'How to Train Your Dragon' Review: Live-Action Remake of DreamWorks Animation Classic Safely Glides, Despite its Toothlessness
I can't believe the biggest offerings of this year's family film blockbusters are live-action versions of Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois’ animated masterpieces, Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. I have seen the latter countless times: first in 3D with my dad and my sisters when it was released, then whenever it was in theaters for an AMC or Regal summer movie camp, and ultimately it became one of my go-to comfort movies. The tale of Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and Toothless's friendship and how it bridged the relationship between Vikings and dragons became an instant classic and one of DreamWorks Animation's best. I hold a lot of reverence for it, as it was the first movie review I ever wrote. It was for a 6th-grade English class assignment, predating Rendy Reviews by two years.
Fast-forward fifteen years, and DreamWorks finally decides to jump on that live-action bandwagon — the moment Disney isn't making bank on them as they used to. Now we have Dean DeBlois' How to Train Your Dragon, a shot-for-shot recreation of the original but with the look of a YouTube fan film. Hey, I’ll take any opportunity to hear John Powell's iconic score on an IMAX sound system.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Universal Pictures
MPA Rating: PG (sequences of intense action, and peril)
Runtime: 2 Hours and 5 Minutes
Production Companies: DreamWorks Animation, Marc Platt Productions
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Dean DeBlois
Writer: Dean DeBlois
Cast: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz, Murray McArthur
Release Date: June 13, 2025
On the island of Berk during a time of war between Vikings and dragons, an awkward young inventor named Hiccup (Mason Thames) struggles to prove his worth to his village—especially to his father, Stoick (Gerard Butler, reprising his role from the animated films), the island's chief. Using one of his inventions, Hiccup secretly shoots down a rare and feared Night Fury and ventures off alone to where it crashed to try to kill it. But when he finally comes face-to-face with the creature, his perspective is forever changed. As his father treks to the dragon's nest, Hiccup is forced to learn how to kill dragons alongside fellow teens Fishlegs (Julian Dennison), Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), Ruffnut (Bronwyn James), Tuffnut (Harry Trevaldwyn), and the top student, Astrid (Nico Parker), under the wing of their mentor Gobber (Nick Frost). During this time, Hiccup forms a close bond with Toothless, a relationship that becomes the foundation for peaceful coexistence between Vikings and dragons.
The production design of How to Train Your Dragon as a live-action movie is impressive
How to Train Your Dragon is by no means Dean DeBlois' first flight into live-action. He has previously directed visual albums and music videos for Of Monsters and Men, Sigur Rós, and their frontman Jónsi when he went solo. (I suppose that explains why he has songs in every How to Train Your Dragon film.) DeBlois and his production team do a great job of bringing the animated vision of Berk to life in a live-action setting by filming on location (in Iceland and the Faroe Islands), eschewing the soulless green-screen norm. The production design by Dominic Watkins also gets good marks for faithfully recreating many of the original locations while adding a larger sense of scope and scale. No, I'm not saying, "Hey, you did a great job recreating it exactly," but it is impressive to see how this kind of computer-generated animated landscape maintains its beauty in the live-action version. Unfortunately, DeBlois' unimaginative direction and poor lighting decisions frequently hinder it.
The film's lighting is a mixed bag. In some cases, it adds a shockingly bright splash of color that you don't see regularly in big-budget movies these days. On the other hand, the use of a significant amount of single-source, natural lighting lessens the emotional impact of some of the well-known, intense emotional beats. This is extra frustrating since DeBlois had the potential to create a sufficiently accurate cinematic translation with the contribution of ever-talented director of photography Bill Pope (The Matrix and Scott Pilgrim). When they aren't copying the animated film's whole freaking flow, word for word, bar for bar — which is 75% of the time — they adhere to the medium-shot conformity of contemporary blockbuster filmmaking. You know, where the majority of the shot composition mockups consist of closeups and medium shots with no depth of field. The film stagnates, and its flat presentation undermines the more impressive technical aspects of production, including the costuming and set decoration. As aforementioned, it can't break from the shackles of looking like a YouTube fan film.
In his reprisal as Stoick, Gerard Butler delivers an S-tier performance
What elevates How to Train Your Dragon are a few performances. By God, Gerard Butler is worth the price of admission as Stoick the Vast (screw hyperrealistic CG Toothless). The love he has for that character after 15 years of voicing him is worn on his sleeve in his gruff cadence and thickly Scottish line-deliveries. The man at times carries Mason Thames in their shared scenes, capturing the weight and strain in Stoick and Hiccup's relationship. Much of the added material here is attributed to Butler's screentime, but not for a moment does it seem like he's mugging the screen or delivering over-the-top cosplaying. He is Stoick in every sense of the word and this real-life portrayal might be one of his top performances.
Mason Thames is a good Hiccup when it comes to his silly facial expressions and natural curiosity, but he doesn't have the shy, awkward personality that makes the character Hiccup unique. Nico Parker is a mixed bag as Astrid — she captures her toughness and fierceness and subsequent overarching empathy, but some line deliveries leave something to be desired.
Toothless but earnest?
The CGI animation, provided by VFX studio Framestore, is largely serviceable but not necessarily impressive. Toothless is still adorable, yet, much like live-action Stitch, they dial back his menacing attitude, probably to appease milquetoast helicopter parents. Something that does feel weird is how he maintains his cartoonish, expressive design while the other dragons have been redesigned to push hyperrealism. Every other dragon has such small pupils. Side by side with Toothless, it is distracting.
DeBlois's direction feels sincere, as shown through the ensemble’s performances and additions to his script that convincingly deepen character dynamics rather than simply padding the runtime. The few times the film breathes its own fire are when DeBlois has the confidence not to rely on the animated cheat sheet, as Hiccup does during the memorable "Test Flight" sequence. It's brief and sporadic, but it helps this film soar above most other live-action Disney movies. Even though the innocent, non-cynical nature of the adaptation kept me entertained, I couldn't help but feel that I could be watching the original instead.
I'm practicing self-care and finding a way to not actively dismiss this adaptation. Yes, it's pointless and every facet of it pales in comparison to the significance of the animated masterpiece, like every damn live-action adaptation ever made. However, this film possesses genuinely decent qualities and is a watchable enough summer blockbuster. It doesn't soar to the heights of what DeBlois and Sanders did before but it does glide! Hey, gliding beats crashing during takeoff.
Final Statement
In contrast to the original's strong simplicity, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is a harmless, passable live-action adaptation, saved only by the production's unwavering earnestness and a striking Gerard Butler performance.
