How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

How to Train Your Dragon. As a franchise, it is one of the most prestigious that I’ve yet known. It started as a book series by Cressida Cowell that spanned a whopping twelve volumes. And during its publication, the books were adapted into a series of animated films by DreamWorks Animation. With sweeping animation, glorious music, heartfelt characterizations, and an intriguing sense of world-building, it became one of the most prominent animated franchises in recent history. And with a TV show held in equally high regard, that is a true testament to the legacy and development of How to Train Your Dragon across literature, film, and television.

However, it just so happened that it became so popular that DreamWorks decided to play their own hand in the whole live-action remake craze, the results of which have been beyond faulty and were jump-started when Disney unleashed Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland. The result was the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, DreamWorks Animation’s first-ever live-action remake of an animated film, released in 2025, not to mention less than a month after the live-action remake of the creators’ other animated classic, Lilo & Stitch, came out.

When I first heard they a live-action remake of that film was in the works, I was dumbfounded and not on board with it. Let’s face it, all that Disney’s live-action remakes have been doing is cashing in on the reputation of the animated classics while barely having anything to show for it. It’s like they’re only there to be their cheerleaders while having nothing of merit to offer on their own. Sometimes, they reused the same plot as the original animated films, but with several tweaks here and there to make it purely doable within the live-action format and distinct from the animated films. Other times, they attempted something drastically different with it, aiming to help it stand on its own as a live-action remake. In both cases, sometimes they barely worked, and other times they didn’t even come close.

It’s bad enough we’re getting a live-action remake of Moana, but a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon? The animated film came out only fifteen years before this one would. What makes DreamWorks think that How to Train Your Dragon deserved a live-action treatment when it was fine just as it was?

Of course, it wasn’t until we got a further glimpse into the movie through the trailers.

It’s hard to explain. Even though it looked too familiar and too much like the animated film, some aspects of it showed surprising promise as a live-action remake. Because this was DreamWorks’ first-ever live-action remake of one of its own animated classics, this film had a lot to live up to as far as the animated film was concerned.

So what would that have said about How to Train Your Dragon’s live-action remake as is?

Well, let’s start with the story, even though, once again, I’m retreading some familiar grounds here.

The story took place in the Nordic village of Berk, where its residents had hunkered down to protect their homes and livestock from incoming dragons that came to pester them and steal some of their livestock. But while the Vikings who resided in Berk developed a reputation as the best at hunting dragons, one such Viking, a young boy named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, dreamed of one day hunting a dragon and being recognized alongside his fellow Vikings. Most people in Berk did not see much value in him becoming what he aspired to be, including Gobber the Belch, his teacher and mentor, and especially his father – and the leader of Berk – Stoick the Vast. However, in the middle of the dragon outbreak, Hiccup managed to successfully capture a dragon after hearing a big yelp from afar, after his bolas captured one.

Of course, as he did more digging and explored the dragon he had caught, he was bewildered to discover that it wasn’t just any dragon. He discovered that the dragon he captured was a Night Fury, said to be mysterious, uncatchable, and extremely dangerous. Initially planning to kill it, Hiccup ultimately decided to free the dragon. As a result, Hiccup decided to look more into the dragon that he captured, partially because one of the dragon’s tail wings had been damaged from the fall. And from there, Hiccup decided to learn as much as he could about the dragon, especially after discovering that the Book of Dragons, which he and his classmates would have studied to know more about the dragons and how to kill them, said absolutely nothing about the Night Fury, except that one should hope that they’re still alive after an encounter with such a dragon.

Meanwhile, Hiccup’s classmates, Snotlout Jorgenson, Fishlegs Ingerman, Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston, and the fiercest warrior with whom Hiccup had a crush, Astrid Hofferson, all gathered together to learn more about each species of dragon and how to kill them, as did Hiccup. However, Hiccup repetitively snuck off so that he could do his own studying of the dragon he caught, with Astrid becoming increasingly suspicious.

