In this small village of Vikings there is always the one guy who just doesn’t cut it, that is Hiccup (Jay Baruchel).  Hiccup is one of the worst Vikings ever, he’s never been physically inclined, but he has ideas.  While being under pressure from his father Stoick (Gerard Butler) to try and be a better Viking he decides to test out his new device.  He ends up catching one of the most dangerous of dragons.  However, he can’t bring himself to kill it.  Eventually he ends up befriending the dragon and learning that sometimes being different isn’t the same as being wrong.

After the horribleness of Alice in Wonderland I was worried for the world of 3D cinema.  I’ve recently (post Avatar) had a very nose in the air attitude to 3D.  It’s nice and all, but that doesn’t mean I need every movie to be in 3D.  There’ve been good, bad and average movies in 3D and sometimes the 3D helps or hurts.  This movie is the perfect example of a movie that hugged the 3D and made it a friend for the viewer as well as the storyteller.  I loved this movie.

I remember sitting in my seat and I could say from scene to scene that this and that was going to happen and I was 100% on the button.  However, the film was just so enjoyable and CG cute that you really don’t care.  The characters are so fun to watch on screen discovering things about themselves and this world that you just get swept away.  As annoying as Jay Baruchel’s voice is I was able to look past its pre-pubescent high pitch and see a child who wanted to be himself while at the same time wanting to fit in.

I like this movie a lot, but to say that I didn’t have a few minor complaints would be a lie.  I loved how it handled a few minor characters like Stoick and Gobber (Craig Ferguson), however some really bad characters that weren’t given any really time to be loved had to be the Dragon Killing School.  In the film there is a point where we are taken to dragon training and we meet all the other youngsters of the village and some of the characters get away with being one-note only because they never really get a chance for us to really know them.  The kids who made up the dragon school, like Astrid (America Ferrera), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as well as the others, were just there to make up a cool looking gang at the end of the movie when we get out Viking & Dragon special tactical team or whatnot.  Like one scene everyone’s completely like ‘must kill dragon’ and then after they see that they dragon doesn’t eat Hiccup they are all like ‘it looks so cute’ as if they didn’t just want to murder all scaly creatures.  It’s not that big a deal, but it can be said.

In the end the movie is a fantastic children’s movie and definitely works with some great 3D.  It’s right up there with flicks like Kung Fu Panda and Shrek for sure.  Take the kids if you have them, and if you don’t then go yourself.  Everyone will enjoy this one.

IMDB says 8.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes says 98%

I say 9.0/10