It’s been 15 years since the world was first introduced to the animated DreamWorks 2010 classic, How to Train Your Dragon. It was so successful that it launched two other films: How to Train Your Dragon 2 and 2019’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Not to mention the How to Train Your Dragon: Live Spectacular world tour in 2012.
So it’s not surprising that the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon was made. There is a compelling story at the core of this film to keep audiences engaged. Also, you have part of the directing team responsible for the animated movie heading this up. Dean DeBlois, who also co-wrote the original and this version, was smart enough to leave the story largely intact.
Other than adding a few small elements, such as introducing the fact that the Viking tribe at Berk consists of other great warrior tribes that want to kill dragons that have joined from the Orient and the African regions. I’m sure this was just to help make sales in other countries easier, but it’s also nice to have an inclusive element that doesn’t beat you over the head. The way they broach it in this film works.
That said, the storyline didn’t change. It is still centered around Hiccup (Mason Thames), the son of Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), Chief of the Hooligan Tribe in the village of Berk. However, Hiccup is not your traditional Viking. He is slender and inventive and desperately wants to win his father’s approval and that of the village by becoming a dragon slayer. Until he met a dragon he injured, he thought he could do it. But when he couldn’t bring himself to kill the wounded dragon, he befriends it instead. Giving it the name of Toothless.
While his father and most of the village are out looking for the main dragon nest to destroy it and win the war against their enemy, Hiccup is secretly bonding with Toothless. All the while, he has to train with the other cool teenagers in the village. They must learn the fine art of dragon slaying.
The class is led by his father’s best friend, Gobber (Nick Frost). He has many wounds and missing bits from his battles with dragons. But he takes his testing of the new class seriously. The teenagers Hiccup has to train with have never been kind to him, treating him as an outsider. There’s the overconfident and short Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), the chubby brain like a database about all things dragons Fishlegs (Julian Dennison), the twins Ruffnut (Bronwyn James) and Tuffnut (Harry Trevaldwyn), and, of course, the best fighter of the bunch, the beautiful Astrid (Nico Parker). Hiccup has had a crush on her for as long as he can remember. Hiccup leads a double life as he hides the secret of his dragon, all the while training and competing against the others to win first place and kill a dragon as the graduation prize.
The friendship that Hiccup develops with Toothless ultimately challenges all the traditional Viking beliefs that dragons are enemies. The fact that Hiccup has learned to ride and train dragons does not save him from the wrath of his father once the secret is out.
In the end, Hiccup must choose to be true to himself or the tribe. And the whole village is surprised by where their help comes from when they finally do find the nest of the biggest dragon ever to be seen.
How to Train Your Dragon had everything working in its favor for it to succeed. From the director who helped create it when it was just an animation to the brilliant casting, which matched most of the looks from the animated characters to the real-life versions, and the choice of Gerard Butler to play Stoick. He took on the part and gave it gravitas and depth, which helped anchor the film. It keeps the movie from being one-dimensional. Flat portrayals of well-known characters are a problem that plagues many films that choose to adapt a well-known and much-loved animation into live-action. Luckily, that does not happen in this film.
But what I really think is the secret sauce for this new incarnation of the story is the teaming of three talented men. The fantastic cinematography by Bill Pope, with Roger Deakins serving as a visual consultant, and the transcendent score by Academy Award-nominated composer John Powell. The artistry of these men combines to give this film its magic.
Let me explain: you go into this movie knowing that there will be dragons. You go into this movie knowing that Hiccup will learn how to ride Toothless. What you leave this movie with is the feeling that it really, actually happened. And that you were lucky enough to be riding along in the clouds along with them. There is magic in this film when it comes to any of the scenes where Toothless and Hiccup are flying. You will leave the theater wanting to have a dragon of your own and believing that it’s possible. And that’s why this film surpasses the original animation that started it all.
I give How To Train Your Dragon 4.5 stars. It’s a great live version of the classic animated film. It is definitely worth coughing up the big bucks to see it in a theater, so all the grandeur sweeps you away on the wings of the dragons. Then, when it is available to buy or stream, and your children are watching it for the hundredth time, you will be able to think back to the spark you felt in the theater, where you felt you were along for the ride with Hiccup and Toothless.
Directed by: Dean DeBlois
Written by: Dean DeBlois, Cressida Cowell, William Davies
Rated: PG
Selig Rating: 4.5 Stars
Running Time: 2 h 5 min
Adventure/ Teen Fantasy
Wide Release: In theaters and IMAX June 13th
Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
4 Stars – Good movie
3 Stars – OK movie
2 Stars – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
1 Star – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn’t paid for it.