cute and ferocious as the situation demands. The duo is a little more saccharine than in the first movie, and Hiccup takes his empathy and pacifism to new levels, sometimes to the detriment of his established character. Though Hiccup's penchant for sarcasm remains intact, I sometimes miss his teenage cynicism.

Visually, How to Train Your Dragon 2 sets a high bar for computer animated films. DreamWorks employed groundbreaking new animation software in the development of this movie, and it's evident with every movement and expression. How to Train Your Dragon 2 also employs gorgeous color palettes, even in its more solemn scenes, and the lighting seems both natural and dramatically appropriate.

Even darker scenes show an impressive display of color.

How to Train Your Dragon 2's updated aesthetic does have its victims. A few of the updated character models stray a little too far from the first movie's designs. Astrid, in particular, appears to have had all of her edge sanded away. Though her personality remains mostly the same, a softer, more rounded face and an entirely different eye color separate her two models.

Before and after.

Most of the other characters have aged more naturally. Hiccup, while less gangly and awkward than in his teenage years, retains most of the notable facial features of his original model. Even his freckle placement seems to have survived the transition. The other twenty-somethings are easily recognizable despite a few changed hairstyles and a smattering of facial hair, and Stoick and Gobber remain true to their original models, albeit with more gray streaked through their beards.

Is it just me, or did Astrid and Hiccup trade chins between movies?

How to Train Your Dragon 2's biggest weakness is its slavish devotion to cramming its story within the limits of traditional kids' movie running time. A lot happens in this film, too much for an hour and forty-five minutes to really do it justice. As a result, a well-paced first half gives way to a rushed finale exactly when the movie could benefit most from slowing down. The concluding action sequence does not have quite the same impact as the first movie's battle against the Red Death despite much greater stakes, and a few scenes leading up to the final confrontation jar, with solemn moments followed almost immediately by out-of-place comedy. It's not enough to sour the beautiful first half, but it did leave me wistful for what could have been had the movie been granted an extra twenty minutes.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 may be a bit weaker than its predecessor, but it's still a brilliant, beautiful film that deserves your attention. My advice: go see it in theatres, if only to bask in the big screen glow of its animation.

Weekly Book Review: How to Train Your Dragon

Click to find this book in our catalogue.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Released: May 1, 2004
Genre: Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy

Summary:

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was an awesome sword-fighter, a dragon-whisperer and the greatest Viking Hero who ever lived. But it wasn't always like that.

In fact, in the beginning, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was the most put upon Viking you'd ever seen. Not loud enough to make himself heard at dinner with his father, Stoick the Vast; not hard enough to beat his chief rival, Snotlout, at Bashyball, the number one school sport and CERTAINLY not stupid enough to go into a cave full of dragons to find a pet... It's time for Hiccup to learn how to be a Hero.

[From Cressida Cowell's official website.]

Review:

This first novel in Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon series might take those familiar with the movie by surprise. The novel and its film adaptation share only a few superficial qualities. Yes, the book stars a young Viking named Hiccup who happens to be the village punching bag, he is the son of Stoick the Vast, he's trained by a man named Gobber, and he "befriends" a dragon named Toothless, but aside from these and a few more shared names, the book and its adaptation couldn't be more different. In the movie, Viking society sees dragons as ruthless beasts to be slain for the good of their clan, while the dragons themselves are intelligent and gentle creatures who only fight back to defend themselves. In the book, Vikings have been training dragons for a long, long time. Their dragons differ from the movie's in that they are, for the most part, horrid little beasties, fond of insults and only willing to follow a human's orders out of fear or through some form of bribery.

Toothless in the films.

No character demonstrates the differences between book and movie more than Toothless. As you may have seen in my How to Train Your Dragon movie review, the film version of Toothless is jet black and large enough to be ridden. Toothless is scrappy when he needs to be, but in peaceful times he's a curious and playful companion. Though it takes time and patience for Hiccup to gain Toothless' trust, the dragon seems open to it from the start, and he's extremely protective of his human friend once that trust has been established.

The film's "Terrible Terror" was based on the original Toothless.