What more would Hiccup have discovered about the Night Fury outside of what the Book of Dragons did not tell them about this species? How would Astrid have felt about his capture? And by extension, how would the rest of Berk have felt about Hiccup having not only caught a dragon, but also studied one, and that it was, of all dragons, the Night Fury?

So yes, it did follow the usual formula that Disney’s live-action remakes of its animated films have followed: it repeated the same plot almost beat by beat as in the original animated film. But there were plenty of details that helped this movie almost stand on its own, even if we would have a hard time recognizing it separately from the animated film.

For starters, let’s look at the cinematography.

It was already obvious from the animated film that the scenery was gorgeous, not just the surroundings of Berk, but also the forests, shores, seas, mountains, and skies as Hiccup and his friends explored them. In the case of the live-action film, it drew on many of the animated film’s basic elements and translated them quite effectively into live-action. Because this was a live-action film, while it’s not quite as keenly felt as in the animated film, it’d allow you to soak in the atmosphere and feel like you’re part of something more massive.

But now, let’s hop over to the actors, because half of them did a pretty commendable job in this film. Regarding the characters, I don’t feel compelled to bring that up with you because they’re generally the same as they were in the animated film.

And the actors who played Hiccup and Astrid’s classmates, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut, played their roles about as similarly as they were portrayed in the animated film, only with a few more realistic expressions and mannerisms.

The actor who played Fishlegs, Julian Dennison, emphasized his more jittery personality when combined with his smarts and unique techniques of showcasing his knowledge. Heck, in this film, he even showed off his cards early. And this was when he was still in his studying phase of pinpointing the dragons’ weaknesses and knowing what to use against them. I found that pretty cool because I’ve mostly known Fishlegs as someone who studied dragons with cards to gather information about them. Here, he obviously must have studied the dragons as a means to know which dragons to watch out for, and also to keep track of what he memorized of them from the Book of Dragons in case he should use his cards in his battles against the dragons. And this was before Hiccup showed him the way of the dragons without resorting to hunting them down.

However, there’s more I want to elaborate on with you regarding Fishlegs. While Julian Dennison was not the actor I had in mind to play Fishlegs in live-action, he, again, did a good job. But what I remembered him for most in this film was the noticeable support he showed for Hiccup. Whereas other people like Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut would have picked on Hiccup, been all up in his business, or been too egotistical about their motivations, Fishlegs was often the first to try to welcome Hiccup or comfort him when he was being bullied too much. While I found that very touching on its own, I was impressed by it for another reason.

I will admit, as I prepared to walk into this film, one thing that piqued my curiosity was how much the live-action movie was going to be just like the animated film and how much of it would probably have borrowed some elements from the original books by Cressida Crowell, as in, utilizing from the book what was not used in the animated film.

I thought to myself, ‘since this is a separate live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon, assuming that someone has read the original books, what would they think of first when they think of How to Train Your Dragon as a movie, either the animated film or the live-action movie? After all, could there possibly be anything the live-action movie could offer that would propel it closer to the books, even compared to the animated film?’

Obviously, given what I was in for, I did not anticipate finding any of that in the live-action film. But watching it again, I can pinpoint one semblance of a connection to the book. And without having read the books, I can tell you that in the original book series, Fishlegs was Hiccup’s best friend, the kind of guy who would have had Hiccup’s back when they were out studying the dragons together. And to see such friendships between the two of them here was not only touching but surprisingly faithful to the books.

To an extent.

As for everything else, this was clearly a live-action translation of the animated film, and nothing else. So, as you would expect, it did not do the plot any favors and made this movie feel too much like it followed the footsteps of the animated film rather than being its own direct version of How to Train Your Dragon. And that was one of its biggest downsides; while it did have its moments of visual grandeur, it followed the animated film too closely to be anything more than a translation of the film into live-action.

But I will say this about Snotlout.

In the animated films, I remembered him as a Casanova, the kind of guy who was always looking for attention, whether from Astrid or who knows who else. And of course, while Snotlout was definitely all about the fame and glory in this film, his affections for Astrid were second fiddle compared to what he tried to do to win the affections of others.

