The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Book of Dragons
Fantasy · Animation · Action · 2011
So you want to be a dragon trainer do you? Prepare yourself for adventure, excitement and training as Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Gobber tell the legend behind the Book of Dragons and reveal insider training secrets about new, never-before-seen dragons.
Movie details
Book of Dragons
“All New Dragons”
2011 Fantasy · Animation · Action 18m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
So you want to be a dragon trainer do you? Prepare yourself for adventure, excitement and training as Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Gobber tell the legend behind the Book of Dragons and reveal insider training secrets about new, never-before-seen dragons.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Book of Dragons?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Welcome to Smelliville
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The Oggly family arrive at the municipal rubbish dump of Smelliville and must look for a new home, but they never feel really welcome anywhere. They stink and are for most humans just a tad too oggly. When Firebottom, the family dragon, crash-lands on the run-down rubbish tip of the small town of Smelliville, the Ogglies at once feel at home. And it's here they want to stay.
Zog
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Zog is a keen young dragon who wants to learn to fly, roar, and breathe fire, so he studies at the Dragon School. He is desperate to impress his teacher and win a golden star, but he is prone to accidents and he has to be helped by a kind young girl who patches up his bumps and bruises.
The Willoughbys
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When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.
My Father's Dragon
Animation · 2022
Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime.
Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon
Animation · 2010
Hiccup and friends accompany their mentor, Gobber, on a quest to kill the legendary Boneknapper Dragon.
Dragon Rider
Animation · 2020
An unlikely trio of heroes – a dragon, a boy and a forest brownie – embark on an epic adventure to find the “Rim of Heaven” - the mythological safe haven for all dragons.
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Fantasy · 2014
Five years after uniting the dragons and Vikings of Berk, Hiccup and Toothless soar beyond their homeland, charting the vast unknown. During one of their adventures, the pair discover a secret cave that houses hundreds of wild dragons -- and a mysterious dragon rider with a startling connection to Hiccup. And as the ruthless dragon conqueror Drago Bludvist rises to seize control of both dragons and people alike, Hiccup must step into his role as a true leader and, alongside his friends and Toothless, protect Berk from a devastating war.
Raya and the Last Dragon
Animation · 2021
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Steve Hickner
Written by
Steve Hickner · Bart Coughlin · Joshua Pruett
Jay Baruchel
Hiccup (voice)
Craig Ferguson
Gobber (voice)
America Ferrera
Astrid (voice)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Fishlegs (voice)
Jim Cummings
Bork (voice)
Tress MacNeille
Bork's Wife (voice)
Court is in session
Put Book of Dragons on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.