DreamWorks' 'Dragon' a delightful 3-D adventure

Is it possible to love your enemy while learning how to kill it?

It's not the kind of question the average dragon slayer in the mythical Viking village of Berk would ask himself. But Hiccup, the humble narrator and young protagonist of "How to Train Your Dragon," is no ordinary Viking.

While every other male is large, muscular and brave, Hiccup (voiced by "She's Out of My League" star Jay Baruchel) is puny, useless (but brainy) and definitely not the heroic type. His fellow villagers don't quite know what to make of him.

In fact, the only way the others can describe him is to gesture at the lad and call him - "this!"

Based on the series of children's books by British author Cressida Cowell, "Dragon" is an exciting and extremely pleasing animated picture from DreamWorks, the studio that brought us "Shrek."

It's a rousing success on nearly every level - starting with the story.

In Berk, the main occupations of the hardy menfolk (and some womenfolk) are farming and killing the pesky dragons that steal their food. Teens must attend "training school" to learn how to fight the beasts, and they're tutored by peg-legged and peg-armed Gobber (amusingly voiced by Craig Ferguson).

Hiccup, however, has no interest in fighting dragons. He'd rather draw in his sketchbook or invent things. This is a persistently embarrassing problem for Stoick, the valiant, masculine leader of Berk, who also happens to be Hiccup's father (voiced with requisite burliness by Gerard Butler).

During one nighttime battle with the dragons, however, Hiccup attempts to join the fray and uses one of his catapult inventions to wound a "Night Fury" dragon, about which nothing is written in the dragon guidebook because none has ever been brought down.

Outside the village the next day, Hiccup happens upon the grounded dragon, which he names "Toothless." The lad discovers, to his astonishment, that he is able to befriend it. He soon fashions a mechanical "wing" to help the dragon fly again, as well as a saddle so he can ride the monster.

The movie then becomes an age-old "boy and his dog" story with a twist, for the dragon indeed behaves like a pup learning tricks from a new master once mutual respect sets in. Hiccup's conflict comes when he must continue his training - learning to kill the creatures he has come to love.

"How to Train Your Dragon" will surely put rival animation studio Pixar on notice. It is cleverly written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, containing eye-popping action and humorously conceived characters that make you laugh just by looking at them.

The flying sequences - in which Hiccup and Toothless soar through the clouds, dive, zip between mountains and glide over the surface of the sea - are exhilarating. While the 3-D technology is a joy in such scenes, the movie is good enough without it.

John Powell's musical score is also a standout, blending gorgeous Celtic motifs with stirring action themes.

A minor quibble might be that Jay Baruchel's voice doesn't quite match what one expects to come out of the mouth of Hiccup as drawn. Otherwise, Baruchel's performance is top-notch. America Ferrera is another delight as Hiccup's love interest, the tomboy Astrid.

While aimed at children of all ages, "Dragon" gives grown-ups plenty to enjoy as well. After all, it's not every day that you see a cartoon about Vikings, especially ones speaking with comically pronounced Scottish accents.

So do you have to kill an enemy, or can you actually love it? To answer that question, perhaps all you need is - "this!"

"How to Train Your Dragon"Rating: #9733; #9733; #9733; #9733; Starring (voices of): Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Kristen WiigDirected by: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBloisOther: A Paramount Pictures release. Rated PG. 98 minutes.