The most prominent example came from the attention he craved from his father, Spitelout, who would have tagged along with Stoick on their adventures or into war. And whenever Snotlout attempted to say hi to him or be on his side, his father brushed him off like he had bigger fish to fry than whatever shenanigans his son was up to.

That threw in a surprisingly tragic angle with Snotlout, and it made me understand why he was so desperate to grab others’ attention, have them listen to him, and treat him like someone worthy of ruling Berk. Even though, yes, Snotlout felt like a borderline bully to Hiccup every once in a while, there’s a part of that that made me feel like there’s some slight jealousy he had in Hiccup for what he had done surprisingly well, whether it’s dragon training, dragon fighting, or even with Astrid. And that was very fascinating, considering that Hiccup was also trying to impress his father, Stoick, even though the methods they both used to practice their dragon-related skills left them butting heads at times.

Even the actor playing him, Gabriel Howell, played him as more of a pathetic guy rather than just a straight-up bully. But again, some of Snotlout’s craving for affection showed more of his character in this movie than before, and added more dynamics to him than simply being a bully. What’s also most intriguing is that this also tied into what was explored of the character in the animated TV show.

If anything, the more bully-like characteristics belonged more to Tuffnut, who was always the nosy older brother type, especially when he picked on Ruffnut, who was clearly a different kind of Ruffnut than I was used to from the animated films and the show.

Honestly, though, while both the actors did decently with their characters, Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut and Bronwyn James as Ruffnut, they felt a touch stiff in capturing the constant brother-and-sister nagging that these characters exhibited. What I missed about Kristen Wiig and TJ Miller’s performances from the animated movies was how they delivered their lines. They just added some zest to their zingers. The live actors, while not bad in honing their interpretations of the characters, weren’t close enough to match the original voice actors.

Of course, there were some standouts worthy of attention.

Let’s start with the actor who played Gobber the Belch, Nick Frost. While I wouldn’t say his performance was anything to write home about, I felt more cohesion out of it that helped me admire Gobber as a character at times, even if his methods of reasoning and sense of humor were too subdued compared to what Craig Ferguson gave him in the animated films. But whenever he showed genuine concern for Hiccup, Stoick, or any of their fellow Berkians, he made it more prominent than in normal circumstances, to the point where I had some shred of concern for him.

One of my favorite jokes from him was when Gobber was about to select either Astrid or Hiccup to be the next Viking, and after gesturing towards Astrid, he gestured board Hiccup with a wooden thumbs-down. It was after Gothi defiantly responded with her staff that Gobber flipped it around to a thumbs-up, which got Gothi’s approval this time. So, Gobber’s sense of humor was still there, Frost simply threw his own spin on it.

As for Nico Parker, who played Astrid, I still say that, despite some imperfections with her performance, she was not half bad as Astrid. I remembered just how ravishing Astrid looked in the animated films, and also how well America Ferrera played her character. But Nico Parker lent to her character a disposition that made her seem more serious than cheerless, rather than feisty and determined.

I saw Parker for the first time as Joel’s biological daughter in the pilot episode of The Last of Us, and I remember just how much innate confidence she expressed. And knowing how well she played her role in that show, I was genuinely curious to see how well she would have taken on Astrid. In this film, Parker drew on some of what she did in The Last of Us through her character, and it showed.

Never mind the whole race-swapping debacle, like what Halle Bailey had to put up with when she was cast as Ariel for the live-action Little Mermaid. As easy as it is to make an issue out of it, it wasn’t the issue here. I can tell that Parker was picked more for her acting, and I can assure you that what she brought to her role as Astrid was terrific.

For starters, she captured Astrid’s general fierceness when she was in the middle of training her butt off to prove herself as the dragon warrior she knew she had to be. And I could read it all over her facial expressions and body language. It was enough to feel like how Astrid would have responded to certain things, while also being distinct enough to convey this as a separate interpretation of Astrid.

