How to Train Your Dragon

I'm not the first one to say it, but I'm really hopeful that every movie does not take it's turn at trying 3-D. It's really annoying seeing all these really cool movie trailers and then realizing that it'll be in 3-d and you'll have to pay extra. Sometimes the use of it isn't even that effective. However, 'How to Train Your Dragon' gets it right on all levels.

The latest production from DreamWorks Animation (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar) follows a viking colony named Berk. Basically all they do is fight dragons. The people of Berk see the dragons as nothing more than the enemy. There are all different types of them, but none of them are good; especially the Night Fury. Nobody has ever seen a Night Fury, let alone had the chance to catch one. So when the dragon attack in the beginning is happening, the clumsy, nerdy protagonist of the story, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), decides that this will be his platform to the real world; the world of the viking men. He is clearly ill-equipped for the task but somehow manages to hit the Night Fury and send it falling to the other side of the island. He sets out to go find out what he exactly hit, and finds himself with the chance of killing this prestigious dragon. However, he can not. He can't bring himself to harm the dragon at all. He decides to keep this whole ' I caught a night-fury' thing to himself, because he is afraid of what his village mates might do to it. He then has to decide what is right; whether he should tell the people back home about what he has done in order to gain acceptance from them; more importantly his father (Gerard Butler), or to save this dragon's life and maybe set a new example of how they should treat people or beings that are unknown to them.

I can usually catch on to this kind of story pretty quickly. It's your typical " oh be nice to everyone and nothing bad will happen from it" message, but it's so amazing to watch the growing process between Hiccup and the dragon (named Toothless by Hiccup). I also must add that the 3-d really indeed does help this movie. It is especially evident in the flying scenes with Hiccup and Toothless. I don't know, there's something really cool about the fast paced movement of flying, but also the beauty and innocence of it as well. Having those scenes in 3-d really captured both sides of it, and made to become what I think is the best movie of 2010 so far.

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

P.S.-There are tons of recognizable voices in this movie--Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Kristien Wiig, T.J. Miller, and Craig Ferguson