The live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon is presumably the first film in a live-action trilogy, seeing as how the sequel has been greenlit.

In bringing the film to live-action, filmmakers have also added just over a half hour to the 2010 film’s running time. Whether or not that’s actually necessary to the overall story, I don’t know. It still feels more or less like a shot-for-shot remake of the original How to Train Your Dragon. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. However, I have a reason for preferring that in this instance as my abuser is also in the first two films. If I’m being honest, I’m glad I’m going to be able to watch the first two films again and it’s a blessing in that regard.

If you never saw any of the animated films, please allow me to catch you up on things. There’s the Isle of Berk where both Vikings and dragons are enemies and life has been this way for generations. There’s one particular Viking who stands apart from the rest, Hiccup (Mason Thames). Hiccup also happens to be the son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). Suffice it to say, the chief is not all that happy with Hiccup.

As you can imagine, everything soon hits the fan when Hiccup–who works for blacksmith Gobber (Nick Frost)–befriends Toothless, a Night Fury. Nobody has ever seen a Night Fury before as they are impossible to capture. And yet, Hiccup did the impossible and both Viking and dragon begin to bond–thus the film’s title, How to Train Your Dragon. Not surprisingly, Astrid (Nico Parker) is soon onto him as he continually disappears during dragon training. Things go as they do in the animated film: Astrid wanting to tell someone in charge but Toothless comes through and she begins to see the good in dragons.

Much like the original film, there’s a threat that threatens everyone and this is where Hiccup’s dragon training comes in handy. Not so much the training to kill dragons, but the training of dragons in general. Only through Hiccup and Toothless will Vikings and dragons begin to find a pathway to peace between their two species.

It’s amazing that How to Train Your Dragon doesn’t miss a beat in the transition to live action. It helps that Dean DeBlois directed the films. Also, Toothless looks no different than how I remember seeing him in the animated classic. It certainly says something when it comes to the film’s visual effects team going above and beyond in getting the visuals correct. And again, this film feels like a shot-for-shot remake. More likely than not, people will be cynical about this. Not me. It’s giving me life in being able to watch the film again–something I’ve not been able to do since before December 2017.

Say what you will about the themes of loyalty, identity and the courage to stand apart flowing through the original animated trilogy. What’s really amazing, again, are the visual effects. I can’t say enough. Some kid is going to walk away from the film with the exact same feeling that I did when I saw Jurassic Park on the big screen in 1993. If they’re anything like me, How to Train Your Dragon might influence aspiring filmmakers in the current generation.

I’ll be curious to see if all three films make their way to live-action. Obviously, I trust Dean DeBlois to carry his vision through to the end. It’s interesting though–for years, Disney has been the studio remaking their previous animated films in live-action. Years after they first started, DreamWorks Animation is getting into the live-action remake game. Who could blame them? With the right film and the right story, it’s a hit in the making. That’s not to say that there is not any cynicism when it comes to not telling original stories, because there most definitely is.

How to Train Your Dragon is the perfect film for being the first DreamWorks Animation classic to be adapted into live-action.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Dean DeBlois
CAST: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz, with Nick Frost and Gerard Butler

Universal Pictures will release How to Train Your Dragon in theaters on June 13, 2025. Grade: 4/5

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