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Really cute. Good for ages 5+. ( )

I liked this book more than I anticipated I would. The movie was still undeniably better than the book, but the book was still fun. It was a cute, silly middle grade book. I liked Hiccup and Toothless, even though their characters (especially Toothless') are a lot different from the movie. The slightly different purposes for the dragons was interesting to see too, and the fact that dragons can understand the humans (but only obey them if they are yelling) but the humans (except Hiccup) can't understand the dragons, and speaking in the dragon language is illegal. I know that the movie was based on the book, so in most cases like this, the book would be better, but I thought the movie had more depth to the characters, and to the plot. ( )

Great original story, beautiful animation, and an exceedingly unlikely hero. ( )

A young viking who's not good at fighting lives in a village frequently raided by dragons.

Don't be fooled by the bad marketing and horrible title (like I was). This is a sincere adventure story, entertaining from beginning to end. There are no pop-culture references. There is no crude humor. The voice actors (while they might not have been the best choices) were clearly chosen for their voices, not box office draw. It almost seems like DreamWorks is coming to their senses and trying to do what Pixar does - tell a good story with strong characters. But, the thing is, this isn't really "a DreamWorks Film" - because, come on, that doesn't even mean anything; they're just a f***ing movie studio. What this movie secretly is is the long-awaited (or would have been long-awaited in a perfect world) second film from the writing/directing team that made Lilo & Stitch.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.7/4 ( )