Friday, June 13, 2014
But but, there is so much to talk about. Hiccup's lack of compatibility with his father was the first thing that was introduced in the first movie (if i'm not mistaken) and it has been an ongoing problem since then. The dragons is a theme, it represents Hiccup's passion, but shed all that and you are left with a guy that doesn't see eye to eye with his father and I personally think that's the whole point of the story. He is forced upon with the ideals of a viking and it suffocates him because he doesn't fit in.
But stoick(the father) is not the antagonist. Never was and never will be. We know he wants the best for his son, we know he's protective over him since he lost his wife to a dragon but he is a side character that was unlikely of any further development.
(sort of spoilers alert)
But then Val(the mother) came in the frame, and the whole plot changes its turn. Did you see both their faces when they met for the first time in 20 years? Val seemed like she had waited this confrontation her whole life, looks like she practiced what to say to him with her dragon, dwelling on Stoick's reaction, picturing how the scene would go over and over again. And then you have Stoick who was always realistic and never thought dreams were even possible, staring at her, not saying a word while she went through her speech.
Did you see how gentle he caressed her cheek? As if he's afraid that she's not real and any sudden movements would make her disappear. Did you see how Val started tearing up when she realized that Stoick wasn't mad. She was prepared for everything but it seems she was not prepared for this. Hoped, but not expected. Did you see Stoick's reaction when Val was startled at him putting his hands on her shoulder claiming she's not used to human company, he intertwined their fingers oh my god I lost it at that point. Stoick holds her like he's holding something fragile and precious and he's so gentle and careful and it's a side of Stoick that was never revealed before. Even Hiccup was awestruck looking at them, and he had a new perception towards his father, as well as his father's perception towards him. He just really really loves his family. He would literally do anything to protect them.
I think the reason Stoick always disagreed with Hiccup was because he reminded him too much of Val. Stubborn, always wanting peace and trying to convince others to do so. She did that, couldn't even kill a dragon and ended up being eaten by one, and Stoick came to believe that Val was wrong all along, if she only listened to him, she would still be alive, and if Hiccup continued disagreeing with him, he would die too. He might change Stoick's mind on dragons, but Stoick has more experience dealing with leaders and maniacs that he knows he's right on some important life and death issues.
And that's the thing, Hiccup believes in peace and negotiation, and Stoick can sense a war just by hearing Drago's name. The whole story revolves around them disagreeing and firmly believing in each others' opinion. Halfway through Hiccup's plan something goes terribly wrong, and even he himself starts to doubt his beliefs, and that's a very important point. When you argue with someone, both can be wrong and both can be right and still the problems isn't solved.
It's unclear whether Hiccup's peace policy was the right choice over Stoick's evacuation plan and were their victory worth their losts. But it was right of the creators to emphasize that for every wrong turn in life, there are always consequences.
tl;dr I like this movie. A lot. Liked the second better than the first. Stoick made me swoon with his viking ways. 8.7/10
Labels: how to train your dragon, movies, review