How to Train Your Dragon is the first Dreamworks film to get the live-action treatment, and it might already have surpassed all of Disney’s attempts. Photos: Dreamworks.
We have already seen three beloved animated films get the live action remake treatment in 2025.
First off the rank was Snow White and the less that’s said about it, the better. Then we got Lilo and Stitch, which, while on the surface was fun, lacked the story beats and quirky side characters that made the original so enjoyable.
With those two films in the bank, you can understand why plenty of people, myself included, were nervous about the remake of the beloved How to Train Your Dragon.
Surprisingly, and pleasantly, I can confirm this movie was a lot of fun for the exact same reasons the original was so much fun. Because they are the exact same film.
It is almost one for one with the original film, bar some very minimal cuts and additions to dialogue. All the scenes are the same, the characters are the same and the music, thank God, is the same.
Because of this, it makes it super tricky to review.
READ ALSO: So … The live action Lilo & Stitch is just kinda fine
On one hand, the story still is top-notch and the characters in it are as lovable as ever, even if it did take a bit to get the original voice actors’ delivery out of my head.
On the other hand, it sparks the ethical debate of: if you’re making the exact same movie, is that not just a cash grab?
It’s a fair question but I have to admit I had a damn good time watching it.
In order for this movie to be well received, it needed to successfully do two things:
- Give us a solid lead performance from the main character, Hiccup, and build on his relationships with everyone on the island
- Make the central dragon, Toothless, as close to the original as possible while still being lovable.
The film succeeded in both of these spaces, and the rest of the film fell around it.
Mason Thames did a pretty good job as Hiccup. He isn’t quite as charismatic as Jay Barachel was in the original, and at times it felt like he was doing an impression of him, but his physical performances, selling a scrawny yet determined chief in the making, made it super easy to look past these very minor shortcomings.
As for Toothless, he was fantastic. Anyone worried about their favourite dragon getting dumbed down or looking like Sonic pre-fix, can rest easy.
The supporting cast was also fantastic and, in some cases, surpassed the original iterations.
Gerard Butler returns as Stoic and, just like the animated film, he’s fantastic as a naive yet fearless leader. Nick Frost was a fun replacement for Craig Gergurson as Gobber.
But the standout was Nico Parker as Astrid. A lot of the minor changes in the film were given to her. It provided added context to her values and the eventual switch-up she ends up making. Mixed with the fact that she can undeniably look after herself and others, and you’ve got a great counterbalance to Hiccup.
On the production side of things, most of the special effects look great. Key word, most.
The trailers sell the CGI short for how good it actually is. It was surprising to see how much was filmed on location and how the CGI added to the environment instead of entirely creating one.
However, there were some shocking greenscreen moments when multiple characters were riding dragons at once, although it looks no worse than when Daenerys did it in Game of Thrones.
It would be criminal of me not to mention the music.
READ ALSO: 88 years after the animated original, Disney’s Snow White returns to the big screen
John Powell put forward a masterclass when he released the original soundtrack for the 2010 film. Dreamworks took an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to the music here, and it was clearly the correct choice. Minus some new and gentle reprisals, also done by John Powell, there were again very minimal changes.
I wasn’t fortunate enough to see the original in the cinemas, and one sequence involving the song Test Flight was something I, like many others, was wondering how it would translate to live action. To put it simply, I had goosebumps the entire time.
All in all, How to Train Your Dragon is a very good family flick. As an adaptation, it serves more as just a remaster into live action more than anything else. While that might disappoint some, I would simply point you in the direction of Snow White, which changed everything. I know I said I wouldn’t mention it, but I needed to prove a point.
Go see How to Train Your Dragon with a big bucket of popcorn and enjoy the story that you loved 15 years ago.
How to Train Your Dragon is showing in cinemas across the country.
