Cast: Jay Buscharel, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera

Director: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois

Writers: Dean DeBlois, Adam F Goldberg, Chris Sanders, Peter Tolan (screenplay); Cressida Cowell (novel)

The 3D juggernaut that is reshaping modern movies, admittedly with varying degrees of success, continues with How To Train Your Dragon. A throwback almost to the days of ‘yesteryear’ when 3D meant animated before live action got in on the game, this animated fantasy tale gets the 3D balance right where so many have gone wrong. Set in a mythical Viking world where the horned helmet population deal with the pesky presence of winged, fire-breathing dragons on a day-to-day basis, the extra-dimensional visual presentation is well handled and adds depth and excitement rather than being employed solely to impress with a series of gimmicky, ‘jump-out-the screen’ moments. But as proud as James Cameron would be of it, the 3D is not really the main draw here.

Adapted from Cressida Cowell’s successful book series, How To Train Your Dragon finds a winning balance between action (the dragon attacks are blistering; colosseum-style dragon training sequences for the Viking warriors to-be equally so) and zany characters (brawn over brain Vikings mix with a wealth of well drawn vikings, young and old) and good old fashioned storytelling, the beating heart of the film being the burgeoning friendship between young Viking boy, Hiccup (Baruchel) and his new ‘pet’ dragon.

Rather than being strong, brave and handy with a sword like Viking leader Stoick (Butler), who happens to be his old man, Hiccup is small, bookish and, as his name would suggest, more likely to cause calamity than save the day when the Viking village is under siege from fire-breathing beasts from above. Eager to make his father proud, he sets out to capture a Night Fury, one of the most fearsome species of dragons, only to discover that the creatures are as misunderstood as he is, and thus friendship between boy and beast begins.

A rights of passage tail of an outsider finding his place in a society he thinks has no place for him, and teaching the villagers something or two along the way, Dragon has a warm and well meaning story at its core, but it fires on all cylinders in the action stakes too (the opening night-time attack on the Viking village is an eye-popping feast). It is also well paced, the dialogue and character interplay smart and it even finds room for a romantic subplot too, all of which makes for a fantastic fantasy adventure, 3D or otherwise.

By Alasdair Morton

How To Train Your Dragon is out now via Paramount Pictures.