Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new review! For this one, I will be talking about Dreamworks’s first attempt to jump in on the live action remake game with this re imagining of what is considered one of their all time best. The original How to Train Your Dragon came out 15 years ago and has since gone on to become an immensely popular brand, spawning acclaimed sequels, various television shows, and just recently, it’s own theme park attraction at Universal’s Epic Universe (which looks awesome). I myself am a massive fan of the series as I consider the trilogy to be one of the best in recent memory and having grown up with it, it holds a special place in the heart. So when news of this live action version happening was announced, I was a bit surprised that it was happening so soon after the trilogy wrapped up in 2019, but I can also see the rationale as out of all of the DWA toons, it is the one that can both be easily translatable and has the most chance of being a financial hit. Dean Deblois, who co-directed the original and directed the sequels, also being behind the helm got me more curious as to how he would tackle this world again, even if the trailers seemed to indicate it being very much the same as the first. That usually isn’t the most interesting direction for a remake, but I was willing to give this the benefit of the doubt. Was this able to soar above my somewhat muted expectations? Let’s jump right in and see how well this training session went!
Set in the Isle of Berk where a Viking village resides, we follow one young teenager by the name of Hiccup who is also the son of the clan’s chief, Stoick the Vast, but isn’t exactly the strongest from a physical sense. The village has been plagued for so long by dragon attacks with the creatures destroying property, taking livestock, and endangering the people who reside there. Wanting to prove himself, Hiccup takes it upon himself to take down the mysterious dragon known as the Night Fury, whom no one has seen and lived to tell the tale, with his own invention. He succeeds, but no one ends up believing him, leading Stoick to see him as more of a disappointment. Hiccup then goes out to find what happened to the dragon and sees that his trap succeeded. However, he finds himself unable to kill it and ends up releasing it from his trap. From there, an unlikely relationship begins to form.
Considering how much Dean Debois has been involved with the series and the passion he has shown in interviews for it, it is no surprise that he does a good job in capturing the feel and spirit of the original film. He manages to once again nail that tone of a sweeping adventure with heart and humor injected in for good measure. It is a huge testament to the story of that animated film that even when in live action it manages to translate and resonate pretty well. The themes of acceptance and learning to empathize in order to gain understanding of different perspectives are still very relevant and are nicely conveyed through a fantasy lens. I also did enjoy some of the little touches that were added in to maybe expand a bit on a scene or change a moment slightly to have a different kind of impact. I honestly can’t say there’s anything wrong with this story… but I can say the same about the original film.
This is very much a shot for shot recreation of the 2010 feature with pretty much the same plot structure and script with only a couple of extended scenes and dialogue changes (part of me did enjoy pointing out which lines were the same as before and which ones were changed). As much as I enjoyed the story there just isn’t that same impact with the acknowledgement that this has already been done and this version isn’t really doing anything that’s better. Now it is able to avoid the pitfalls some of these remakes face by not incorporating changes that either aren’t executed well or make the pacing worse (i.e. the otherwise okay Lilo & Stitch remake) as it sticks to the original story, but it also doesn’t really try to do anything new or take some risks which is also disappointing. I do kind of wondered if Dubois (who has stated he isn’t a fan of what Disney was doing with these live action re does) wanted to change things up, but Universal didn’t want that so he decided to just to do the best he can by re doing the original screenplay in the best way possible. Again, it’s good and never less than entertaining, but it also takes the safest and arguable least interesting route.
That being said, if one is going to recreate their story, at least no expense was spared when it came to the production. While the original is still a fantastic looking film, Dubois is able translate this world very well into live action with the world of Berk coming to life beautifully with detailed production design as well as some stunning shots of the Irish landscape. Bill Pope’s cinematography further aids the film with some striking visuals the capture the beauty of the location very nicely and can help in setting the feel of a certain scene whether it’s the majesty of Hiccup and Toothless flying or the dread and gloominess of the deadly Dragon’s nest. Speaking of which the flying sequences are also quite something as Dubois is able to bring that feeling or riding high through the sky once again on something larger than life and they make for some truly exciting sequences.