Book Toothless, on the other hand, is "extraordinarily small," far too small to fly on. In personality, he's more like a naughty child than an intelligent animal. He's cute, but he's also a bit of a handful, and though his antics can be endearing, for Hiccup, they're quite dangerous. If he can't get his dragon to obey him by the time Final Initiation rolls around, he'll be banished from his tribe. Luckily for readers, Toothless generally sways more toward endearing than annoying, but his whining (this Toothless can speak) grates at times.

Cowell's rendition of Toothless.

For much of How to Train Your Dragon, Toothless is more an obstacle than anything else. The book is more interested in Hiccup's evolution into a Viking Hero than in his relationship with his diminutive dragon. Still, the dragons are fun characters, and their interactions with each other and with their Viking handlers are entertaining.

How to Train Your Dragon the book and How to Train Your Dragon the film are ultimately two different beasts, and it's best to approach each as separate from the other. Both are good on their own merits. The book is lighter fare with lots of action and sprinklings of parody. It's primarily concerned with appealing to children, and I can confidently say that had it been out when I was still part of that age group, I would've read it and its sequels a hundred times over. The movie taps a larger (and older) audience. It's more reserved, though not entirely so, and its humor is more widely spaced. It's a lot less silly, but, again, this is just a symptom of a different audience.

As How to Train Your Dragon is a children's novel, you can expect a quick and simple read. The prose is quite good for its genre, especially in the frame narrative as told by an older and wiser Hiccup. This frame narrative is strangely melancholic in comparison to the boisterous action of the story within, which left me wanting to know what happens between the events of this book and that far off future to so alter its tone. Anyone who's read and enjoyed the first few entries of the Harry Potter series should feel right at home here.

Some of the best parts of the book are its illustrations. One stand-out example is the fictional book How to Train Your Dragon by Professor Yobbish (BA, MA Hons, Cantab. Etc.), reproduced in its entirety. This reproduction includes a cover, a copyright page, a library bar code, an "About the Author" section, the First (and Last) chapter of the book, and the back cover, complete with synopsis, price, and blurbs. It's a great little moment, especially for those of us who've spent a lot of time with academic texts, made even better by the single sentence content of the book itself (shorter even than the summary).

Leave any film-based expectations you might have aside and what you'll find is an enjoyable and often very funny romp through an imaginative world. If it skews too young for you, rest assured that the kids in your life will love its funny, witty antics.

You should also read:

Dealing With Dragons

Silver Screen Selections: How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon
Studio: DreamWorks Animation
Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Released: March 26, 2010
Genre: Animated Fantasy

Summary:

Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell, [this] action comedy tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn't exactly fit in with his tribe's longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup's world is turned upside down when he encounters a dragon that challenges he and his fellow Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view.

[From Metacritic.]

Review:

When I saw the first trailer for How to Train Your Dragon, I dismissed the movie almost at once. Early advertising focused on the humor without hinting at the huge beating heart underneath. Not even the cute scene of Toothless spitting up half a fish to share with Hiccup was enough to change my first impression. At best, I thought it might achieve mediocrity, and it would certainly never be able to compete with rival studio Pixar's offerings.

After a slightly disappointing opening weekend, however, word-of-mouth started pouring in, and the overall consensus surprised me. It was good. Great, even. Now, four years later, it sits at an impressive 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, only a single point below the almost universally acclaimed Toy Story 3, released the same year. How to Train Your Dragon shifted almost immediately from "definitely skip" to "gotta watch."

I'm glad I did. How to Train Your Dragon is not only the best of Dreamworks Animation's offerings, but one of the best animated films of recent years, period.

The movie centers on two primary relationships: that of a boy and his father, and that of a boy and his dog—sorry, dragon.

Defend him from all of those tasty, tasty fish.

It's these relationships that elevate the film from good to great. The budding friendship between Hiccup and Toothless is the highlight of the film. Though largely devoid of dialogue, the scenes leading up to the pair's first synchronized flight say everything they need to about both characters. Hiccup finally gets to utilize his true talents: patience, empathy, observation, and intellect. In doing so, he transforms from dejected village outcast into a self-assured and competent young man. In the meanwhile, Toothless shows off the real face of dragonhood. Far from the brutal killers Viking-kind has made them out to be, dragons are intelligent, inquisitive, and unfailingly loyal to those who show them kindness. While Toothless does bare his retractable teeth on occasion, it's only to defend himself or his newfound best friend.