Most of the time, though, Parker carried a borderline frown and strutted about with a look of almost fearless commitment, as if she knew what tasks had to be done, whether for her friends, Berk, or especially herself. But I believed Nico Parker’s acting truly shone when she loosened her performance and became more mellow, as did her character, as she began to feel more comfortable around Hiccup. When Parker began to feel more expressive, that’s when she allowed Astrid to carry the same rounded characteristics that defined her in the animated film.

And another thing. I’m all for colorblind casting, but here’s some advice on how to do it right. Unless the character the actor is playing is either adopted or mixed-race, think twice before you cast people of separate ethnicities as their parents or relatives. There’s racism, and then there’s an overlooked little detail called genetic inconsistencies.

Next, we have Mason Thames as Hiccup. He deserved all the credit because, as far as I know, he was excellent in applying his characteristics to Hiccup the same way Jay Baruchel did in the animated films.

Thames captured the insecure, awkward, and sometimes goofy aspects of Hiccup’s more humble teenage personality. He lunged into things without thinking straight. He tried to win the affections of Astrid, and sometimes he was a little insufficient in getting his explanations across more clearly. But when it came to him being inventive with his gadgetry and also with his inventions on Toothless and his tail, he showed an innermost determination that would have hinted at exactly what kind of person he would have grown up to be as far as his studies with the dragons were concerned. Plus, I felt like his wimpiness was dialed back a bit to reflect not only his age and inexperience, but also how proficient he was in other fields, like swordsmithing or his studying of the dragons.

Another part of Thames’ performance that I thought set him apart from Jay Baruchel was when he sounded less awkward or desperate in his explanations and more outraged, like there was an inner child in him that sounded very frustrated at being neglected for too long. It was most evident when Hiccup tried to explain to Stoick about Toothless and why he and the dragons were not as bad as they seemed.

Thames’ performance was memorable because he captured everything that made Hiccup so awkward yet special and inventive, as in the animated films, while also adding enough anguish to make him feel more dynamic as a teenage character.

But the standout performance in this movie would have to be from Gerard Butler, who came back to play Stoick the Vast after mastering his character in the animated films.

We know how well he played his role in the animated films, with him lending his character enough gravitas, dignity, high standing, and complexity to help paint him in a very complex manner, demonstrating just what more there could have been revealed of him underneath his tough and aggressive demeanor and position in power.

Here, at times, Gerard Butler captured much of the familiar vocals necessary to enliven Stoick as he had in the animated films. But there were times when I found his performance a little too flamboyant, a little too flimsy compared to what he brought to his voice performance as Stoick in the animated films. Sometimes it worked, but there were some rare occasions where the voice performance did not stick the landing.

But what I’m about to highlight next was what made his performance so remarkable.

See, it’s one thing to replicate a voice performance, but this was nothing like what James Earl Jones did with Mufasa in the live-action Lion King. Gerard Butler had to exercise more than just his vocals for this role. He also had to exercise his muscle tone, his body language, and his expressions. He had to work extra hard to make sure that everything he did, said, or emoted completely matched how Stoick would have.

As is, Butler carried off the vibes of a genuine Viking who was willing to lunge into battle and take down any dragons they would have found or faced. And yes, he still captured his awkward moments, especially when it came to his relationship with Hiccup.

In other words, Butler had to go from voice acting to straight-up acting this time around. These were some pretty big shoes to fill, and I can safely say that while the shoes did not quite fit him in live-action as they did in the animated films, he still did the best job he possibly could in translating Stoick the Vast into a live-action setting.

But I will say this. Probably the biggest downside of the acting was that, because this was a live-action version of an animated film, the actors did not convey their roles with as much levity by comparison. Maybe they thought that, since it’s a live-action film, anything that seemed a little too comedic would feel out of place. Who knows what the deal was behind it? But it did result in moments that felt a little too dull to be taken seriously in this movie, rather than being lighthearted enough to complement the hard, high-stakes, and severe circumstances of the rest of the film.

