In the Viking village of Berk, there are men fighting against dragons since they consider them pests. A teenage boy called Hiccup wants to fight, too. But he is considered too weak to participate.

Later, he goes into the wilderness and comes across a dragon known as a Night Fury, which is a rare type. He tries to kill the dragon – but he can’t get himself to do it. So, instead, he sets it free. The dragon pins him down, but then spares him.

Hiccup’s father, Stoick the Vast, decides to enroll Hiccup in a class where he will learn to fight against dragons. There, Hiccup meets other classmates who are around his age.

His instructor prepares the students with shields and helmets to battle against the dragons. Each one of them partakes in it. But Hiccup constantly fails to achieve the goal.

He returns to the forest and encounters the same Night Fury as before. He ends up bonding with it and naming it “Toothless.” Then he designs special gear to help Toothless fly as he rides on his back.

When Hiccup returns to his dragon-fighting class, he ends up training the dragons instead of battling them. This causes him to become popular amongst his classmates – except for a girl named Astrid. She becomes jealous and suspicious of him.

Later, Hiccup learns that for his final exam, he will have to kill a dragon, which he does not want to do. He has trained them and wants to convince the others that it’s unnecessary and cruel to kill them.

At some point, Astrid discovers Toothless the dragon. Hiccup tries to show her that he is harmless, including giving her a ride on him.

When Hiccup’s final exam happens, he refuses to kill the dragon. This leads him into a fight with his dad back at his home.

Unfortunately, Toothless gets abducted, too. Can Hiccup save him?

I will admit that this movie was a little bit boring throughout the first half. I think it was because the tension levels were kind of low. But I do understand that keeping them low was necessary during those scenes. The second half got more exciting due to the increased conflict. Don’t worry – I won’t spoil the ending.

I admired the characterization in this movie. If I were to pick a favorite, I would probably choose Hiccup. He was rebellious and great with dragons. I considered his relationship with Toothless to be sweet.

Hiccup’s father, Stoick, was not always the nicest to him. But that is normal in families.

The pacing of this movie was neither too slow or too fast. I also enjoyed some of the twists and turns.

Overall, How to Train Your Dragon was pretty decent. I was going to reconsider watching the next two films in the series. But I think I will.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.