This friendship's development is beautifully wrought through the aforementioned dialogue-lite scenes in combination with a masterful score courtesy of composer John Powell. I'd be hard-pressed to name a single weak track in the movie's score, though picking out the strongest ("Test Drive" and "Forbidden Friendship") is easy. The music moves easily between the booming cadence of its Viking scenes and the whimsy of our man-and-beast duo.

In the film's secondary relationship, Hiccup struggles to impress his father, Stoick the Vast. Stoick is chieftain of their Viking tribe, a mountain of a man who, within minutes of the film's opening monologue, wins a fistfight with a dragon.

Stoick is the ideal Viking, a massive, bearded warrior more than capable of protecting the village from the dragons that threaten it. Hiccup is his direct opposite: small and weedy, too weak to wield a weapon any bigger than his knife. Stoick may love his son, but he's clearly disappointed that his heir turned out to be nothing like himself. That the village itself seems to tolerate Hiccup as little more than a nuisance to be babysat lest he end up on fire or in a dragon's belly probably doesn't help matters. Hiccup is desperate to prove himself a real Viking and earn his father's—and the villagers'—respect, and many of his actions center on that goal. As for Stoick, though he is stern and sometimes harsh, it's clear that what he really wants is a way to connect with his son. The movie could have painted him as a villain. Instead, with the help of some subtle animation cues and a great performance via Gerard Butler, Stoick comes off as a concerned parent who wants to prepare his son for what he knows to be a dangerous and often deadly world.

Other characters in How to Train Your Dragon's colorful cast include Gobber the Belch, Stoick's best friend and Hiccup's secondary caretaker, Astrid, a tough, no-nonsense dragon-killing prodigy, and an assortment of Viking teens who serve mostly as comic relief. Though only Astrid achieves any significant development, the other named characters are responsible for some of the movie's funniest scenes, and their individual quirks make them extremely likeable.

From left to right: Snotlout, Astrid, Fishlegs, Hiccup, Ruffnut, Tuffnut.

How to Train Your Dragon's animation is some of the most timeless in its genre. Each character is awash with tiny details, from Toothless' barely visible stripes to the scar on Hiccup's chin. These details stand out in opposition to many other animated features, where characters' textures are often Barbie-doll smooth.

Freckle-faced and scarred.

The highlight of the animation is, of course, Toothless. His mannerisms, inspired by such varied animals as dogs, cats, lizards, birds, and insects, combine to make a creature who is totally unique. He is also extremely expressive, moreso even than most of the human characters, thanks to his axolotl-like ears and large green eyes.

I'd be remiss if I failed to mention Hiccup and Toothless' flight scenes, some of the most delicious eye-candy in animation. A lot of research went into these scenes, and it shows. Seeing these in 3-D was worth the price of a ticket (despite the ensuing 3-D headache).

No matter your age, How to Train Your Dragon deserves a watch. Click here to find it on DVD or Blu-Ray in the library catalogue.

Part 1 of a series of How to Train Your Dragon posts. Stay tuned for Part 2, our review of the book that started it all.

Weekly Book Review: Saga Volume 1

Click to find this book in our catalogue.

Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn
Illustrated by Fiona Stables
Released: March 2012
Genre: Graphic Novel/Science Fiction/Fantasy

Summary:

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.

From New York Times bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) and critically acclaimed artist Fiona Staples (Mystery Society, North 40), Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.

[From Goodreads.]

Review:

Saga is at once beautiful, touching, funny, dark, and absolutely, totally, 100% insane. From TV-headed robots to cheeky teenage ghosts, Saga walks a thin line between science-fiction and fantasy, but it does so with such confidence that all resulting weirdness seems entirely appropriate for both setting and story. This isn't the sort of story that offers up its oddities with an abundance of exposition meant to make them seem realistic, and it doesn't have to be. It's all totally in line with the story being told.

