Review of 'How to Train Your Dragon'

A live-action remake of 2010's animated film of the same name, “How to Train Your Dragon” is largely a scene-for-scene retelling of the original.

On the isolated island of Berk Viking villagers have lived for years in fear of dragons who regularly invade and steal their sheep. During one attack the awkward, clumsy teenager Hiccup (Mason Thames) tries to help but is sent home by his father, chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler - who voiced the same character in the animated film). Hiccup is apprenticed to the weapons master (and trainer of youth in dragon combat) Gobber the Belch (Nick Frost) where he learns he has skills at making things but he dreams of slaying a dragon, perhaps the fiercest of them all - The pitch black, mysterious Night Fury. During a dragon attack, Hiccup manages to capture the elusive Night Fury but soon makes friends with it, learning to fly on it's back, and fixing it's tail that was damaged in the battle. When the village warriors set out to find and destroy the dragon's nest their ships are torn apart. With his friends Hiccup joins in training to kill dragons but realizes quickly that he no longer wants to kill the dragons (who have problems of their own)…but his father and the rest of the village does, despite their lack of success.

This film looks amazing with a general dark, brooding feel to it reflecting the tense standoff between the humans and the dragons. The film adds to the original animation with more character development and emotional depth though, where it counts it looks exactly like the original except, well, in live-action. The filmmakers have been extremely faithful to the original film taking pains to leave it's charm and spirit intact. The village and the dragons looks absolutely amazing, losing none of the charm in the conversion to the real world. The flight sequences are truly breath-taking and really bring the story to life. The actors also manage to really convey the characters well with Butler making an amazing, impressive chief while Mason Thames is the living embodiment of the insecure Hiccup struggling to find his way in his world. Sometimes it is difficult to convert whimsical and complicated cartoon characters into the real world but that does not seem to be a problem here with amazing translations of the dragons and even the main cast.

It is a bit long at a touch over 2 hours so younger viewers may lose their attention but for the rest of us it is a fun and great-looking version of the much loved story. This version does nothing to diminish that love.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2025-08-02

Directed by: Dean DeBlois

Studio: Universal Pictures

Year: 2025

Length: 125 minutes

Genre: Fantasy

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26743210/