Fun for the family

If you're looking for a 'feel good' family film that revolves around dragons, Vikings and overcoming adversity, this is a film you simply have to see.

With many 3D films the special effects are what the majority of people go to see, often these effects are overdone to compensate for a poor plot; however, this is not the case with How to Train Your Dragon.

The 3D element really does add to, not distract from, the story and the animation is nothing short of breathtaking. Yes, it's a children's movie, yes the outcome is fairly predictable, but it's the run up to it that really impressed me. This movie deals with an assortment of universal themes that are cleverly wrapped up with innuendo and cheesy humour.

The plot focuses on a teenage Viking called 'Hiccup', who wants nothing more than to kill a dragon to earn himself a reputation in his village and win his father's love and respect along the way.

The problem for young Hiccup ... he's a feeble, weak, cowardly-type of person and probably couldn't kill a fly, let alone a dragon. His luck changes one day when, amidst a dragon attack on his village, he manages to bring down the most illusive and 'dangerous' of the flying creatures.

He tells the people in his village about his heroic effort but unfortunately they don't believe him and won't help him to track down where it landed. So, he sets off alone to bring back the creature's heart and prove to everyone that he is a 'real' Viking like his dad (who is aptly called Stoic).

When he does find the dragon it is tangled in a net and has lost partial use of its tail, and so it's unable to fly away. Hiccup takes pity on the deadly creature and sets it free, in the process he soon realises that there is more to these creature than he previously thought.

He becomes fast friends with the dragon, which he names 'Toothless' because of it's docile nature, and ends up learning a great deal about these mysterious creatures and himself.

Eventually Hiccup and Toothless are tasked with saving the Vikings from a truly dangerous dragon and teaching them that perceptions can be deceiving and there is more to someone than how they look.

The film ends on a poignant note, leaving the audience with a warm fuzzy feeling and reassuring everyone that there is a hero inside us all.

The one fault I could find with this film was that the older Vikings had Scottish accents, and as improbable as that is, it's not the problem ... for some reason the younger Vikings speak in an American accent! Some attention to continuity wouldn't go amiss, but I supposed if you can suspend disbelief for long enough to accept there are dragons ... I guess a little accent mix up isn't too far fetched!

Showing in: Cineco, Seef II and Saar Cineplex