Reel Critics:

The studio that brought us “Shrek,” “Madagascar” and “Kung Fu Panda” adds another winner to its list of family-friendly movies.

Like those previous efforts, “How To Train Your Dragon” combines great animated action with good humor in a nice basket of traditional values.

In this story, a clan of hearty Vikings lives in a village on high cliffs at the edge of the sea. Their pastoral fortress suffers from attacks by fire breathing dragons. The flying beasts steal their livestock and burn down their huts. Because of the danger, young boys and girls must be trained in the art of dragon slaying.

A frail boy named Hiccup, the son of a Viking chief, is trying to learn the arts of war. Strange circumstances lead him to befriend an injured Night Fury, the most dangerous of the dragons.

Their secret friendship alters the dynamics of the whole village as he comes of age.

The first-rate special effects rival the flying scenes in “Avatar” and the “Harry Potter” series. They may be a little too intense for toddlers. But a large contingent of youngsters aged 5 to 9 at my screening clapped at the end. It’s an entertaining package that works for parents and kids alike.

‘Hot Tub’ turns on the comic jets

“Hot Tub Time Machine” happily lives up to its absurd title, and is perfect for rude and crude laughs.

Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and especially Lou (Rob Corddry) are in their early 40s and feeling a bit lost.

Together with Adam’s geeky nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) they try to turn back time at a ski resort, which was quite the party place back in the day.

The lodge has now gone to seed, including the one-armed bellhop (Crispin Glover). But, hey, there’s booze and a hot tub in their suite. So the guys proceed to party like it’s 1986 only to find — whoa! it is 1986!

Ah, those glory days when big-haired women in spandex and party drugs were easy to come by — a time when Jacob hadn’t even been born, and Nick’s future wife was only 9.

There’s an easy familiarity to the story and some fun riffs on the ’80s, including Lloyd Dobler (Cusack) himself. The running gag on how Glover loses his arm is wildly hilarious.

Things get funnier and crazier as the motley crew work on getting back to the future and a sense of a real life (literally, in Jacob’s case).

A time-traveling hot tub makes no sense at all — but then, neither did the ’80s.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.