Evaluating the live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ on its own terms yields a solid, visually enchanting experience. However, the degree to which it literally replicates its animated counterpart leaves its necessity up for debate. That may not matter to many audiences, but it’s somewhat indicative of how badly we need a return to inventiveness and risk-taking in the modern film industry.
I’ve long considered the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy to be DreamWorks’ answer to Pixar’s Toy Story trilogy. Animated wonders filled with visual awe, delightful characters, and timeless themes on self-discovery, their high quality remained admirably consistent throughout the 2010s. DreamWorks now appears to be following in Disney’s footsteps as this newest film gives the original animation a live-action coat of paint in the hands of the same director, Dean DeBlois. The result retains just enough of the original’s charm, although the need for its existence remains highly questionable.
Based on the children’s stories by Cressida Cowell, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Mason Thames) is a teenager living on the island of Berk, a society of Vikings. For generations, the Vikings of Berk have been at war with dragons, as these wild beasts burn their homes and steal their livestock. Hiccup desperately wants to fit in, but his lack of physical strength and preference for invention make him an outcast, much to the dismay of his father and Viking Chief, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler).
An opportunity arises for Hiccup when he successfully downs a Night Fury, a rare dragon feared by the Vikings of Berk. Upon finding the dragon, Hiccup finds himself unable to kill it, instead setting it free. This begins an unlikely bond between Hiccup and the Night Fury, whom he names Toothless due to his retractable teeth. As Hiccup struggles to juggle nursing Toothless back to health with his Viking training, he realises just how misunderstood dragons are, as his new friendship with Toothless threatens to reshape all of Viking society.
We’ll start with the very thing that will determine one’s interest in this picture – it’s pretty much a replica of the animated film, just in live-action and with a few add-ons. The story was always going to be similar, but the plot points and much of the dialogue are verbatim with the original, from emotional outbursts regarding dragon and Viking relations to scenes of comic relief. Many shots and visuals are identical, from breathtaking flight scenes to silent bonding sequences between Hiccup and Toothless.
If imitation was the objective, then it’s undoubtedly an impressive copy, but it’s still a bit depressing if we look at it through the lens of imagination. A remake should offer something more than just an aesthetic difference; otherwise, what’s stopping audiences from staying home and watching the original again? Just because a film is animated doesn’t mean it’s less valuable than live-action. The animated movies are already radically different from Cressida Cowell’s books, so a new interpretation that is more faithful to the source material could’ve been a solid option here. But you’re not doing much beyond capitalising on nostalgia by making a carbon copy of a previous great movie. That might financially work in the short term, but it does nothing for modern creativity or your film’s longevity, for that matter.
However, if we forget about the animated version for a moment, the film has plenty of charisma. Even if they are recreations, the visuals are still stellar, albeit too reliant on CGI at times. Locations in Northern Ireland and Iceland acted as stand ins for the Isle of Berk, giving the setting an authentic feel in terms of imagery. At the same time, the production and costume designs replicate Viking imagery and even idiosyncrasies with jovial abandon. Although Toothless and the rest of the dragons look identical to their animated versions, the detail in their designs still gives them a life-like feel that works surprisingly well with the live-action backgrounds. The flight scenes are similarly enchanting, with perhaps the greatest shot in the film being when Toothless breaks through the clouds to see a night sky with the Northern Lights above. These scenes feel like you could reach out and touch the clouds running through your fingers, just as the characters do.
©Universal/DreamWorks Pictures
A strong cast also goes a long way in providing this film with sufficient entertainment. Mason Thames’ interpretation of Hiccup is more frustrated and less sarcastic than Jay Baruchel’s version, but Thames captures the character’s smarts and vulnerabilities, retaining his relatable qualities. Nico Parker plays Astrid, a young Viking warrior and Hiccup’s love interest. Although the addition of her desire to become chief feels superfluous, especially since it’s only brought up in one scene, Parker still brings a spunkiness and assuredness to the role that makes her character and her evolving view of Hiccup engaging. Gerard Butler is the one returning actor from the animated films, and his performance is the strongest of the cast. Playing a brutish leader who exudes traditionally masculine qualities while undergoing an arc of embracing his son’s differences, Butler brings charisma as well as subdued anxiety to the role, replicating his previously impeccable voice work into physical performance seamlessly.
What made the How to Train Your Dragon films so spectacular wasn’t just the awe-inspiring visuals but their thematic celebrations of curiosity and intellectualism. Its story served as a pushback against hatred and conservative traditions in favour of inquisitiveness and understanding. Hiccup and Toothless’s friendship remains captivating years later because Hiccup is learning about dragons through empathy and genuine interest. By keeping their friendship at the centre of the story, this new film champions those same sentiments, doing so reasonably well, even if it is largely a consequence of closely following the animated film. In this time of intellectual regression, where denial of fact and targeted hatred are government policies in many places, stories that encourage curiosity and open-mindedness are perhaps more essential than ever. While this film’s choice of delivery remains questionable, the value of its convictions remains solid.
Evaluating the live-action How to Train Your Dragon on its own terms yields a solid, visually enchanting experience. However, the degree to which it literally replicates its animated counterpart leaves its necessity up for debate. That may not matter to many audiences, but it’s somewhat indicative of how badly we need a return to inventiveness and risk-taking in the modern film industry. Nevertheless, plenty is on offer here for families who want a couple of hours of escapism. Overall, it’s a decent, even good, film, but I won’t be choosing it over the animated version anytime soon.
Dean DeBlois’ How to Train Your Dragon, starring Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Julian Dennison and Gabriel Howell, is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
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