A surprisingly amazing film for all ages to see.

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2010)

Dreamwork's How To Train Your Dragon is the story of a viking boy named Hiccup. Hiccup is not the typical viking however, as he is as skinny as a toothpick and by all means a nerd, if it were possible to have nerds back then anyway. Hiccup is born into a world where you are born and raised to fight, and kill dragons. But something about this doesn't seem quite right to him, so instead going down the path to become a mighty warrior Hiccup becomes the blacksmith's apprentice. This is a perfect fit for him, as he can tinker and invent new objects.
Hiccup sets out to prove his worth by capturing the rarest and most dangerous dragon called the Night Fury, which is the B-2 stealth bombers of dragons. Hiccup does just that and uses a net to capture the dragon. The dragon flies off and Hiccup must wait until morning to go out and find it. Once he comes across it he thinks about killing it, to seek the townsfolk and even his fathers approval. But alas, killing is just not in the blood of Hiccup, and he frees the dragon.
The dragon tries very hard to fly away yet is missing a piece of his back wing, therefore losing all stability in air and falling on his face every time. Hiccup eventually names the dragon Toothless, builds a prosthetic wing for him and away the dragon goes, with Hiccup riding shotgun.
The animation styling of the movie is excellent. The movie is from the same team that brought us Lilo and Stitch, and you can tell they really put a lot of love into this movie. From the landscapes to the various camera angles, everything was done to give an epic and open feel to the world. The dragons look amazing and it was nice to see a variety of them rather than just one breed. For instance there is a two headed dragon called the Zippleback where one head breathes the gas while the other shoots a spark out to light the flame. But where this movie really shines is in it's ability to bring personality to every creature and viking in the story. The dragons in particular are brilliantly animated, which has to be some feat. I fell in love with the Night Fury and wanted to take him home with me. The story line is original and heartfelt, and I feel that both parents and children will really enjoy this movie.
The 3D in this movie was done very well. It had a very organic feel to it. Even though the film may be animated, the camera shots made you feel like you were peering through a window to an unknown world, and watching the ride. One of my favorite 3D moments was Hiccup flying around on the dragon and into the dragon's lair. There were hundreds if not thousands of dragons flying around almost like bats in a cave, and it looked great. Another pretty cool moment is right at the start of the film where dragons firebomb the town the vikings live in. The action is intense and watching massive fireballs dart throughout the night sky is wonderful. There were a few gimmicky moments but it was nothing that took away from the film, and nothing that felt out of place.
I did notice some ghosting but I am not sure if it was from this particular movie screen, or the movie its self. Outside of that there is really no complaints I have about the 3D effects. In fact I would have to say this was the 2nd best 3D film I have seen, behind Avatar of course.
How To Train Your Dragon will be one of the best animated movies of 2010. You will walk out of this movie feeling good. Although it may seem like a kids movie, any one of any age will enjoy this movie, except maybe the rebellious teenager who is not impressed by anything.