Universal Studios
When I heard they were working on making a live-action version of the beloved animated How to Train Your Dragon, let’s just say I was more than skeptical.
Many of the recent live-action remakes over the past few years have ranged from mildly disappointing to downright, nigh-unwatchable.
Then, I saw the trailer for the new How to Train Your Dragon.
An almost shot-for-shot remake of the original animated trailer.
This rarely works. It always begs for comparison. It should have been a pale recreation of the original.
It was not.
The magic of their first meeting was there.
Consider my interest piqued.
The 2025 live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon holds true to the original, both in story and feel. There are a few updates to adapt to the times, but the world of Berk and its inhabitants still live and breathe.
The village of Berk perches at the end of civilization.
Literally, beyond their waters, there be dragons. Berk is an outpost of dragon hunters; the best of the kingdom’s dragon killers have settled there to protect the people from Dragons.
Enter our hero Hiccup. Hiccup has a lot to live up to; his father, Stoick, is the leader of the Vikings and the greatest dragon killer. Hiccup wants to make his father proud, but he has a different way about him. He’s less of a warrior and more of an inventor.
When the village is attacked, Hiccup is told to stay with the forge and support the warriors. Hiccup disobeys and uses one of his inventions to take down the elusive Night Fury. Except no one witnesses it. To try and prove his worth, Hiccup tracks down the downed dragon in order to kill it and earn his place among the warriors.
When confronted with the injured dragon, Hiccup can’t bring himself to kill it.
Thus begins the unlikely friendship between Hiccup and the Night Fury, which he names Toothless. Their unconventional friendship may be just the thing to save Berk from an even greater, as yet undiscovered danger. If Hiccup can keep his father and the other warriors from killing Toothless, the villagers of Berk may yet have a future.
I think the biggest contributor to the live-action film being a success is having original screenwriter and director Dean DeBlois at the helm again. When the studio began talks about the creation of a live-action, Deblois stepped forward to take the reins. If someone was going to remake his movie, it was going to be him.
DeBlois and casting director Lucy Bevan hit gold with Mason Thames as the new Hiccup.
Thames is charming as the hapless, but clever and brave hero. Thames had been a fan of the original film and brought all of that love forward to his performance. He smartly never tries to impersonate the original Hiccup, Jay Baruchel. Thames makes Hiccup his own. Gerard Butler reprises his role as Hiccup’s father, Stoick. It was hilarious watching Bulter reinterpret his own animated character. His switch between Stoick’s slapstick comedy and weighted fatherly sternness proves that Bulter took the role seriously and treated the material with respect and pride. Nico Parker carries the torch of Astrid’s strength as a warrior who is not defined by her gender. The casting of the warriors in training is so spot on, it makes you marvel how they found people who perfectly fit the characters.
DeBlois’ team transitioned the scale of the animated world to live action. This is not a small feat. Disney has been trying for years and has often failed. For every The Lion King, you have a Beauty and the Beast. Remember Aladdin? It should have been fantastic, and if they had really leaned into a fully Bollywood production, it could have, but it never quite got there. Live-action versions of animated films often fall short of the grandeur created in the animated films.
Yet, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon seamlessly integrates the live-action actors and environments with the CGI dragons in a way that I was fully invested in their world the entire movie. Having cinematographer Bill Pope leading the live-action crew was an excellent choice. Pope has a history of adapting still art and animation to live-action. Pope worked with James Cameron on Alita: Battle Angel, where he transformed a nearly impossible-to-film manga into a breathtaking, live-action film. All his skills are on display again in How to Train Your Dragon.
The 4k Blu-ray is gorgeous. It does a great job of bringing that theater experience home. The colors pop beautifully, and the flight scenes still feel cinematic.
The biggest hurdle that live adaptations have to overcome for me is my constant need to compare the two versions. The original How to Train Your Dragon has a special place in my heart. The first time I saw it, I was well into my adulthood. It was a family dinner night with my in-laws. That night we watched How to Train Your Dragon. By the end of the movie, we were all sniffling, even my gruff on the outside, but mushy on the inside father-in-law. The animated How to Train Your Dragon has always been special to me because of this shared experience.
The new live-action How to Train Your Dragon still holds that magic. It can stand on its own without the comparison to the original animated film.
So, grab your copy and go share it with someone you love. Remember to bring the tissues.
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