How To Train Your Dragon! My favorite movie of all time...why? Entry 5

After those last three slightly deeper, more heart felt reasons why I love the movie, I am going to shift gears for a moment and discuss the style of the movie and the story. This is much less of an issue, but if the movie did not have the beautiful style it would not have been able to convey the its amazing message or display its wonderful characters that I have grown to love so much (see last three entries)! So the way HTTYD was made and how the movie works and feels is important, and I am going to go into what things about it that I feel grabbed me the most.

One of the most amazing things about the HTTYD style is that it is filmed to be like a live action movie! There are not many animated features that have achieved this goal, and those that I can think of do not pull it off quite as well as HTTYD. I loved the excitement and action of the film. The filming and story style really does give the movie a realistic sense of peril. Lots of cgi animated movies don't have this. You feel the characters are practically indestructible. If a tree falls on the guys head he will just get knocked out for a moment. If the comic relief gets struck by lightning he will just looked charred and give a goofy cough. Nothing like this happens in HTTYD! When Meatlug pins Hiccup and prepares to shoot him, you fully believe that Hiccup could have died! When Toothless prepares to finish Stoick, your heart starts wrenching as you realize that Toothless might kill the one person Hiccup loves the most. It is a very serious feel, but it is a good thing! Hiccup's role in the movie was dangerous physically and emotionally. It gives the movie this deep lasting presence. I trust the second movie will continue to carry this feel because it really does make the movie amazing! The action and danger of the film is yet another reason that I am UNASHAMED to call it my favorite movie of all time.

Now...hold on a second. Why not just watch an actual action movie? Would that not be much cooler than an animated movie? Well...NO! I think animated movies hold many advantages, but I will deal with the beauty of the graphics in this film some time later. Another thing is that action movies are so often filthy. I have a pretty strict moral conscience, and I do not intend to go filling my mind with the filth that gets shoved into movies that are aimed at teens. Why as a teen or young adult am I expected to enjoy foul language and scenes between guys and girls that are highly inappropriate? NO, no, no, no! Even thinking about how sinful some of that stuff is sickens me. There are bright spots (Thank you SO MUCH J.R.R. Tolkien!!), but as a whole most action movies today are not clean enough for my taste. That was yet another thing great about HTTYD! It had the action, adventure, stress, emotion, and peril of a really amazing action film while keeping the beauty and innocence of an animated movie.

Finally, the foot. That was so unexpected! Everyone has to have a scene in the movie where you think the main character has died, but none of them do. This was different! This shocked me! I suddenly realized how mature this movie was. Can you go around, risk everything for what you believe is right, change the world, and then expect to come out unscathed? Hiccup was willing to sacrifice everything and he was so admirable in that way. The missing foot is a reminder of that. He put his life on the line and changed the world, but he did have to pay a price. People think you can do great things without any difficulties, but they are often proved wrong. Hiccup counted the cost, he was willing to try, and he did change the world. Now both he and Toothless have lost so much, but they have gained much, MUCH more! They have each other, and they have made their world into a much better place! That is yet another reason why I love this movie so deeply. It is so mature in what it shows about life, and both children and adults enjoy watching these truths be displayed in the lives of Hiccup and Toothless