How to Train your Dragon

I love How to Train your Dragon. It's pretty good for an animated film. True, it explores themes similar to various other movies, namely Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, with its themes of not fitting in and father-son relationships. There are the usual cutesy moments with Toothless the dragon looking like an adorable pet. What's different, I believe is that the movie flows, it doesn't try to sell itself too hard by pawning Toothless and it isn't exactly about 3d effects or life-like cartoon characters. In fact it's pretty simple. Maybe that's why I like it.

Hiccup lives on the island of Berk, which is home to vikings and their version of pests are not cockroaches or lizards but dragons. Hiccup looks nothing like a viking. He looks awkward and gawky, like your average teenager. Since young, Hiccup has been apprentice to Gobber, a seasoned warrior who is the blacksmith of the village. He has dreams of capturing or slaying a dragon, not by the normal viking means - cuz he's no fighter, but by using his brains and building up contraptions and devices. Unfortunately, his intentions are often misled. It doesn't help that his father is leader of the tribe, the great Stoick the Vast. Hiccup often ends up being the laughing stock of the tribe or causing embarrassment and disappointment to his father.

One night when the dragons attack, Hiccup is up to his tricks again, though he is told to stay inside (he never does what he is told). He manages to capture a Night Fury, a dragon that has so far managed to elude human eye because it is so black it blends into the night sky. It is also able to shoot out fire at targets extremely accurately. Instead of killing the dragon, Hiccup ends up befriending it. This starts his venture into a double life.

I watched the 3d version. I wonder if there is a non 3d version, if only cuz I don't want to pay so much.