How to Train Your Dragon is a high quality effort from DreamWorks that while still a far cry from Pixar overcomes its duller moments with some really amazing scenes of wonder.

The film follows our unlikely hero, Hiccup, who on an island full of Vikings that’s only goal is to fight dragons is not very good at the job.  To make things worse, Hiccup is the son of the tribe’s leader and best warrior, Stoick.  Hiccup spends most of his time as the town blacksmith’s, Gobber, apprentice and actually shows some skill as a craftsman.  When the latest dragon attack brings the illusive Night Fury Hiccup gets a clean shot on it with a grappling device and takes it down in the woods outlying the city.  When Stoick leads the village on an expedition to find the Dragon’s nest to try and eliminate the dragons for good, Hiccup gets enrolled in the dragon slaying training course with the local youths but has problems getting involved as he forms an unlikely bond with the downed Night Fury and the two become closer and closer friends.

Now I will say the film does take a bit to warm up, the first third of the movie or so is pretty standard and unoriginal stuff save some decent dragon carnage at the beginning of the film.  It’s when Hiccup and Toothless, his affectionate name of his Night Fury, begin to bond and train that the film really takes off; literally.  When the film takes to the sky it is awe inspiring and jaw droppingly beautiful.  The 3-D is solid to top-notch throughout and I really can’t express how affecting the films scenes are between Hiccup and Toothless as they fly through the sky.  What hurts the film is how it gets our juices going in the 2^nd act when we get scenes with Toothless but then jumps back to the dragon slaying scenes that are just really dull and boring by comparison.  Luckily, these scenes get shorter and shorter as Hiccup becomes a stronger trainer and the film cleverly blends his skills back and for the between Toothless and his classes.

The films third act works almost head to toe with a thrilling and exhilarating final fight scene.  The twist to the dragons is a nice move on the writers’ part and while they cheat a bit with the kids learning the dragon ways too easily it’s easy to forgive as the imagery and story works so well.  The design of Toothless is also extremely inspired and awesome with the sonic booms, screeching, and awesome blue fireballs.  The character of Toothless is also the high point of the film delivering tons of heart and laughs for viewers of all ages.

The voice work in the film is also solid with Gerard Butler standing out and fitting perfectly into the role of Stoick.  Jay Baruchel is good as hiccup and captures the balance of geeky and confidence of the character as it comes and goes throughout the picture.  Craig Ferguson is a bit hit or miss as Goober but hits more than he misses, and that problem is more a writing issue than anything.  The rest of the cast isn’t in it enough or do anything really all that special, but Jonah Hill’s character seemed a bit off to me.

In the end, How to Train Your Dragon is the best DreamWorks effort since Kung Fu Panda and while it might fit in the top 5 of the DreamWorks releases it is at the bottom of that bunch I think.  The dull and unoriginal bits holds it back a bit but the flying scenes will be in the running for my favorite scenes of the year when it is all said and done.  Kids will love it, Toothless is amazing, and there is plenty of humor and material for the adults as well.  The 3-D is also worth the extra cash and while it is not as good as Coralline or Avatar it is probably the best I have seen beyond those, especially in the flying scenes which are worth the price of admission alone.

How to Train Your Dragon is a B+