Some moments in live-action may be too slow for animation, and some things in animation could be too fast for live-action. With the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, I felt like it was trying to keep up the animated film’s fast-paced energy, but it looked a little sluggish in its attempts.

However, in some cases, the acting brought out a little more emotion than I anticipated in this version of How to Train Your Dragon, especially in the climax. One example I can highlight was the scene where Stoick and Astrid thought Hiccup had died in his attack on the Red Death. Stoick and Astrid were clearly saddened by the supposed loss in the animated film, but in this movie, they both looked like they were breaking down in tears over it.

Whenever the actors allowed more emotion to seep through in this movie than in the animated film, it highlighted to varying degrees just how dire the situation had become, and they went all out in making it evident. So they at least did a good job of not being too stoic – no pun intended – about their expressions in this movie, unlike what I’ve seen in some of Disney’s live-action remakes.

But now, let’s shift our attention to what might be the movie’s most extraordinary aspect: the visuals.

I talked on and on about the designs of the dragons in the animated films and how inventive they were, with many new species of dragons being introduced while each one was given its own biological traits and unique abilities, resulting in an overall eclectic array of designs to diversify the dragons with.

While having live actors automatically solidified the film’s status as a live-action remake, this was where the film’s potential as a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon hung in the balance. It could have been ‘realistic’ at the cost of expression, as the live-action Lion King remake was, or it could have been too expressive and not realistic enough to be taken seriously.

The good news, however, is that the visual team went far beyond what I expected from them in this film. Look at the details in Toothless’ eyes, the scales, the claws, the wings, the bodily features. They not only made sure that the dragons were as faithful to the designs of the dragons from the animated films as possible, but they also went the extra mile to lend enough realism to them to make them feel like these dragons really did live and breathe many thousands of years ago, especially Toothless.

At one point, my girlfriend, who watched it with me, thought the visuals of the dragons were easily on par with the visuals of the dragons from Game of Thrones, and I still agree with her on that. Every one of the dragons, especially Toothless, was conveyed with such realism that they felt like they were there among the Vikings when they still roamed the seas and did their thing.

Of course, let’s also talk about the Red Death. Unlike the Red Death in the animated film, this dragon surely lived up to her name this time. Not only did I see some red on her, but frankly, I found her far more terrifying than in the animated film. While I remember being intimidated by her gargantuan size and unnerving appearance, watching the Red Death in a live-action setting made me realize just how deadly she seemed and that her size was not the only thing that made her so feared. Even the scene when Astrid was caught in between her teeth just to set Stormfly free, that really told me just how much of a terrifying presence this dragon was, even to all of the dragons who followed her. Just like the animated film, the Red Death made her presence known by swallowing one of the dragons whole, and the fact that part of what looked like the cavern suddenly rose as her horn honed just how massive this dragon was and how deadly she could be when agitated.

So, again, I give props to the visual team for going all out in bringing the dragons to life this way.

But get a load of what else there was to report about this Red Death. You remember what I mentioned to you about the Bewilderbeast from How to Train Your Dragon 2 and how that dragon species could influence the dragons into doing its own bidding through psychic means? While the Red Death in the animated film lacked that capability, this one did. I still remember what Valka said:

Every nest has its queen, but this is the king of all dragons.

So it’d make sense for the ‘queen’ to have that capability as well. And when I last talked about what the Bewilderbeast could do, I thought it was an improvement over the Red Death in the animated film, so seeing the Red Death share that capability in this film felt like a noticeable improvement, too.

It brings me to mention a few more additions about this movie that I found pretty fascinating.

One, remember what I said about the animated film where Astrid gave Hiccup a subtle glance as he walked away, showing that she had feelings for him?

Well, in this film, I did not remember that from Astrid. After all, she was among the people, like Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout, who would have picked on Hiccup. But she did not do so in a teasing or mocking way, but rather in a ‘what were you thinking’ manner.

