My movie theater occasionally hosts preview events, thus yesterday, just before it was public, I saw How to Train Your Dragon.
Regarding DreamWorks movies, I like How to Train Your Dragon from 2010. Though I’m not usually one to support them, the trailer and casting choices—especially Hiccup’s—inspired hope for this live-action adaptation. In this sense, I feel obliged to note that my meager expectations were met.
I will also discuss the preview of Disney-Pixar’s upcoming movie Elio that came before the movie started.
It was clear that the animation feature would be straight-forward live-action adapted. Having said that, it is entertaining and funny and manages to captivate even with our prior knowledge of the storyline.
When I first saw the animated version, I was a young child with poor English ability thus I paid little attention to the names. This time though, I couldn’t ignore them. Every character’s name and dragon mirror their individual traits.
Though Berk’s island seems to be calm, Hiccup causes a lot of disturbance there. His name is rather familiar. People criticize him especially his father since he is different and because of his attitude. A hiccup seems to come out of nowhere and compromises the present balance. Still, peace eventually comes back.
The term “Stoic” is both strong and perilous, fitting for the boy’s father; a stoic is someone who is ready to die fighting for their beliefs and heart. A good leader is one who can motivate their subordinates to observe his direction and pay attention to. Stoic possess this trait. The Viking goal has been to fight dragons from the dawn of time. This has to be carried on. Still, Stoic is tested in handling the fallout from his son Hiccup’s actions. Ultimately he has to choose: should he try to protect his own son, Hiccup, from damage or preserve things as they are? Any way you cut it, “protecting him” doesn’t mean silence his voice.
As Hiccup, a young Mason Thames gives an amazing performance; the whole cast is first-rate. Since his movements and little gestures are exactly on, he obviously spent a lot of time learning the animated version to hone his performance.
Round out the ensemble with Gerard Butler, who dubbed Stoic in the 2010 film and returns to reinterpret the role. Given his resemblance to the Viking character, I can’t help but believe he is one.
Nico Parker presents Astrid quite brilliantly. She confirmed my view of her acting chops even though she might have spent very little time on screens in The Last of Us. Given the actress’s and character’s physical attributes, Nico seems more like Manson or Gerard than Astrid. Having said that, her approach is exactly right and she really shines in capturing Astrid’s bold and determined attitude, same as Manson.
As Gobber, Nick Frost is excellent; his attitude, physicality, and looks really capture the part. Apart from Gabriel Howell as Snotlout, Julian Dennison as Fishlegs, Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn as the brothers Ruffnut and Tuffnut, the rest of the youngsters’ team is outstanding.
Last but not least, one should value the direction of Dean DeBlois. It caught my attention since it is not often observed that the director of an animated film often returns to work on its live-action adaptation. Unlike others who might wish to “personalize” the story by modifying an existing film while still aiming to be unique, DeBlois seems to want this movie to seem as close to his original as possible. One cannot help but note his complete control of the current work.
From points, the 2025 movie nearly seems to be a carbon copy of the original from 15 years ago. Some would consider that as a strength while others as a weakness. I consider this ability of the whole production team to be evidence of their talent since this feature picture keeps true to the source material. The best adaptations, in my perspective, remain as close to their original source as at least possible. In my modest view, a little uniqueness is always appreciated; but, only if it doesn’t entirely deviate the story in its search of uniqueness while still dependent on another product.
Overall,
To cut a long story short, it is just a faithful adaptation of the cartoon film (unlike some other 2025 film); hence, there will be no innovative new features. Still, a great adaption executed quite brilliantly.
John Powell’s amazing score is still a jam without a doubt.
Since the sequel of the movie will be an adaptation of the second section of the animated trilogy, the announcement of it excites me. My money is on them doing as well with this one as with the just released movie.
