Salt Lake Tribune Review

Breathing fire into the conventions of animated children's films, DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon" is a fast, fun and friendly story of an unlikely hero with an even more unlikely pet.

This computer-animated tale, loosely adapted from British author Cressida Cowell's popular book series, is set in a village called Berk -- a rough-hewn Viking town besieged by dragon attacks. The stout Vikings battle back the dragons constantly, led by the stoutest Viking of all, Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler, last seen in "The Bounty Hunter").

Stoick's son Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) isn't so stout. In fact, he's a scrawny klutz who works as an apprentice to the village blacksmith, Gobber (voiced by talk-show host Craig Ferguson), and is usually passed over for dragon fighting.

Eager to prove his dad wrong, Hiccup enlists to train to fight dragons, and one day goes to the woods to practice his archery. He stumbles upon a sleek black dragon who's been immobilized by a tailfin injury. Hiccup soon realizes that this beast is a Night Fury -- the quickest and most dangerous dragon the Vikings face -- and that the dragons aren't really as fearsome as the elder Vikings think. (Yes, there's a parable here, warning against hating what you don't understand, but it's applied lightly.)

Co-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the cartoon team that made "Lilo & Stitch," adapt seamlessly to the demands of computer animation. The tone moves smoothly from cartoony humor to exciting action, and the visuals -- including some soaring flight sequences, augmented with subtle 3-D -- are wondrous. (Give some credit here to the famed cinematographer Roger Deakins, who served as a visual consultant.)

The highlight of the voice cast is Baruchel, who builds on the likeable nerd character he played in the raunchy "She's Out of My League" to add a nicely neurotic edge to Hiccup's plight. He's well matched by America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") as Astrid, a girl trying to prove she's as fierce as any other Viking.

"How to Train Your Dragon" also succeeds because it stays firmly in the world of Vikings and dragons. There's no compulsion to break into impromptu karaoke or drop jokey pop-culture references, the way DreamWorks' "Shrek" franchise and its many imitators have done. This story stays true to its setting, so you are swept up into a place where there indeed be dragons.

-- Sean P. Means

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