Instead, what caught my attention in the beginning was how the village elder, Gothi, who, in this film, had braids in her hair and a Norse abacus, noticed Hiccup trying to set out with his dragon gear to capture a dragon with. One would think this would not amount to much, but there’s just something about what she saw in Hiccup when he was out to net a dragon. That told me how, throughout the rest of the film, whenever she had to make her decisions based on Hiccup’s, Astrid’s, and their classmates’ collective performances in dragon training, there was a gut feeling inside of her, if not instinct, that told her that maybe Hiccup was far stronger and more daring than he was letting on, like there was something inside of him that she knew would determine his worth as a fellow Viking and a fellow Berkian. So, that scene stuck out to me.

Also, when Hiccup was about to read the Book of Dragons and ask Astrid if she wanted to study with him, she said, “Read it.” And while that was all that happened between them in the animated film, it went on a little longer in this film. And I found the following discussion between them in this scene very interesting.

Hiccup went on about how he knew that she was capable of fighting off dragons, while also asking her whether maybe the dragons were not as bad as they thought they were, and that maybe they, the Vikings, were the problem and not the dragons. Astrid then cornered him and coldly reminded him about how desperate she was to make it to the top, and how she had her eye on his house out of an aspiration to become a future chief of Berk. And she still expressed her distrust of Hiccup and all that he could or couldn’t do regarding the dragons.

I found that interesting because she literally said that she came from nothing. I wonder if that meant that she came from a pretty intolerable background before she and her family ended up in Berk, or if she was an orphan who had to find her way up to the top before she could slink down. Whatever the case, it made me look at Astrid with a little more intrigue about her background and what she meant to do. On top of that, because this would have occurred before Astrid’s curiosity for Hiccup’s escapades with the dragons reached its peak, it made me realize how Astrid was beginning to sense something in Hiccup that struck her fancy, even though she didn’t look like she would have been that interested in Hiccup anyway. And the longer it went on, the more apparent it became that there was more of a connection beginning to bloom between Hiccup and Astrid, just that they had to find the right push to make it happen.

This was where I thought the live-action version took its own approach to Hiccup and Astrid’s romance on the same level as the animated film did, and I welcome that wholeheartedly.

And this leads to another scene I remember, where Hiccup, Astrid, and the others fought the Red Death to protect their fellow Vikings from her reign of terror. One thing that they dwelled on that might not have been from the animated film was that they kept beating their shields to intimidate the Red Death, but they forgot that it also intimidated the dragons they were riding on, so that made them more at the Red Death’s mercy. But it was nothing compared to when Stormfly’s tail was caught in between the Red Death’s teeth. In which case, Astrid, fearing for her dragon, leaped into Red Death’s teeth and chopped some of them down to set her free, only to be trapped inside the teeth herself as she tried to break out of the teeth before she was chomped down on.

I admired this because A, Astrid voluntarily went in there to free Stormfly, which was pretty brave in and of itself. And B, it’s not like she was begging for help and then being rescued. She was fearful of what would come next until she saw Hiccup and Toothless coming towards her. And as soon as she saw them, that’s when she leaped out of the mouth and jumped before the Red Death scorched her, and then Toothless was able to rescue her. Now that, I thought was pretty well done.

Of course, a part of me felt like this didn’t need to be there, because, even though Astrid herself had to be rescued in the original animated film, I remembered her more for her feistiness and her attitude, so even if she was more likely the damsel-in-distress than the Astrid in the live-action film, that made her feel more rounded to me. I personally find it more balanced out when characters like Astrid can convey both sides to her character authentically, both her courageous and vulnerable sides, but what the Astrid of the live-action film has to show for it, that worked, too.

John Powell’s music in this film carried many of the familiar musical cues that he did in the first film. So, you can say that music was pretty much recycled as well, down to capturing the balance of the childlike wonders and the adult dilemmas that would have been sensed in his musical styles. Even the classic track ‘Test Drive’ was brought back.

