"How To Train Your Dragon" is more than the story of a boy and his dragon
Posted by Matt Levy at 1:14:00 PMOpinions are a tricky thing. When I first saw the poster for “How To Train Your Dragon,” I was not interested. When I saw the first trailer I was unimpressed. I figured it would be a good rental one day. Then on the SlashFilmcast podcast, I heard them rave about it. I took a Friday off and went to see what all the hype was about. I left the theater in awe of how wrong my opinion had been.
The Viking island of Berk has been around for centuries, but all the buildings are new. Why? That stems from the village biggest problem — dragons. Dragon attacks are commonplace and slaying one is a sign of bravery and honor among the village. Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchal) dreams of slaying a dragon and earning his father’s love. One night during an attack, Hiccup uses a machine he invented to hit a Night Fury, the most elusive of all the dragons. He sets out the next morning to find out if he really hit it or if the dragon escaped. He comes upon the dragon that is trapped in a valley unable to fly out because of its crash landing. He eventually befriends the dragon, which he calls Toothless.
If you have ever had a pet you need to see this movie. I could not help but think of Bunker as I watched the interactions between Hiccup and Toothless. Toothless becomes a pet to Hiccup. Both of them share a friendship that is tested when Toothless is discovered. 
The real star here is the animation, and even the 3D. Especially the flying scenes. Hiccup eventually makes Toothless what amounts to a prosthetic that allows him to fly again. When Hiccup first climbs on Toothless and they take off it is amazing. It is in these scenes where the 3D really shines. It rivaled “Avatar.” They are incredible in 3D and if you see it in 2D, you are missing out on an incredible experience. Not that it makes or breaks the movie like it did with “Avatar.”
What started out as a movie I could not care less about ended up being one of the best movies I have seen all year. The story is not that new, it has been done before plenty of times. It is still an amazing story nonetheless. Where “Kick-Ass” is made for a very specific audience, this is for everyone and everyone should see it.
9/10
Rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language.
98 min
