Of Flying Dragons

I am a sucker for dragons. Have been since Smaug blocked Bilbo's way to a vast treasure in "The Hobbit". My obsession was cemented by Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series. This is a good time for us Dragon lovers. Dragons soared to new heights amongst the floating mountains of Pandora in "Avatar". So I waited with excitement and a bit of trepidation for Dreamworks animated contribution to Dragon lore,"How to Train Your Dragon". Good news. Dragons still rule.
A teenage boy lives in a seaside Scandinavian village that gets snow nine months a year and hail the other three. It's also terrorized by flying, fire-breathing dragons.
Now this is a Viking village with bulky bearded nordic types all over the place, that is except for young Hiccup. He looks like an average American teenage boy. As voiced by Jay Baruchel he's smart, funny, clumsy and misunderstood. He's just not very Viking-like. And he desperately wants the approval of his father. He wounds, then finds then befriends a shadowy dragon and realizes that the village is going about this Dragon thing all wrong. Don't fight 'em, fly 'em. Okay, that's the a plot, blah, blah, blah.
Here's the good stuff. This movie is in 3-D and the flying sequences (and there are many) are fantastic. Good story, nice characters and FANTASTIC 3-D flying equals a great time at the movies. Don't send the kids to this one, take them. Just make sure you see it in 3-D. Don't make the same mistake I did with "Avatar". 3-D may be the current fad but it's a lot of fun.
Okay, a couple of quibbles. Turns out that Vikings speak with thick Scottish brogues. There are probably a lot of Swedes who are up in arms about this. Not only that but apparently Swedish/Scottish/Viking teenagers all talk like they're from a Midwestern American suburb. No brogue for the kids. Weird. The other quibble is that again, we have an animated film with a barely-mentioned dead Mom. Man, animators really must have mother issues.
3-D may be just a fad or a diabolical excuse to raise ticket prices (3-D ticket price, $17.00) But it's a darn fun way to watch a movie. I should have seen "Avatar" that way. I'm mad at myself for not doing it. Don't make the same mistake with "How to Train Your Dragon".