Went to see How To Train Your Dragon in 3-D and was mediocrely surprised. It’s apparent that it wasn’t designed for 3-D and it was just added on after the success of Avatar. The 3-D was mediocre at best and the animation was passable if not decent. They made pretty much every viking look alike except for the hero and his band of merry men and women. But was it worth the money?
If it wasn’t for paying extra for 3-D, I would say yes. It’s a decent kiddy movie with a better than expected script. The characters actually were consistent and there were no major plot holes (once you accept the initial premise). The main creative team (Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders) are from Disney and were responsible for Lilo and Stitch
The story is about a Viking tribe in a hostile land that has to fend off dragons. The main character (played by Jay Baruchel) is Hiccup the leader’s (Stoick played by Gerard Butler) son. He’s a runt of a Viking who is a tinkerer and wants to help out, but is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. When one his inventions work and he manages to capture the most feared dragon of all. He can’t bring himself to kill it and his act of generosity teaches him more about dragons than any else ever knew. It also leads to a decently thought out danger and climax. The ending is a little trite, but it’s a kid’s movie.
It’s not nearly up to the level of a Pixar movie, but it’s decent and won’t make you claw your eyes out. Recommended if you have kids, but skip the 3-D, it’s not worth the extra money.