How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Number two at the box office last week, this is a pretty cute coming-of-age animated story about an awkward kid who becomes a dragon whisperer (Jack's term) when he is expected to kill the beasts. It's rated PG for intense action, scary dragons menacing and injuring people, dragons getting wounded, and some language. Jay Baruchel (star of the cancelled series Undeclared (2001-03) and small parts in other movies) is the kid, named Hiccup (these are links to the characters' drawings next to photos of the voice actors), who speaks in his own, nasal, American-accented voice, while Craig Ferguson (tied with Dave Letterman for my favorite talk show host, writer and co-star of two wonderful movies: Saving Grace (2000) and The Big Tease (1999)) uses an enhanced version of his own Scottish accent as Hiccup's mentor Gobber, as does Gerard Butler as Hiccup's father Stoick, and Hiccup's friends all have American accents: America Ferrera as skinny blonde Astrid, Jonah Hill as Snotlout, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs (the brainy one), and Kristen Wiig and T.J. Miller as twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be olde Scotland or someplace further north--Stoick does invoke the Norse gods Odin and Thor.

We picked the IMAX 3-D screening, and the effects were great--an acrophobe in real life, I enjoy flying sequences in reel life. The movie's 98% on rottentomatoes gave us high expectations. It was okay, but many other animated features I've seen in the last few years have been way better (Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up). If you have to go to this one with your kids, there are things to enjoy: the drawings in the books are fabulous, the soundtrack, which did sound Scottish to me, by John Powell (I Am Sam (2001), all three Bournes (2002, 04, 07), The Italian Job (2003), Happy Feet (2006), the Gerard Butler snorer P.S. I Love You (2007), Hancock (2008), and more) is very good, those flying scenes, 3-D technology just keeps getting better, and there are some laughs here and there. Speaking of laughs, I can't think of this movie without remembering the joke Joel McHale (Community) made about the title on Craig Ferguson's show (at 4 minutes into the clip at the top).