Best Dreamworks effort since 'Shrek'

Rating: 8/10 (3 June 2014)

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's written well, the voice acting is great, the story is fast paced and engaging, but above all, it's just really quite beautiful to look at - and this was in 2D, so I imagine the 3D experience would have been even more of a treat.
This film works on just about every level. The main characters especially are a highlight - the protagonist gives us a very fresh take on your standard misfit boy type and his pacey and entertaining dialogue is constructed and delivered flawlessly. Even the dragon has more personality to it than most of the stale characters you tend to see in contemporary children's' movies - its design and facial expressions alone are just so well done they convey everything effortlessly.
There isn't much to the story but then there doesn't need to be. It's a solid family adventure to keep everyone entertained. Where some previous Dreamworks films have failed to keep both child and adult audiences I feel that this one captures both successfully because the dialogue is just so tight and funny and children would just be captivated with the beauty and excitement of what they're seeing.
I'm struggling to say anything negative about this movie at all, in fact. It's just very very good. Go and see it. 9/10.