How to Train Your Dragon: Film Review
Following Disney’s success with live-action remakes, DreamWorks has now got in on the action by remaking its beloved 2010 animation How to Train Your Dragon.
The film is set on the island of Berk, where the local Vikings have been at war with the dragons for generations. From a young age, residents are trained to fight the creatures and defend their home but Hiccup (Mason Thames) doesn’t want to, bringing shame to his leader father Stoick (Gerard Butler). One day, he catches a dragon, who he names Toothless, and they become friends, with Hiccup discovering that humans and dragons can actually co-exist in peace.
With live-action remakes, it’s really hard to please everybody. If you stick too closely to the original, people wonder why you made it in the first place, but if you stray too far and mix things up, people will be annoyed about that too. The original How to Train Your Dragon is great and there isn’t much room for improvement so naturally this remake falls into the former camp. There are minor changes but it is mostly a line-for-line and shot-for-shot remake. And as much as I still enjoyed it, I couldn’t help but wonder why the original’s co-director Dean DeBlois wanted to redo the film, albeit in live-action.
Thames was a good choice for the new Hiccup. He’s a likeable and awkward lead although he was possibly too good-looking and not goofy enough compared to the animated version (which was brilliantly voiced by Jay Baruchel). Getting Butler to return as Stoick (who he voiced in the original) was a genius idea as he really looks and sounds the part. Nico Parker is perhaps too pretty for the scrappy fighter Astrid but she has the right attitude and forces Hiccup to check his privilege as the chief’s son.
The standout scenes are Hiccup and Toothless’ extended flying sequences, which feature the most beautiful Northern Irish landscapes and John Powell’s rousing score. The visuals are stunning all round and the CGI for Toothless is impeccable. The only time I had an issue was in the final act where it became a bit too murky for my liking.
How to Train Your Dragon is a very good film that will likely introduce a new legion of fans to the franchise. However, I imagine most people will revisit the animation over the live-action because this doesn’t improve upon it or offer anything particularly new.
In cinemas from Monday 9th June