Whilst it’s predominantly the House of Mouse that have been transforming their animated back catalogue into live-action features that have all varied in their quality output, DreamWorks have entered the chat with one of their most ambitious updates in How to Train Your Dragon. Hoping they can avoid a lot of the soulless critiques that so often plague Disney’s efforts, the original animated director, Dean DeBlois, has once again helmed proceedings, resulting in an adventure piece that, admittedly, has quite a lot of soul, but can’t quite escape the inevitable conversation that’ll be had regarding its necessity on screen.
In an amusing, kind of “six degrees of separation” type manner, DeBlois and fellow director Chris Sanders, who co-helmed the original, brought such to life 8 years after collaborating on the animated Lilo & Stitch, which, in itself, has just undergone the live-action treatment to mostly critical acceptance. Sanders isn’t present this time around, with DeBlois earning sole directing credit, and given how How to Train Your Dragon comes across on screen, it’s evident he’s confident in both the material and the responsibility of bringing it to life in the live-action space; say what you will about this film being necessary or not, but you can’t deny it’s faithfully adapted and confidently directed.
Those that grew up with the animated original from 2010 are understandably going to feel a certain type of way about this 2025 iteration. They’ll possibly be flat out against it, and given how often underwhelming so many live-action efforts can be, it makes sense. But hating something on such a principle does nobody any favours. No, this live-action telling will not “ruin your childhood” or taint the original in any manner. Yes, you can choose not to see it out of pure love of the original. But if you’re able to step outside of such a mentality, you’re likely to be pleasantly surprised with how this live-action piece has been put together.
Based on the famed children’s book series by Cressida Cowell, there’s a classicality to the way the story presents itself, and, unsurprisingly, it follows many of the beats that have come before. On the Isle of Berk, Vikings and dragons have long been sworn generational enemies. Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his original voice role) wants nothing more than for his son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Mason Thames), to follow in his footsteps as a fierce dragon killer, but the lad just doesn’t have it in him to execute such an act. He does his best to muster up the courage to rid his village of a Night Fury, one of the most deadly dragon breeds, but finds himself drawn to the creature instead, forming a bond with the misunderstood beast that he named Toothless.
As How to Train Your Dragon has the exact same plot as the original, some viewers may become restless in watching Hiccup and Toothless defy the centuries-long tradition of the Vikings. We know that Hiccup will enlist the help of his fellow dragon-fighting training teammates – the fearless Astrid (Nico Parker), the enthusiastic Fishlegs (Julian Dennison), the brash Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), and the quarrelsome twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut (Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn, respectively) – to help merge the coexistence of dragons and Vikings. And we know, against all odds, it’ll all come to fruition in a blaze of action spectacled glory.
There’ll always be the argument peppered across the remake debate regarding what should and shouldn’t change. But given the way that most people cry foul of either temperament, you can’t blame DeBlois for sticking closely to the guns that served him so well originally. Looking at Lilo & Stitch again, the choice to change the ending of the film and both removing and altering fan-favourite characters earned its criticisms. But had it been played beat-for-beat, it would similarly earn negative word off the fact that it didn’t change anything at all. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.
With How to Train Your Dragon, it plays it safe in terms of plotting, but it admittedly offers up some characterization alterations that benefit its being. Thames and Parker are great in the roles of Hiccup and Astrid, and perhaps cause they are closer to the correct age of their characters, or if a live-action form can convey a different sense of emotion that animation can’t, but their embodiment of their characters speaks to a real teenage angst that makes their iterations stand on their own. Similarly, Nick Frost‘s turn as Gobber, the village’s blacksmith, dragon-slaying teacher, and something of a contrasting father figure to young Hiccup, avoids being a mere retread of Craig Ferguson’s hilarious original vocal performance. Frost isn’t doing a simple imitation, and it’s the evident notion of how much care and heart going into every performance that assists How to Train Your Dragon as an overall effort.
It also helps that the film looks cinematic. There’s a real environment created on screen that feels lived-in. As effects-heavy as it is too, How to Train Your Dragon feels like it was filmed on an actual location, in a world that demands exploration. And Toothless, as a creation, is supremely impressive, with his rendering honing a level of visual quality that surpasses a great deal of the live-action formations we’ve witnessed thus far.
With the intention of DeBlois and his cohorts to remake the entirety of the original trilogy, perhaps the sequel will take further risks and be a bit more unafraid to truly deviate (fans be damned!). But, if there’s more of the same adhered to, there’s certainly no harm made as this adaptation proves striking on its own accord. It’s unable to break away from familiarity, but to a whole generation of viewers who may have this edition as their introduction to the world, it can’t be denied how inviting it is.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
How to Train Your Dragon is screening in Australian theatres from June 12th, 2025, before opening in the United States on June 13th.
