Wow, what a great film for kids and adults of any age! Fun characters, great motion, a sweet endearing story, and that extra pizzazz a third dimension adds. From the rich aerial intro the picture opens with a clipping pace and good humor. Listen carefully, hidden in that tough Viking brogue lay many a cute one-liner for grownups.

Our humble intellectual adolescent narrates the film with an entertaining, Christian Slater Style, mixture of modesty and cockiness. He's resigned to never living up, but still, he perseveres with an endearing modest confidence. He's very likeable. Likewisely likeable, the wordless dragon named "Toothless." He says mouthfuls with his green eyes and crooked smile, but, mostly with his carefully created motion. Kudos to his artists. This is a magnificent character in design and animation.

Also of artistic pleasure, the contrast between the seemingly always night skied town to the brilliant blue day above the waves when the Vikings take to the seas. Actually, there's a wonderfully subtle line, easily lost, so I'll echo it here. As the fleet sails out, full of zest and vigor to conquer their enemies, they come upon a tattered, battle-broken ship from one of their earlier raids. Whispered in the fog, "Oh, that's not encouraging."

Absolutely loved it from beginning to end save for the very last complication which confuses an otherwise rare Viking non-violent theme. Personally, I thought the film should have climaxed boy v. dragon in the training pit. Probably, it did in earlier drafts of the script. Anyway, this is still the best film I've seen in weeks. I highly recommend it.

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --