I personally consider the How To Train Your Dragon animated trilogy to be one of the best, and my favourite, series of Dreamworks films ever. The sheer scale of the adventure and action, mixed with some great humour and an earnest, emotional narrative have provided incredible cinematic warmth for over 15 years now. And with the recent string of live-action adaptations from beloved Disney animated films, it’s not entirely a surprise that other companies, like Dreamworks, would jump on board, and How To Train Your Dragon feels like the most appropriate story as that launching pad.
This live-action adaptation does not stray far from the original film’s story at all. We follow Hiccup (Mason Thames), a scrawny, young viking who lives on the isolated island of Berk, with his brave, brawny soldier father (and the appropriately named), Stoick (Gerard Butler), who leads his people in the fight against a multitude of dragons who come at night to steal their livestock and destroy their homes, a fight that’s been ongoing since dragons were responsible for the disappearance of Hiccup’s mother many years before – something that has driven an emotional wedge between Hiccup and Stoick ever since.
Hiccup, a semi-skilled, but more so bumbling, blacksmith is attempting to create new weaponry for his fellow Vikings to take on the dragons. During a fiery dragon’s raid, Hiccup uses one of his new contraptions to capture the most dangerous creature of all -a Nightwing, much to the disbelief of literally everyone on this island. With this last raid being one of the worst yet, Stoick decides that it’s time for Hiccup to train in the ways of dragon hunting, along with a young group of ragtag Vikings. However, as Hiccup begins to develop an unlikely bond with this captured dragon, Toothless, his conflict between helping his new friend or his Viking brethren grows.
” How do you make sharks scarier? Add a serial killer!“
Dean DeBlois, who directed all three of the animated films, returns to this rich and lively world, literally bringing to life this wondrous adventure. Being so close to the original source material, DeBlois seemingly understands that the less that’s broken, the less you have to fix. And in the case of this new version of How To Train Your Dragon, there are definitely more pros than cons to that sentiment, as the narrative practically follows the same beats and structure as the original. There are moments where the emotional intensity of real-life actors performing these intimate and intense scenes that feel far more visceral than the animated counterpart, but it does lose some of the heightened whimsy in the way animated characters can move and emote that brought this unique feeling to the original. There are also some scenes that have been extended unnecessarily, and affect the overall pacing of the narrative.
Where the live-action component really thrives is in the action, because it is truly epic! The fire of a dragon’s breath, or the destruction of Berk, and especially that iconic moment where Hiccup and Toothless go on their test drive (accompanied once more by a slightly updated, but still goosebump inducing score from John Powell), all look absolutely jaw dropping. The set pieces are immersive and exciting, with DeBlois really putting the audience into the action with dynamic camerawork and phenomenal CGI. And while the action feels quite visceral and intense, the actual design of the dragons still holds that magical feeling that balances them being a threat, but not too frightening for younger audiences.
Gerard Butler returning to the franchise as Stoick feels like the perfect move, as he not only seamlessly falls back into the voice of his brutish character, but physically fills his presence too. For the newcomers, each person finds their own unique ways to bring the characters to life, without losing the foundations of their core selves or sabotaging the relationships they have with the other characters, of which Nico Parker as Astrid and Nick Frost as Gobber standout as highlights.
Mason Thames is the true highlight however, bringing to life Hiccup in a way that feels so authentic to the underdog that audiences fell in love with 15 years ago. Thames strays away from the high-pitched drawl of the original voice, Jay Baruchel, instead bringing all the genuine awkwardness and innocent sincerity that a teenage boy has. Thames comedic timing, line delivery and physical humour are all so reminiscent of the true spirit of Hiccup, but when it comes to the more emotional moments, whether it’s confrontations with his father, or creating that bond with Toothless, where Thames performances really shines.
One of the main things that this live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon does lose is the magical, vibrant colour of Berk. The animated greens of the landscape, the bright blues of the water, and the various rainbow colours of the dragons themselves created the larger than life feeling of immersion into this world. Whereas, the is an unfortunate dullness to some of the surroundings in this live-action version, especially during the night-time raid scenes, which for a fantasy driven film like this, can sometimes feel slightly underwhelming.
How To Train Your Dragon is a beat-by-beat, shot-for-shot adaptation of the beloved animated film, and for better and, occasionally, worse, it manages to bring to life a lot of the elements that made the original work so well. The action is visceral and exciting, the dragon designs are phenomenal and the performances, especially Thames as our hero, are true to the spirit of the original. It doesn’t reach the magical heights of the animated film, but it’s a worthy reimagining.
How To Train Your Dragon is in cinemas from June 12.
