If you have a pet, go see this movie. If you like animals, go see this movie. If you like boy-Vikings who don't fit in and have a best friend who is a dragon, then definitely, without a doubt, go see this movie. Dreamwork's How To Train Your Dragon 3-D is one of the most touching, and fun animated films I've seen in a long while.
I'll admit, the movie starts out a little slow, taking awhile to introduce our lead protagonist, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel). At first, Hiccup wants nothing more than to kill dragons. Unfortunately, he's on the scrawnier side of things and always makes more of a mess of the village than the actual dragon attacks. Needless to say, the other Vikings, including his dad, never want him around and can't take him seriously.
It takes at least 20 minutes, it seems, before any "˜training' begins. But once it does, it's worth the wait. Hiccup meets his dragon, who he names Toothless, and thus ignites our story.
Funny lines, intriguing situations and the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless all successfully carry the movie. It helped, too, that all of the dragons were fantastically envisioned. From those with two heads, to those with little wings but a big bite, the creative team behind these animals definitely didn't cut corners. It was fun watching them interact with the Vikings and wreak havoc on the village, all in the advanced scope of 3-D.
The other Viking characters (voiced by Gerald Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, America Ferrera, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) were clever enough, although they didn't seem as developed as they could have been. There were also a few question marks that I noticed, like inconsistency of accents, little chemistry between Hiccup and his love-interest, and one or two story development flaws. These things didn't matter, though, as most of the time it was Hiccup and Toothless we were eagerly watching.
Overall, How To Train Your Dragon 3-D produced a truly imaginative and endearing story about Vikings, dragons, and finding out where you fit in between the two.
