Dreamworks hit and miss animation output continues with a ...massive hit!

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2011)

Hiccup is a young viking unlike any previous portrayal of a viking, being weak, scrawny, intelligent and strategic rather than all brains and muscle. In his village however this is unappreciated as what they need are strong, beefy men to fend off the nightly attack of the local dragons. However during the last attack Hiccup believes he has killed the most dangerous dragon of all, the mysterious night-fury, and upon searching the forest, Hiccup does indeed find the downed beast. Although he knows he should kill the dragon which is what he is trained to do, Hiccup releases the beast, and over time, due to circumstances I won't go into here an unlikely bond develops between man and dragon. Hiccup eventually uses this knowledge to overcome other Dragons as his father (Stoic) enrols him into Dragon killing class, but will the knowledge be enough to finally gain his father's respect and save his village?
Dreamworks animation has over the years provided us with much in the way of animated comedies and it is an area they usually excel in, from Shrek to Madagascar and the most recent of comedic hits, Kung Fu Panda, the studio shines in their ability to tap into today's post- modern thinking, but the two things their films may have lacked before now is, perhaps, a genuine sense of fear for the characters, something that the best Pixar films always have, and ...heart; the ability to tap into that part of us that puts us firmly into the characters plight on screen.
This is the first Dreamworks film that succeeds were others have failed. It is always a good sign when a films box office performance increases due to extremely positive word of mouth. The only other film I can think of that has done this is the Farrelly's "There's something about Mary". The story of Hiccup and toothless is charming, scary in parts, but very endearing and the animation is not as overtly stylized and, well, not quite as good as Pixar-esquire, as previous outings have been. The voice work is very good by the four leads, Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson and America Ferreira, and the main threat, when it is ultimately revealed, is one that is genuinely frightening. There are few things better in cinema than that feeling of "How the hell is the hero gonna beat that?"
The direction and writing are decent enough but this is one of those films were the sum of the parts are actually far more than the the individual pieces combined. But perhaps the best thing about this film is, well without giving anything away, it's the fact that we don't get a complete pat happy ending. The final reveal of the horror of war and battle is almost unbelievable in a family film and I was completely shocked that a major studio had the guts to do something like this in a big budget movie and we should all doff are hats to them for such a bold move.
Congratulations Deamworks animation. You've come of age.