By George & Josh Bate
Since 2010, How to Train Your Dragon has been a standout success for DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios, cementing itself as a crown jewel for the company. With a fantastical world full of wonder, warmth, and sky-bound spectacle, DreamWorks went on to release a trilogy of How to Train Your Dragon films, complete with heartfelt character arcs for Hiccup and co., as well as some groundbreaking and breathtaking animation. Following the trend of Disney and their slew of live-action remakes of hit animated films, Universal hopes to recapture the magic of Dean DeBlois’ animated phenomenon with a live-action reimagining. Delightfully marking a departure from most live-action remakes that fail to accomplish this goal, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon exceeds even the highest expectations in carrying over all of the emotion, heart, and visuals into a new medium.
The 2025 remake of How to Train Your Dragon closely follows the narrative structure of its animated predecessor. For those unfamiliar, the story takes place in a Viking village named Berk, the home of Hiccup (Mason Thames), a teenage misfit who struggles to find friends among his dragon-slaying peers. That is, until he befriends an injured dragon, the elusive Night Fury who is given the name of Toothless. Hiccup becomes close with Toothless, and the two bond together despite the generations of conflict and rivalry between dragons and humans. Thames is joined by Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as Astrid, Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz) as Gobber, Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2) as Fishlegs, and Gerard Butler (Playing for Keeps), who reprises his role as Hiccup’s father Stoick the Vast.
Dean DeBlois, who helmed all three of the animated films, returns as director here, an unconventional move for the recent crop of live-action remakes. Having such experience with these characters and this world, DeBlois handles the transfer of this story from animation to live-action with incredible reverence for the source material. Visually, the director recaptures the sheer size and scale of Berk and deftly translates the grandness of the Viking culture and the dragons from animation to live-action. DeBlois subverts any temptation to make a shot-for-shot remake of the animated film, however. While many of the original’s iconic shots are beautifully recreated, there is also an inherent understanding that not everything in animation translates seamlessly to live-action. As such, DeBlois ensures that his new film works well in a different medium and, even more commendably, justifies its existence in being far more than just a remake of a beloved classic.
In addition to successfully translating its source material’s visual language, How to Train Your Dragon captures the emotional heart that made the 2010 animated film so resonant. Like its predecessor, DeBlois’ film juggles a myriad of touching themes relatable to audiences across the lifespan, all contained within a fictional world of massive dragons. From becoming our own person and defying our parents’ expectations of us to showing kindness and compassion to those who are different, the simple yet effective messaging works excellently and never becomes disingenuous or saccharine. If there’s one word to describe How to Train Your Dragon, it is ‘warm.’ An undeniably warmth flows throughout as the film embraces critical messages of empathy and understanding all too necessary nowadays.
Mason Thames steps into the role of Hiccup, previously voiced by Jay Baruchel, with a vulnerability and kindness perfect for the character. Fitting with Hiccup’s misfit nature in Berk society, Thames starts out somewhat awkward in the film, but, over time, grows into the role. The chemistry that Thames is able to capture with Toothless, a digitally rendered dragon, is heartwarming and, perhaps most importantly, very believable – which was always going to be a challenge when translating this story into live action. Much of the film’s emotional weight relies on the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless and, thanks to a sincere performance from Thames and superb visual effects, there are no missteps here.
The visual effects warrant particular praise as they are essential in making How to Train Your Dragon as emotionally affecting as it is. If the visual translation of Toothless from animation to live-action doesn’t work, the film simply doesn’t hold. In an intelligent move, the filmmakers and VFX team opt to not deviate significantly from the animated design of Toothless, instead retaining the character’s signature facial expressions and eyes. Although such a direct translation of the character invites possible aesthetic disjointedness with a more cartoon-ish character situated in a live-action world, Toothless blends seamlessly in the film. The minute details used to bring the titular dragon to life are excellent and showcase that photo-realistic VFX are not always the path to crafting creature/animal characters to invest in.
Also worth noting in the film is Gerard Butler, who returns to play Stoick after playing the character in animation. In many ways, Butler is a anchor for the new film, bringing some comforting continuity between the original animated films and this new adaptation. The Scottish actor is also able to show off his commanding presence more in the live-action medium, while still sporting his familiar gravelly accent. Butler’s performance is that of an actor who deeply understands the character he’s portraying and the world around him, and shows a touching level of affection for the source material to boot. The actor’s return isn’t just a clever marketing trick to convince viewers of the legitimacy of this remake. Rather, it ends up being an essential piece of this adaptation that makes the story come together, helping to bridge the emotional legacy of the original films with the new reimagining.
As is the case with all live-action remakes of animated films, a question is raised: is the live-action remake really necessary? In other terms, if the animated classic was so great, what is the point of reimagining it in another medium? This question becomes all the more glaring when one considers that the animated How to Train Your Dragon trilogy released relatively recently. But perhaps the question of whether the film is ‘necessary’ misses the point here. If anything, this new film shows how powerful the story at hand is, in managing to carry over so effortlessly from one medium to another. Rather than be bogged down in the necessity of the film, one can instead champion a story and characters with enduring appeal. With the new film’s inherent accessibility, combined with the charm and faithfulness to the original, ensures that the core lessons of the story (empathy, growth, and connection), continue to fly high for years to come.
VERDICT: 8/10
Universal’s live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon proves to be a faithful and heartfelt retelling of the animated phenomenon. Director Dean DeBlois recaptures the visual language of the 2010 animated film with deftness and precision, while also tapping into the same powerful emotions that made the predecessor such heartwarming viewing. Outstanding visual effects, in particular those to bring Toothless to life, contribute significantly to how moving the film is, as do strong performances from Mason Thames and Gerard Butler. With simple yet poignant themes of living up to parental expectations and embracing differences, How To Train Your Dragon possesses a timeless and enduringly relevant quality to it, which allows one to ignore questions of whether a live-action remake of an animated film is necessary. In an era in which a new live-action remake of an animated classic seemingly arrives every other week, it is refreshing to watch one that retains the warmth and emotion of its source material so masterfully.