Syracuse, NY — Toothless, a jet black dragon with green eyes, whooshed through the sky. A young viking named Hiccup and his boyhood crush, Astrid Hofferson, sat of top, guiding the playful dragon around a maze of rocks. Hiccup was enjoying himself. Hofferson struggled to stay on.
“Bad dragon!” yelled a young boy who sat in the row behind the little lady and I. The boy was one of about 20 children watching “How to Train Your Dragon,” a new 3-D adventure from Dreamworks.
I walked into the theater as a 23-years-old and left feeling like a giddy 12-year-old. The little lady called the film, “Avatar for kids.” She and Mr. A. O. Scott, the New York Times film guru, were right. Here’s what he said in his review,
Like “Avatar” in particular, this movie is about a young man who betrays his warlike tribe and learns to love the enemy. But the deeper similarity is visual. The rocky promontories off the coast of Berk (Hiccup’s windswept native island) are a lot like the floating mountains of Pandora, and the various species of winged lizards capering in the skies above resemble the beasts ridden by Nav’i warriors in their battles against the sky people.
Unlike “Avatar,” there is no politics in the appropriately titled,” How to Train Your Dragon.” This movie starts with dragons and ends with dragons. It is full of colorful reptiles, breathtaking 3-D flight scenes, lush landscapes and witty wannabe dragon slayers. The story line is a bit juvenile but a nice change of pace. You can really sit back and enjoy this one.
This movie was well worth the price of admission. It’s an hour shorter than “Avatar” and a lot more light hearted. If that’s not enough, the film opens with 3-D movie trailers for “Despicable Me,” “Toy Story 3″ and “Shrek: Forever After,” All three movies look great.
- east coast paper boy
Tags: 3d, 3d glasses, a.o. scott, America Ferrera, animation, astrid hofferson, avatar, carousel mall, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, cressida cowell, David Tennant, despicable me, director Chris Sanders, director Dean DeBlois, dreamworks, film, flying dragons, Gerard Butler, Hiccup, how to train your dragon, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, movie review, new york, new york times, No Slaying Required: A Viking Aids an Enemy and Wins a Friend, ny, ny times, regal cinemas, Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, shrek: forever after, syracuse, toothless, toy story 3, vikings