The iconic test flight is done wonderfully and with the needed intensity and a lot of the action is well edited and takes advantage of the impressive scale that is often presented. It was also just SO nice to hear John Powell’s all timer of a score again in a loud IMAX auditorium, no less, as it is so iconic for a reason with it’s majestic tone and sweeping feeling. As for how the characters are translated from a visual sense the Dragons look great with them sporting more realistic features in terms of textures and facial expressions while still conveying a solid amount of emotion. I do kind of with Toothless was altered a little bit to match up with the other ones as his model barely has changed, but he looks good nonetheless and his spirit is still conveyed very well. The costumes are fine if a bit too cosplayish in regards to how they try to approximate the animated forms. This is one area where some changes could’ve been made to make them look more realistic.
The characters themselves are also pretty much mostly similar to their animated counterpoints, so the question then becomes how well do the actors make their marks on these roles? Solidly I would say. Mason Thames (who I thought was great in The Black Phone) makes for a good Hiccup, capturing the character’s dorkiness and intellect well and has some solid line deliveries. The lack of a raspy voice is odd considering how much of that is a part of his character, but Thames still makes him into a compelling lead and makes the arc of him becoming his own individual mostly satisfying to watch. His relationship with Toothless is showcased nicely, even if there isn’t really anymore additional insight into it. I thought Nico Parker though did a great job portraying Astrid’s strength and determination to go above and beyond to become the best fighter she can and she knows when to show off some vulnerability as the feature progresses. Her and Thames have solid chemistry and I bought their relationship. The rest of the dragon trainees, Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), Fishlegs (Julian Dennison), Ruffnut (Bronwyn James), and Tuffnut (Harry Trevaldwyn) don’t get substantially more to do than they did in first which was a missed opportunity, despite the actors playing them decently. The closest is a brief addition of Snotlout also having issues connecting with his father (Peter Serafinowicz) which I kind of like conceptually, but it’s mostly played for laughs.
On the grown up side of things, I thought Nick Frost was a solid casting choice to play Gobber, Hiccup’s mentor, as he is the kind who can combine comedy with sincerity wonderfully when given the right material. He does that here as someone who genuinely wants to help the boy become a Viking and there are some nice little additions to the character regarding some of his comedic moments that I liked. The stand out for me of everyone though is actually Gerard Butler, who reprises his role as Stoic from the animated films, except now portraying him in real life. I was very curious as to how that would play out, but I’m glad to say is that he brings the character to life seamlessly. He has the needed physicality to bring the imposing figure to life, but given he is also able to bring all of the needed emotion and nuance that he brought so well in voice form as a father who’s hard on his son, but also does care for him deep down… he just wants Hiccup to be something that he doesn’t want to be. There are so many moments where he just expresses so much in one frame and one can tell all that he is feeling in that moment. It’s a terrific transition and shows just how well Butler knows this character and is very passionate for the role. I do like that we do get a sense of the rest of the community with various other Vikings getting a bit of spotlight (compared to in the original where pretty much only Stoick and Gobber were the ones who had substantial speaking parts), but even then it’s mostly surface level.
All in all, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is both an enjoyable watch, while also being pretty much what I expected it to be. It doesn’t really try to differentiate itself from it’s predecessor, not leaving quite the same impact, not everything plays as well in live action, and the few differences are fairly minor. Yet it still manages entertain due to how it maintains the spirit and messaging, it’s exciting action, the impressive display of craftsmanship, and some solid performances. It’s essentially the equivalent of watching one’s favorite play, just with a different production behind it and a well done one at that. I think if all you want is a faithful recreation that sticks to the script, then this will fit that bill. If your hoping for an expansion of the story in some way, you will likely be disappointed. However, for those who haven’t seen the original in a while or are going into this blind, this will likely work even better as just a very strong fantasy adventure. As someone with an attachment to the franchise, it didn’t quite hit on the same level, but there’s something to this story that has at least some of my investment there is still a lot to admire here. I’m just hoping that the announced sequel set for 2027 at least tries to go a different path and not just re hash the second film… but we’ll see.
Rating: B
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