Our Review of How To Train Your Dragon

Ms Twixt and tweens were invited to an advance screening of How To Train My Dragon last week. We saw the movie at the Georgetown AMC/Lowes theatre on March 9th with another family, and the tweens in attendance were on the younger side - age 7 (the older girls had conflicts). The movie is rated PG (aside from some intense action scenes - the movie is in 3-D - we think it would've received a G rating), and the tweens in the theatre had no issues with the action sequences or 3-D experience.

The movie's story line is unique in that it doesn't gloss over the risks of heroism - we won't give away the ending, but we found it refreshing. The core message is one of acceptance despite differences, but it's told in an unusual - and thus resonate - way. There is a strong female character, Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera) in the tale, and she's independent and strong. She serves as the conscience of the lead character, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), and is also notable for being a better warrior than the other male characters.

Ms Twixt is usually skeptical of the value of using 3-D as it's often gratuitous, but the 3-D effects are amazing and really add to the experience.  There are spectactular flight (and fight) scenes that are truly made by the technology - the soaring flight sequences convey the sense of freedom and awe felt by the characters and help the audience to understand what makes them tick. It also adds to the intensity of some scenes, so it helps to have a friendly seat mate to grab at times.

We recommend the movie even for young tweens (although not much younger), and our older tweens are excited to see it when it comes out in theatres on March 26th.

For other movie-related posts, check out our ideas for an Alice in Wonderland Tea party and a Percy Jackson party.

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