Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
It’s been 1,300 years since the events of How to Train Your Dragon—but while Hiccup and Toothless may be long gone, dragons are still around, just hiding from the modern world. Dragons: The Nine Realms takes the boy-bonds-with-mythical-beast premise of its predecessor and brings it to the 21st century, as a group of teens discover the secret world just beneath their own and embark on an adventure to protect it.
Tom Kullerson might be the son of a brilliant scientist, but he tends to gravitate a little bit more towards his Viking ancestry. There’s no cliff too high for him to jump from (literally and figuratively) and no thrill too dangerous for him to chase. His recklessness may get him in a lot of trouble, particularly with his long-suffering mother Olivia, but it’s also what leads him to discover the mystical dragon realm. Along with his friends Jun, Alex and D’Angelo, Tom sets out to learn more about this secret world while protecting it from a variety of threats—including those coming from the surface.
How to Train Your Dragon stole the hearts of kids and adults alike with its charming, tear-jerking story about two outcasts finding purpose through their relationship. Dragons: The Nine Realms may not have the same captivating spirit that drove the film, but it comes with enough action and dragons with exciting powers to keep younger viewers engrossed.
However, a few content issues weigh down this high-flying adventure.
One of Tom’s friends, Alex, has two mothers in an explicitly lesbian relationship, and Jun uses tarot cards that she claims can show her the future. While she denies that they’re in any way magical, she tells Tom that his actions have been “fated,” and that she has seen them “written in the stars.” Jun also believes in crystals having powers, and we see her convince Tom to take one with him into battle to “absorb negative energy.” Some high-stakes situations of peril in a similar vein to the original film might also frighten younger viewers.
Watching Dragons: The Nine Realms often feels like Hiccup tentatively reaching out to touch Toothless only for the dragon to retreat at the last second. It comes so, so close to providing a clean, exciting fantasy adventure to inspire younger imaginations, but a few brief yet glaring issues prevent it from fully taking flight.
After a failed fight against the snake-like dragon Jörmungandr, Tom seeks to use an ancient magical staff—the very same one Hiccup once used to defeat the beast.
The kids and their dragons are smacked to the ground by Jörmungandr, and the dragons are injured by the beast’s toxic breath. One dragon is pinned under Jörmungandr before the beast is shocked by a dragon’s lightning attack.
Tom tells the others that he’d like to try to use the staff to hypnotize Jörmungandr, and a couple of the others back up his theory. “Hypnosis is real,” one says, while another alleges that some crystals have hypnotic qualities.
“Here comes Jun with her hippie crystals again,” one boy says.
Indeed, Jun later gives Tom a piece of hematite, alleging that it can “absorb any negative energies around you.” She also asks Tom if his “energy” is right when he tries to use the staff.
In the season four premiere, the Dragon Riders (Tom, Alex, D’Angelo, Jun and her brother Eugene) discover a new dragon realm, as well as a mysterious hiker with a secret grudge against Tom’s dragon, Thunder.
More scenes of danger and peril appear in the newest season. Buzzsaw, a stranger in the Ice Realm who introduces himself as “Keith,” wields a small tomahawk that he uses to attack Thunder, even threatening to cut off his head. He traps the dragon in a net and pretends that his leg is broken so Tom, Jun and Alex don’t discover his true intentions.
A few immature references are made; Eugene complains that he has to urinate, and D’Angelo and Jun tell him to “hold it.” A joke is also made about throwing “bomb loogies.”
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Lauren Cook is serving as a 2021 summer intern for the Parenting and Youth department at Focus on the Family. She is studying film and screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. You can get her talking for hours about anything from Star Wars to her family to how Inception was the best movie of the 2010s. But more than anything, she’s passionate about showing how every form of art in some way reflects the Gospel. Coffee is a close second.
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
An elf mage contemplates on connection and regret as she watches her human friends grow old and pass away.
