'How to Train Your Dragon' review: Finally, a remake that really soars

The Star

14-06-2025

Cast: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz, Murray McArthur
THIS is Berk. And this is how you remake your hit dragon animated series.
When the original How To Train Your Dragon (HTTYD) was released in 2010, it was a breakthrough for Dreamworks Animation, becoming the studio's biggest hit after the Shrek franchise.
The combination of fantasy, drama, wonder, compelling characters, and dragons (of course), made it one of the best animated features of the year, and it still holds up brilliantly today.
So why does it need a live-action version, you say? Well, sure, it's an almost beat for beat recreation of the animated feature, but what this version does is take an already great movie, and give it an even more epic sense of scale, dialling up the grandeur of its location, adding more excitement to the soaring flight of the dragons, and making the massive final boss fight much more dangerous and action-packed.
Ok Hiccup, just stay down here while I save your butt, again.
In case you have never seen HTTYD before, it revolves around Hiccup (played by Mason Thames), the enthusiastic but rather weak son of Berk village chief Stoick (Gerard Butler, reprising the role he voiced in the animation).
Born into a society where the ability to kill a dragon is everything, Hiccup tries to make up for it with his inventive mind, and one of his gadgets actually manages to snag a Night Fury, one of the most feared dragons of them all.
However, instead of killing it, he befriends the dragon, whom he names Toothless, and in the process, changes the entire future of Berk, its way of life, and the way they perceive dragons.
After what happened to Olympus, London and Angel... I better make sure this movie doesn't turn into 'Berk Has Fallen' too.
In a sheer quirk of fate, the two best live-action remakes of the year were of animated features directed by Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois – Lilo & Stitch, and now HTTYD.
The decision to rehire DeBlois for this is an inspired one - he knows the franchise inside out (having also directed the second and third instalments of the animations), and thus, manages to not only remain faithful to the original, but also in some parts, improve upon it.
Think Hiccup and Toothless' first flight in the animation was great? The live-action one is even better – as the duo swoop and dive through the landscapes of Iceland, the real-life location adds a profound sense of wonderment and grandeur to the scene.
This could have gone so wrong if he had been Tooth-full instead of Tooth-less.
The battle scenes are also a lot more explosive and epic than the animation, as live-action gives them a genuine sense of jeopardy that animation can't provide, leaving you on the edge of your seat (even if you've already watched the original countless times before).
The casting is also pitch perfect here. Thames really embodies the Hiccup in the original, playing the character with a distinctly nerdy yet determined charm, with Nico Parker the perfect foil opposite him as the tough and ambitious Astrid.
Gerard Butler's transition from animation to live-action is so seamless that it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role, while Nick Frost is also memorable as his right-hand man, blacksmith Gobber.
I'm out of weapons to throw! Where's my Batman soundtrack vinyl when I need it?
Oh, and have we mentioned the dragons yet? If you love those mythical creatures in whatever form they come in, trust me, you'll roar with approval at how they are portrayed here.
Unlike another certain animation studio, which has made over 20 live-action remakes already, this is Dreamwork's first one.
And hopefully, this will be the kind of quality and high standard that we can expect from them in future remakes as well.
If you're a fan of the original, you will definitely love this as well.