A different beast than the book, but still a powerful, entertaining film.

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2010)

I read the book before this movie ever entered theaters. I could tell right from the start that the storyline of the movie had nothing to do with the storyline of the book (except for the names of a few of the characters involved). I am surprised the book even mentions that it is now a "major motion picture" considering you can hardly even compare the two.
In the movie, the Vikings must defend their food and land from attacking dragons, and the young Vikings are trained to become dragon slayers. Hiccup, the chief's son, is a weakling and a screw up who desperately wants to show his father that he is worth something.
When Hiccup ends up catching the only dragon no Viking has ever caught or killed, a "Night Fury," he is unable to slay the dragon and instead ends up training him and keeping him for a pet. His dragon, whom he calls Toothless, gives him insight into how dragons think, and he is then able to defeat all the dragons in the sparring ring quite easily without slaying them.
Of course, when it is discovered that Hiccup is now able to fight dragons because he has one for a pet, he is ostracized from the clan. His father, who wants nothing more than to find the dragons' lair and slay all dragons, uses Toothless to find the lair. Little does he know that there is a very large dragon living there, and they must now defeat it, aided by the very dragons he grew to hate. In the end, Hiccup is victorious, gets the girl he loves (Astrid), becomes a hero, gains respect from his peers, and changes Viking life as they know it by making pet dragons commonplace.
The book is called "How to Train Your Dragon" because the characters must do just that. In order to be considered a true Viking, the characters must go and get their very own dragon from the dragon lair and train it. Only the chief's son (Hiccup) is suppose to get a "monstrous nightmare" dragon, however, one of the other characters gets one just to spite him.
In the book, the characters learn that the only way to really train your dragon (that the Vikings know of) is to "yell at it," and Hiccup tries everything imaginable to train his dragon, all while being taunted and humiliated by his peers. Dragons in the book are ornery and decidedly un-loyal, and are also small enough to perch on shoulders.
Toothless in the book is a whiny, annoying character who refuses to be trained, and is called Toothless because he IS entirely toothless. In fact, Toothless in the book is the most pathetic dragon anybody has ever seen; scrawny with no teeth (and is also a "common green" type of dragon, which is the most basic dragon any Viking can have). Hiccup makes up a new species to call him so that he is not made fun of, and assures everybody that he has the rarest type of dragon anybody can have.
In the ending of the book, the characters must fight two huge dragons (much like in the movie) and their trained dragons aide them. Hiccup becomes a hero by coming up with and executing a plan to slay the large dragons. There is no female character in the book called Astrid, and the other Viking children are much more developed in the book and play a larger role.
Overall, both the movie and the book are thoroughly enjoyable, but anybody who has read the book must not compare it to the movie unless they want to be disappointed. The movie has a slightly cookie-cutter and predictable plot (hero messes up, hero wins respect and girl in the end), but is triumphant and humorous with likable characters and lovely animation. There are several tear-jerking moments in the movie, as well as many laugh-out-loud, witty jokes. Overall, this movie is one for the DVD shelf, and will be liked by both children and adults.
I think anybody who saw the movie without reading the books will be in for a surprise if they pick up the book series, and anybody who read the books and sees the movie can appreciate both.