NMR: How To Train Your Dragon

Just as Dreamworks' other animated film, Megamind, comes out this weekend, I'm finally getting around to see their first entry from this year. This is in the vein of Kung Fu Panda as it illustrates (no pun intended) that someone other than Pixar can make a really good animated film that will please children and adult audiences alike. The strength of this film is the relationship between protagonist Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and the dragon, Toothless. The bond that forms between these two is very well done and just as emotionally effective as the connections you see with children and pets in other live action films. In addition to Toothless, the film features a number of different types of dragons, each unique with their own personality without needing to speak. The dragons are just a part of the great look that this film has and I'm saying that based off of watching it on my simple TV. I would imagine being able to watch this on either a big screen and/or in 3D really makes this a visual spectacle. About the only thing that didn't work for me was the relationship issues between Hiccup and his father (voiced by Gerard Butler). That subplot felt very tired, especially since we've seen it a lot in other recent animated films, like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Overall, this is an enjoyable film and worth checking out, particularly if you enjoy these computer animated efforts. Rating: ****