isitrightforkids.com

We just got home after a trip to the theatre to see How to Train your Dragon. This is the latest release from Dreamworks’ animation division. It’s available in 3-D and regular old 2-D. We saw it in 2-D and still enjoyed it.

The story is set on a rocky island in a viking village populated by your typical big burly vikings. What makes this village unique is the pests. Not as the main character Hiccup says, ordinary mice or mosquitoes but instead the pests are dragons. And not just one but whole flocks of them. There are many kinds of dragons and each one with a different kind of ability.

The main character is Hiccup; yes, that’s his name. Apparently vikings think that silly names can scare off evil. He’s a bit of a disaster when fighting dragons as we find out in the opening scenes. He’s better suited to a less violent career. But he does managed to take down a dragon with a new invention of his. No-one believe him of course but the next day he find that the dragon he shot at, is injured and trapped in a area it can’t fly out of. Over time, he and the dragon develop a close relationship.

That relationship is put to the test when Hiccups life is threatened while training to fight dragons. You see, Hiccup hasn’t told anyone about the dragon. Especially his father, the leader of the village. He father believes that all dragons should be killed. This sets the stage for a confrontation between Hiccup and his father, and the battle against the biggest dragon of them all.

The story is well paced and has a great case of characters. The graphics are excellent and were crisp and colorful. There were some intense moments near the end of the movie and my daughter was scared at parts. However, she didn’t want to leave the theatre just hide her eyes.

Is it Right for Kids? I would say it is right for kids over 7 if they don’t get scared at some more intense stuff. 5 and 6 year olds should be OK as well, but be aware that they may get scared as some parts of the movie.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at 6:35 am and is filed under New releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.