How to Train Your Dragon
Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Writer: William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Based on: Cressida Cowell‘s books
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
[Here’s my first review.]

Plot:
A Viking village. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is the son of the Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler) and dreams about slaying dragons like all the rest. Unfortunately for all the rest, Hiccup has a knack for building machinery and is incredibly clumsy. One day, Hiccup manages to actually down a dragon – and one of the infamous Night Furies. But nobody believes him, so he sets out to find and kill it. But when he does find it, he is not able to hurt the creature. Instead the two of them slowly strike up a friendship.

I knew that I liked How to Train Your Dragon when I first saw it but I had forgotten how positively wonderful it was. Even on second watch, it made me cry. And laugh, of course. And seriously crave a Toothless of my own.

What I seem to have forgotten most of all was the great job Jay Baruchel does as Hiccup. Maybe because usually when I see Jay Baruchel, it’s in crap films. But he really is wonderful here, warm and funny. Plus, I do like his voice in general. (Though it is still weird that half the town talks Scottish English and the other half American English.)

I had not forgotten Toothless’ adorableness (how could you forget that?). But I was hit by it again completely. He just stole my heart all over again.

Watching it at home, on a rather small screen, the visuals weren’t quite as stunning (unsurprisingly) but that just made me concentrate a little more on the rest of the film. And the rest deserves attention, too. The sweet story, the humor, the variety of dragons.

But mostly I think it’s amazing that we get a hero who gets permanently injured and for whom his loss of limb is barely a disability at all. Instead it’s another occasion to be inventive and creative. That’s pretty nice to see for a change.

Summarizing: I might have liked it even better the second time around.