Film Review: How to Train Your Dragon

It appears that Dreamworks Animation are doing what Disney has been doing for the past few decades and more. They’re adapting some of their best animated works into live-action. The success of some Disney re-imaginings, from Aladdin to Beauty and the Beast, has proven that updating and bringing some films, revered for their timelessness, to life with real actors is a bankable idea. The problem is visual effects and the majority of Dreamworks films would require a substantial amount, but one of their more cinematic properties is How to Train Your Dragon and thus this has become the first film in their Disney-copying experiment. So, is it a success or is it something that can only work with that Disney magic?

How to Train Your Dragon works remarkably well. The animated version is a classic and the story here is basically a carbon copy of the original. A young Viking boy, Hiccup, befriends a dragon that he assumed would kill him. This friendly dragon is a Night Fury which he names Toothless. Together Dragon and Viking find a way to bring together both worlds but they must also bring together the rest of their kind in fear of risking a war.

Gerard Butler is the only actor to reprise his role from the animated original and you can see why. Yes, he has that ruff voice but he looks the part a bit too well. He brings out a sense of warmth and comfort as Hiccup’s father but also the fierceness and toughness of a Viking leader as well. Mason Thames plays Hiccup and he has a lot of the same mannerisms and the same personality as his animated counterpart. In fact, all of the casting is spot on. Even Nico Parker as Astrid is perfect casting, as Hiccup’s love interest.

How to Train Your Dragon almost acts as a companion piece to the original. It recreates every jaw dropping moment of the original that made it so cinematic. The difference here is it just feels more cinematic as everything looks and feels real. Talking of feeling real, the visual effects team have done a fantastic job at bringing the Dragons to life. They look so real you almost believe they are. That is in part thanks to filmmaker Dean DeBlois, returning to the director’s chair as the shepherd of the series. His keen eye for effects on the animated film has translated well to making all the Dragons here feel as realistic as possible, fire and all.

The animated film series broke ground in storytelling and conquering themes of parenthood, grief and the value you hold in a community. It was a coming-of-age story for the ages and all of these themes and messages are here again in this re-telling. It is a whimsical, mesmerising and wonderful to look at. I wish most adaptions were like this. The only exception is maybe they could have put more of a stamp on this version to make it a little more different but why mess with excellence? Overall, the story is equally as captivating as the first time you saw it.

★★★★☆

4/5

Final Verdict:

How to Train Your Dragon is a great start for Dreamworks in their quest to adapt their animated backlog. All the elements of the original are here. The actors, from Butler, Parker and lead actor Thames all soar in their roles that mimic their animated counterpart. Everything is mimicked a little too well but it works, and that is what makes the film feel just as exciting. The music, the scenery and the dragons, they’re all just as beautiful as they were in animation. Whether it is the original or this new version, the story is still unbeatable and proves you can bring to life these animated stories.

Thanks for reading today’s blog!

Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions