Reviews

How to Train Your Dragon is family-friendly, funny, touching, entertaining, and may be the best animated film Dreamworks has made to date.

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Overall I found How to Train Your Dragon to be great fun with a big heart -- it drew me (and my daughter) in and we enjoyed it from beginning to end. Feel free to bring kids of all ages to this one, nothing in it is inappropriate or so scary that it would give the little ones nightmares. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing it again, but in 3D next time.

By Vic Holtreman

How to Train Your Dragon might not be in the same league as Pixar's releases -- the relatively bland nature of its central character alone precludes that possibility -- yet it's hard to deny that the movie boasts a number of exceedingly positive attributes that ultimately cement its success. The eye-popping visuals are put to especially impressive use during the film's various airborne sequences, as such moments possess an exciting and downright exhilarating feel that will only be enhanced by a viewing on as large a screen as possible.

Despite its heavy emphasis on action and over-the-top fight sequences, How to Train Your Dragon is, in the end, a touching story about friendship. Hiccup's discovery that a perceived enemy might not be as bad as they seem is a valuable one for younger viewers, while adults will appreciate the touching resolution to Hiccup's ongoing dispute with his father. And although the movie has clearly been geared primarily towards kids, How to Train Your Dragon ultimately manages to create (and sustain) an atmosphere of sheer entertainment that proves impossible to resist.

By David Nusair