Knowing what Alan Menken achieved from working on the music again for the live-action versions of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, it’s obvious that John Powell’s music was going to be a bit of a step down compared to what he had already mastered of the music from the animated versions, as undeniably nice as they would have sounded.

That’s how it felt half the time, though. The other half of the time, it did go ahead and try out different pieces of music that would have felt just as fitting for How to Train Your Dragon as if they had been composed for the first film. I especially remember fondly the track called “…And Finally, the End Credits Suite”, which had a very nice, northern, folksy, ethereal feel.

But what I did not anticipate was that some of the musical pieces used in the climax and even the beginning of the end credits had come from How to Train Your Dragon 2. At first, I looked at it as misplaced musical cues, but I’m convinced those were snuck in to foreshadow what the characters would deal with in the next film.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about that, because the live-action movie was so successful that a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is in the works, too.

As much as I admired the efforts in the live-action movie, I am still uncertain about how that will turn out and what good it would do for How to Train Your Dragon as a series of live-action films. Because we know that How to Train Your Dragon recycled many elements from the first movie, what are the odds that the next film will basically recycle what it had mastered the first time in How to Train Your Dragon 2, too? And how much rewatch value would have been impaired by how much it’d decide to recycle from the animated film, just like what the first live-action film did with the first animated film? And how about The Hidden World, if there’ll be a live-action movie made of that? What would happen then?

This kind of practice might demonstrate that while the money-making can guarantee you making some good art to make more money off of, you need to be really careful about what kind of movies you could make in the hopes of making money. Remember, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s motto is ars gratia artis, art for art’s sake. But the live-action remakes, both from Disney and especially the How to Train Your Dragon remakes, felt more like art for money’s sake, which, as I’m sure a lot of people can agree with me on, is an unhealthy way to go about it. Even Walt Disney himself believed in this philosophy, saying that he didn’t make movies to make money, he made money to make movies. And these live-action remakes feel like Hollywood may have missed that point by now.

Of course, even with that out of the way, I am still holding out hopes for the live-action remakes to do something right by the How to Train Your Dragon franchise and do things that either set itself apart more from the animated films or, even if this may not happen by a long shot, embody elements from the original books that went unused in the animated installments.

Watching this movie again, I still feel that there were plenty of things that unfortunately brought it down by a noticeable degree, because it followed the animated film too closely. But it wasn’t to such an extent that it did not have enough wiggle room to throw its own spin on the matter. I still think it’s a matter of what else it excelled at that made this a far more worthy live-action remake than it had any right to be.

On top of that, what saved this movie from feeling too much like a carbon copy of the original was bringing back Dean DeBlois from the animated trilogy to write and direct it. So it’s little wonder that this movie felt a lot like the animated film, only in live-action. It most likely worked because it had the good fortune to have one of the masterminds behind the animated films put their spin on it, even as it transcended into live-action territory. What this film lacked in terms of its magic, it made up for with its sense of spirit.

So, as foolhardy as the idea of a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon seemed, it was still remarkable what the creators achieved in this film. I was coming in expecting so much less, but I was surprised by what more it was able to achieve, even if it did not come close to propelling this on the same level as the animated How to Train Your Dragon. It wasn’t even close enough to being on the same level as the remake of Pete’s Dragon, which, as you may remember me saying, was one of the best examples of throwing out a distinct take on a classic Disney movie in a live-action setting. But for what it did right, it did it right.

The acting, though a little restrained, was still adequate enough to lend the story some dignity in a live-action setting. The visuals, when applied to the dragons, were top-tier and helped bring them to life. But even then, what was recycled of both the plot and the music from the animated film still felt like the major sticking points of this film.

While I would still recommend sticking with the animated film, I would nonetheless recommend this for any How to Train Your Dragon fan to see what you can, and probably should, do with a live-action remake of an animated classic.

Does it soar high as a live-action remake? A fair deal. Does it soar high as another chapter of How to Train Your Dragon? Not a chance. But we’ll see how much higher this, as its own series, could go.

My Rating

A low B+