PLOT: As an ancient threat endangers both Vikings and dragons alike on the isle of Berk, the friendship between Hiccup, an inventive Viking, and Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, becomes the key to both species forging a new future together.
REVIEW: There’s always plenty of debate whenever one of these live-action adaptations of a cartoon releases. No matter what filmmakers do, there’s always going to be a sect of people who disapprove. As proven by Lilo & Stitch, I am not one of those people, and simply want the cartoon translated to real life. That means there are going to be some changes because, let’s face it, cartoons don’t have to deal with logic in the same way. Which means I’m accepting of those kinds of changes. Just don’t completely replace a banger song with something drab and uninspired and not expect to get backlash. How To Train Your Dragon takes a similar approach to Stitch, recreating most of the cartoon with some slight changes to properly reflect the switch from animation.
How To Train Your Dragon follows Hiccup, a young Viking who has never quite fit in. His clan hunts down Dragons, but Hiccup thinks there’s an alternative way when he bonds with Toothless, a dragon with retractable teeth. So now he has to convince his clan, who only know Dragons as enemies, that maybe there’s another way. I was really impressed with how they handle the emotional beats, despite being an almost 1:1 recreation. But there’s over 20 more minutes of movie here, and they make the most of it, really making us care for the entire cast of characters.
Mason Thames does a wonderful job bringing Hiccup to life. He had pretty big shoes to fill, given Jay Baruchel’s fantastic voice performance, but he’s able to bring a similar level of vulnerability. And his mannerisms really couldn’t be better. It’s a bit uncanny at times. In a bit of a switchup, Nico Parker portrays Astrid and, while boasting a different look from her cartoon counterpart, proves why that doesn’t matter, and it should really be about performance. She nails Astrid’s attitude, and her chemistry with Mason is fantastic.
I was most interested in the performance of Gerard Butler, who originally voiced Stoick. Now portraying him in the flesh, I’m happy to say that he does a wonderful job, really getting down the larger-than-life persona without feeling cartoonish. It’s a hard feat to pull off, especially while maintaining the same energy of his animated outings. And it’s hard not to be impressed with how wide they managed to make him. Nick Frost and Julian Dennison also get some moments to shine, offering some great comic relief.
One easy criticism to levy against How To Train Your Dragon is all the CGI. Obviously, it’s difficult to tell this story without plenty of digital FX, but the point can be made that this is simply a different form of animation. Much of the film is still created by animators, they just have live action footage they have to contend with as well. But hey, the same could be said for some Marvel movies, and those aren’t considered cartoons. There are a couple of moments where the humans look oddly transposed against a digital background, but it’s not enough to undercut the great scenes, like Hiccup’s first interaction with Toothless.
I was pretty consistently amazed at the film’s visuals as I’ve always loved the Nordic seaside. There’s something quite special about those IMAX flying sequences, with one of them being the star of the show. If you can catch this on IMAX, I cannot recommend it enough. I also loved how much silhouettes were used to truly capture some captivating visuals.
Dean DeBlois (co-director of the animated film) returns to write and direct here, so the cinematic language is the same. In fact, it’s hard to take criticism against some of the choices made for the adaptation seriously when it’s one of the film’s original creators that’s making those changes. There’s a lot to like about How To Train Your Dragon. Just like Lilo & Stitch, the mere existence of this film is going to cause strife with fans of the original who view it as sacred. But I just can’t consider myself someone who minds these adaptations. They’re mostly harmless and provide another look at stories that many of us enjoy. The real question is whether the much more over-the-top sequels can translate to live action. I guess only time will tell, but they at least got this one right.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON IS PLAYING IN THEATERS ON JUNE 13TH, 2025.