Some of the book's best moments come from the little interactions between Alana and Marko, the star-crossed lovers who serve as the story's leads. The duo talk and fight like a real couple, though their spats come with a good deal more wit and charm than most real couples could muster. They may be members of two warring alien species that bare suspicious resemblance to mythological creatures (Alana a faerie, Marko a satyr minus the cloven hooves), but their relationship is surprisingly down-to-earth. Most other characters aren't given enough page space to truly shine, at least not yet, but the lives they tease seem worth looking forward to.

Be warned: all isn't humor and charm with Saga. This is an adult series with some very adult themes. It approaches a few dark topics (see: events on a planet called Sextillion), and its action scenes are awash with blood. Sexual content is everywhere (Again, there is a planet called Sextillion. Rest assured that its name has nothing to do with 10²¹.), and it's often just as graphic as its genre would suggest.

Saga barrels along at breakneck speed with nary a pause to catch its breath. Every moment of safety is shortly broken by some unexpected development that sends our protagonists fleeing to the next. While it can get exhausting, the chaos establishes the book's hectic tone to great effect.

A highlight of the series is Fiona Staples' art. Dynamic when need-be and always beautiful, every panel represents its story well. The beautiful cover drew me in, but it was her talent in combination with Brian K. Vaughn's that kept me reading.
My biggest complaint is that this volume was over far too soon. I've already ordered the next two, and barring some unexpected disappointment, I'll eagerly await Volume 4's publication.

You should also read:

Y: The Last Man
Volume 1

Weekly Book Review: Parable of the Sower

Click to find this book in our catalogue.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Released: 1993
Genre: Science Fiction

Summary:

When unattended environmental and economic crises lead to social chaos, not even gated communities are safe. In a night of fire and death Lauren Olamina, a minister's young daughter, loses her family and home and ventures out into the unprotected American landscape. But what begins as a flight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny... and the birth of a new faith.

[From Goodreads.]

Review:

This is a brutal novel, but not without hope. Survival seems possible even amidst the echo of gunshots and glint of knives, largely due to its protagonist, Lauren, an intelligent teenage girl with a no-nonsense approach to the outside world. While others are sticking their heads in the sand, Lauren prepares for the inevitable destruction of her home town safehold in whatever ways she can. Her methods don't always work out, but she approaches survival with such intelligence and foresight that a good ending always seems possible.

Parable of the Sower takes its time in moving beyond the walls of Lauren's home town. This allows the novel to fully explore both life inside of walled communities and life outside of them. That the outside is able to reach greater magnitudes of misery than Lauren's almost post-apocalyptic home base emphasizes how dire the world's situation has become. This emphasis heightens tension and adds to the bleak tone of the latter half of the novel.

The diary style of the novel gives events a sense of urgency while simultaneously allowing Lauren time to stop and think about all that's happened. It also allows the story to bypass filler in favor of more interesting events, though it doesn't always do so successfully. As much of Lauren's characterization involves secrets unknown to all but a few, access to her thoughts is integral. As for the other characters, we know only as much as Lauren does. Many stories are cut short by the dangers that her growing band of travelers faces, and character arcs are in short supply.

There are a few problems with the novel. Lauren's competence in the face of things she's never experienced before leaving the safety of her walls can be a little unbelievable given her youth and inexperience, and her hyper-empathy seems as though it was meant to be a larger theme than it ended up being. Like many novels with long scenes of travel, things drag a bit after Lauren leaves the confines of her previously walled community. The idea that the outside is brutal, that most people have been driven to extreme cruelty through desperation, that there are a few, a very few, who are still trustworthy, is reiterated over and over again through a variety of means, including attacks, backstory, attempted thefts, and arson. It never quite gets tiresome, however, as the novel's exploration of its alternate future was intriguing enough to keep me reading.

While not necessarily an enjoyable read, Butler's novel is a good one. Its problems never outweigh its strengths, and Butler's clear mastery of world-building shines through in every gritty detail. While not technically post-apocalyptic, fans of that genre will probably appreciate this grave vision of our country's future.

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The Handmaid's Tale

Silver Screen Selections: X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Director: Bryan Singer
Released: May 23, 2014
Genre: Action / Superhero

Summary:

The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from X-Men: First Class in an epic battle that must change the past - to save our future.

