How to Train Your Dragon: A New Kind of Fairy "Tail"

From Godzilla in 1956 to Beowulf in 2007, dragons and their rowdy reptilian cousins have had plenty of time to wear out their welcome in cinemas worldwide. And with their most recent exploits, which include saving an oppressed people in Eragon and waging Armageddon in Reign of Fire, one would think these behemoth fire-breathers would be out of the biz, replaced by some other splendiferous mythical creature. Think again.

How to Train Your Dragon turns the well-worn tale of the dragon slayer on its shiny, helmeted head, blending the awesomeness of Avatar and the cleverness of Kung Fu Panda with the tenderness of Wall-E, and yes, The Dog Whisperer. The end result is a delicious concoction for the eyes that’s both sizzling and sweet.

Our unlikely hero is Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), a young Viking Leif Ericson could probably bench press with his pinkies. Lacking the heft and killer instinct required to ward off the brood of dragons that nightly terrorizes the villagers of Berk, Hiccup is ordered time and again by his Thor-like father (Gerard Butler) to return to the workshop where he tinkers on new dragon-catching gadgets. Meanwhile, the rest of the clan follows their Scottish-Spartan-Viking chief, voiced by Butler, into the fiery fray of tree-slicing wings, boiling water-breath, and throat-clasping claws.

Behind the smoky scenes, Hiccup discovers a helpless dragon ensnared in one of his gizmos. With its black, leathery exterior, serpentine head, and green feline eyes, Hiccup later identifies the overgrown lizard as the most feared dragon of all, one that no man has lived to speak of. Full of pity, Hiccup can’t bring himself to kill the creature and instead sets out to study and gain the trust his new friend, Toothless, while teaching him to fly with a new, prosthetic fin. Finally, the first moment of true 3D fun occurs when Hiccup boards the beast and the two take off into the clouds.

Placed into Dragon Training by his father, Hiccup recalls his observance of Toothless’s behavior to master the ferocious beasts he and his peers battle each day in a caged, “safe” environment. Able to tame them with chin scratching, frighten them with unappetizing eels, and distract them with elusive light, Hiccup soon graduates from village pipsqueak to Viking warrior. However, his ultimate challenge comes when he’s ordered, as the superior student-slayer, to kill a dragon before his townsmen and father.

The plot is predictable from start to finish; the only twists take place in the sky as Toothless veers in and out of rock formations and playfully spirals through the air. And while the barrage of explosive sounds and large-scale effects is a bit overkill, the sheer beauty of the island with its majestic mists, enchanting creatures, and the light that illuminates it all chases away the shortcomings and makes us grateful for the simple pleasure of escape that, like folklore and fairy tales, never gets old.

3.5 stars out of 5