{"id":1451,"date":"2010-03-26T21:18:01","date_gmt":"2010-03-26T19:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/zaparents-blog\/?p=1451"},"modified":"2022-06-16T07:40:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T05:40:14","slug":"how-to-train-your-dragon-3d-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/lifestyle\/movie-reviews\/how-to-train-your-dragon-3d-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Train Your Dragon 3D – movie review"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a while since I enjoyed a children\u2019s movie as much as I did How to Train your Dragon<\/em>. Having not read the series of books by Cressida Cowell, on which the movie is based, I had no idea what to expect, but from the moment the screen opened to the craggy hills, wild sea and precariously pitched Viking village I was entranced.<\/p>\n

This is the story of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of the brave Viking chief, Stoik, who despairs of his skinny son ever becoming a true Viking and fighting dragons \u2013 the foe they are trained from birth to fear and despise. Hiccup wants nothing more than to fulfill his father\u2019s dreams, but with his scrawny frame and big heart he keeps getting into scrapes his father has to rescue him from, much to the humour and derision of the rest of the village. Children bearing the weight of a parent\u2019s expectations will relate to Hiccup\u2019s desperate quest to prove himself in his father\u2019s and his peer\u2019s eyes and make them proud.<\/p>\n

When Hiccup, in a stroke of luck, manages to wound the most feared dragon of all, he sets out to kill him, only to realise the dragon is as scared of him as he is of it.\u00a0 From here the real adventure starts as he helps the dragon to recover, christens him Toothless (and in so doing demystifies him and makes him seem cuter than he may originally appear) and ultimately teaches the narrow-minded villagers that dragons are not what they seem. The friendship between Hiccup and Toothless is ultimately the hero of the film \u2013 your children will all want pet dragons after watching this!<\/p>\n

As Hiccup trains the dragon and learns more about this unknown creature, there are also parallels between the way we fear what we do not know, often only to find out that we have more in common than we realised.\u00a0 The strength of the movie is in the story line, which is clever and witty but doesn\u2019t condescend or descend into non-stop jokes and crass one-liners.\u00a0 The characters are also well drawn, fresh and memorable, particularly Hiccup\u2019s group of fellow dragon-slaying trainees, from Hiccup\u2019s nemesis, Snotlout, to Astrid, the toughest Viking girl you\u2019ve ever seen, and the hilarious, competitive twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut.<\/p>\n

Although I find the 3D glasses make the screen a little dark, in this film the 3D definitely adds to the action \u2013 the swooping flight and fight scenes are exhilarating and beautifully created.\u00a0 The animation is superb – it had to be a challenge to make the cast of dragons both ferocious and appealing so that when the trainee dragon-slayers call on them for help in the end, it feels believable that they would actually ride them.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of hiccups in the movie (pardon the pun) \u2013 the adults all speak in a Scottish accent but the children have American accents. Hiccup also talks about his village being in snow the whole year but the entire story takes place in summer.\u00a0 There will also be those endless book vs. the movie debates as the movie changes one of the basic premises of the original plot in which all Vikings ride dragons, and Hiccup has to train a small dragon as nerdy as he is. These inconsistencies fall away however, in the face of the movie\u2019s warmth, humour and nail-biting adventure.<\/p>\n

Age restriction<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s been given a 10M, which is 10 with mature content but I would say, depending on your child\u2019s sensitivities, children from age 6 or 7 will love it. There is violence when the dragons fight but there are plenty of fun scenes and humour to lighten up the scary bits.<\/p>\n

Books<\/h2>\n

Your children can read the rest of Hiccup’s exploits in the How to Train Your Dragon <\/em>series.\u00a0 The series is available at Exclusive Books and includes How to Be a Pirate, How to Speak Dragonese, How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse, How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale, A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons, How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm, <\/em>and How to Break a Dragon’s Heart. <\/em><\/p>\n

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