[From Metacritic.]

Review:

Days of Future Past picks up from where both X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class left off. It begins in the far future, where robotic monstrosities known as Sentinels have driven mutants to near extinction, but quickly transitions to a past timeline taking place a few years after the events of First Class. Both timelines share characters but, aside from Wolverine, not actors. Though Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stuart are both just as wonderful as ever, it's the younger versions of their characters, played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, along with Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique, that carry the movie's emotional weight. Fassbender is perhaps a little underutilized, and the decisions he makes over the course of the movie aren't always as sensible as you'd expect for someone who will eventually age into Sir Ian McKellan, but he performs his scenes with appropriate gravitas and intensity.

The future's best offerings are a number of group fight scenes between the surviving mutants and the sentinels. These are, in my opinion, some of the best group fights put to screen. The mutants synchronize their powers beautifully, and a special shout goes out to Blink, played by Fan Bingbing, whose portal-throwing escapades are the star of the show.

The past timeline is lighter on the action, but it does have the best scene in the entire movie courtesy of Evan Peters' Quicksilver. I won't give anything away, but this particular scene is so much fun I'm tempted to rewatch the movie just to see it again.

The most disappointing thing about this movie is that it doesn't use Kitty Pryde, played by Ellen Page, as its time traveler, as was the case in the original comic book storyline. I can see why they didn't, Wolverine being one of the bigger draws to the X-Men movies, but it would've been nice to have at least one more lady, and a leading lady at that, in the male-dominated past timeline. As it is, Kitty ends up being more plot element than character. Still, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Wolverine, I can't help but like Hugh Jackman's portrayal. He brings a levity to Logan's bubs and snikts that makes him more palatable than many other interpretations of the character.

As in every time travel movie, X-Men: Days of Future Past is riddled with temporal inconsistencies that run the risk of driving more nitpicky viewers mad. Many of these didn't occur to me until after I'd left the theater, however, and none of them were bothersome enough to damage my opinion of the film.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a highly entertaining film, probably one of the best in the superhero genre. It has less laughs than The Avengers but a much more solid overall plot. Best of all, it retcons the horrid X-Men: The Last Stand out of existence and gives the series plenty of room to grow. Well worth a trip to the theater if you can make it and a future rent if you can't.

Weekly Book Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Click to find this book in our catalogue.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Released: February 21, 2012
Genre: Young Adult

Summary:

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

[From Goodreads.]

Review:

I'm starting to appreciate all these YA books that keep parents in the picture. I was weened on fairy tales, fantasy, and sci-fi, genres which tend to dispose of parents, sometimes with great fanfare, sometimes by dumping them into the ocean roughly fifteen minutes into the movie.

You were just too inconvenient, parents.

Reasons for this vary, but the most ubiquitous is probably that parents tend to get in the way of a teen hero/ine's dangerous exploits.

How dare they love and care about their children.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe takes it a step further by letting the camera linger on both boys' parents every once in a while, cementing them as real people with real feelings rather than human-shaped obstacles to be overcome. While the emotional rollercoaster that is Aristotle and Dante is the novel's thesis, their relationships with their parents—Aristotle's, especially—are major plot points.

The novel is told in a short, clipped style, heavy in dialogue and first person introspection. Thoughts and discussion take heavy precedence over any sort of action, and while I like the steady, quiet tone this lends the novel, others might lack the patience for it.

The middle section of the novel dragged a little, as it kept revisiting the same problems—Dante's malaise, his longing for some contact, even indirect contact, with his estranged, imprisoned elder brother—without offering much in the way of resolution or forward momentum. It's still compelling, largely because those problems are compelling, but at times I wished Aristotle could move on a little quicker.

Overall, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe is a sweet, quiet book about love. It acknowledges that love comes in many different flavors, all of them somehow both delectable and hard to swallow. Those tired of quirky white teens will find Dante and Aristotle a nice change of pace, as will those interested in LGBT relationships.

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Personal Effects

Giveaway Deadline Extended!

We're extending the deadline of the Lit Writ's first giveaway by an extra two weeks! Submit a sentence or two about your favorite book to writebelco@gmail.com to win one of four books.

See our giveaway page for more information.