"I'm not really a fan of Shrek (2001), Madagascar (2005) or Kung Fu Panda (2008), all lacking a certain something, so I could hardly get too excited when the people behind those three animated features decided to introduce us to How To Train Your Dragon, an adventure comedy set in a mythical world of burly vikings and wild dragons, based on the book by Cressida Cowell. That's until I saw the trailer and laughed myself stupid.
Still, fearful that all the good bits were crammed into it, leaving ninety minutes of nothingness, I tried my best not to get too excited about a story that centres around a viking teenager, Hiccup, who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. Initiation is coming, and this is his one chance to prove his worthiness to his tribe, but more importantly, his father.
So when he encounters, and ultimately befriends, an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down, soon realising that everything they were told to fear about dragons is wrong. If it wasn't for Toy Story 3 (2010), How To Train Your Dragon would be the best animated film of 2010, but as it stands, it's just going to have to settle for one of the best films, animated or not, instead.
With slick imagery, including a finale that rivals, dare I say it, the last assault on the Death Star in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), as well as plenty of laughs, thrills, and a dragon in Toothless that will melt even the hardest of hearts, Dreamworks has finally delivered - a must-see!"
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