How to Train Your Dragon (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

PopEntertainment
3 days ago
3 min read

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2025)

Starring Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz, Murray McArthur, Kate Kennedy, Ruth Codd, Murray McArthur, Andrea Ware, Marcus Onilude, Anna Leong Brophy, Samuel Johnson, Daniel-John Williams, Nick Cornwall and Pete Selwood.

Screenplay by Dean DeBlois.

Directed by Dean DeBlois.

Distributed by Universal Pictures. 125 minutes. Rated PG.

One of the most memorable animated features of my childhood has gotten its inevitable live action remake. How to Train Your Dragon has been one of Dreamworks Studio’s most wildly successful movie sagas following a classic story of forbidden friendship, the pursuit of acceptance (both self and social), as well as the fundamental importance of leadership and change. My worry when stepping into the theater was that like other large animation studios, this adaptation would lack soul or the essence of the source material. Largely, I can say that they hit their mark, but they are not without their hiccups, no pun intended.

Commonly discussed when it comes to live action remakes are certain elements being left behind or written off for reasons involving production restrictions or creative choice. Many characters are not cast to be true to life lookalikes of their cartoon counterparts, and especially as far as this movie is concerned, to look like those the mythology of the story was written by. I can say that this film does this in a way that does not confuse the story but enhances its world building. A widely diverse cast is rationalized by the idea of tribes coming together from foreign lands to defend against a common enemy, dragons. This expands the setting’s range and makes dragons a believable widespread problem in their world.

Setting aside the story, the actual visuals of the film were well done with realistic versions of the dragons that I enjoyed. Some had resemblances to animals, solidifying them in the realistic world and giving the movie the feel that live action adaptations should have. The dragons added the perfect amount of whimsical flare to make the real life setting fantastical. The sets were well constructed, and largely true to the original animated version.

As previously mentioned, the introduction of people from all lands in the story created strong diverse casting, and yet the unfortunate loss of one of the best details from the original film. A core part of representing the inspiration for the story, the Scottish accents being rarely heard was disappointing. Especially when the main character, Hiccup (played by Mason Thames) who was raised by two of the accented characters spoke as an average American, much like the rest of the main cast. I would have loved to see experimentation with other accents to strengthen the idea of an expanded world. A large mix of cultures living together could have been a far more interesting piece of the story than it was.

The relationship between Hiccup and Astrid (played by Nico Parker) was as it was in the cartoon. However, in live action, I felt the execution was rushed and unfortunately cringeworthy. On their own, both characters were played very well, however Astrid’s change of heart always felt too instantaneous to me. Otherwise the casting in general was well chosen, especially with Gerard Butler as Chief Stoick, and Nick Frost as Gobber. Both played the roles well (Butler had played the same character in the animated films), and even the supporting cast roles I felt were well chosen and interpreted. I especially enjoyed the performances of Julian Dennison (Fishlegs) and Gabriel Howell (Snotlout).

The soundtrack was composed by John Powell who had composed the original trilogy’s soundtracks as well. I appreciated hearing the original tune of “Test Drive” and seeing it played out along the iconic scene of Toothless’ first successful flight.

Finally I would like to mention the most important note I made during the screening. The expressiveness of Toothless as a character – especially through the dilation of his pupils – was a detail I was glad made it in so prominently. His tendencies were nothing short of precious as they were in the original, and I was glad to see the accuracy of my childhood favorite Dreamworks character on the big screen again.

I do recommend How to Train Your Dragon to fans of the original as well as those looking to see a classic story of change and acceptance. The live action stands on its own enough to be called a compliment to the original. There is not much change outside of appearances and world building, making it a pleasant rehashing of this classic movie.

Jordan Wagner