How To Train Your Dragon

The first time I saw How To Train Your Dragon, I was enthralled. It therefore gives me even greater pleasure to report that the 2nd and 3rd viewings didn't dampen my enjoyment either. How To Train (or HTTYD as I'm going to refer to it from now on) is pretty simple when you boil it down, but therein lies it's elegance. The premise deals with Hiccup, a young black sheep of a Viking with the sole wish of acceptance. I'm not sure why I identified so personally with Hiccup - the weedy, geeky kid who never succeeds in being macho enough in the eyes of his father - that will just have to remain a mystery, but his story is told through beautiful animation (below), as he becomes friendly with the sworn enemy of his people - a dragon.

Hiccup and Toothless soar through some of the stunning scenery around the island of Berk
(although given it's computer generated, I'd be a little worried if it didn't look pretty spectacular...)

The visuals of the film are really it's strongest card. Don't get me wrong, the story is genuinely touching, but the animation is truly breathtaking in places. Toothless, the aforementioned friendly dragon (below), is every school kid's fantasy childhood friend/pet, and every single one of his reptilian brethren have been beautifully crafted along with the stunning backdrops. Even watching in 2D, the depth in each of the flight sequences is remarkable, but this is actually one of the few films (in my humble opinion) where the addition of 3D is used as an enhancement to some of the key scenes, rather than as Hollywood's new gimmick for the 2010's (not mentioning any names, Jackass, Glee, The Last Airbender, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never etc...).

Toothless gets to grips with emoticons :P

Overall, How To Train Your Dragon is a really great film for young and young-at-heart audiences alike. Which makes it all the more exciting that a sequel is currently being planned for our screens in 2014. It seems an annoyingly long wait, especially given that HTTYD was the tenth highest grossing film in 2010 (only behind the sequel releases of cinema goliaths like Toy Story 3, Harry Potter and Twilight), but I remain hopeful that the gift of extra time will prove fruitful in making sure that the second instalment fully lives up to the charm and beauty of the first.