how to train your dragon [launch]
Remakes are incredibly tricky to get right. Whether adhering too closely to the source material or straying too far away, remakes are high risk, yet scarcely yield high rewards. I’m going to confide with everyone on a little secret, though- I don’t actually think remakes are exclusively a bad thing. Some of the best films of all time are remakes, and I genuinely believe that with enough love and care, the chance of a do-over can be immensely satisfying and rewarding. However, I do not blame people for being burned and wanting nothing to do with the concept after watching some of their favorite films fail to come into the modern era with the respect and nuance they deserve.
That was an excerpt- excuse me, remake- of the beginning of my Robocop review with some slight changes. Hilarious, I know. No, but for real, this film is actually pretty good.
We're going to do things a little differently than normal for this review. We're going to have a guest star. My girlfriend is a How to Train Your Dragon megafan, and is therefore the leading authority on the subjects of any and all remakes that might or might not occur. I’ll discuss both of our pros and cons separately if they are exclusive to one of us, but if we share an opinion, we’ll only talk about it once.
Finely crafted live action movies with a PG rating are starting to become few and far between, but even more rare is something 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon provided after I genuinely can't remember how long: a live action movie that feels animated. It took a live action redo of an already animated flick to make it happen, but How to Train Your Dragon is colorful, diverse, cartoony and expressive. It's a vibrant, lived-in world where the Vikings are all different looking, the dragons are colorful and striking, the landscapes are sweeping and beautiful, and the world is treated with a childlike wonder and respect, while still touching on moderately adult themes.
How to Train Your Dragon’s most vital strong suit is its presentation. First up, the score? There's nothing that needs to be said, other than it gets our blood pumping and gives me goosebumps every single time, regardless of whether I'm listening to it or just thinking about it. Definitely in both of our top 10 film scores of all time thanks to Test Drive alone (not to mention that hurdy gurdy, man!). But it cannot be understated that this is an outstanding looking movie. The cinematography, costume design, set pieces, beautiful vistas and creature designs are all on point and a spectacular example of artful visual film design. The costumes, to name one example, are all finely tuned and diverse, each outfit (as well as the Viking who wears it) looking different than the last. I absolutely adore the designs of the dragons, bringing the spirit of the animated original to life, but my girlfriend had other thoughts: she was disappointed that Toothless’ design seemed to lack synergy with, and fail to properly match, the other dragons’ looks. She felt Toothless was the only dragon with an animated “cutified” design while all the others took a realistic “Game of Thrones” approach, and wished the designs were standardized across the board. She also noticed that Toothless lacked some of his iconic facial expressions, making him more difficult to connect to. However, she agrees overall that the film looks as beautiful as I think it does.
The film is also surprisingly pretty funny. In addition to retiring some instances of generic or cringey tropes or dialogue from the original (thank you so, so much for not including the “cool guys don't look at explosions” thing or Gobber’s “uh, good thing I brought extra underwear!!?1!”), the movie made us laugh much more than I was expecting. My favorite joke was Gobber’s thumbs up and thumbs down attachments for his hook-hand, and hers was the twins looking so different but thinking they’re identical. I thought it was absolutely hilarious that every character was calling Hiccup this disgusting, flimsy, skinny twig of a runt, and meanwhile it’s just a fit, generally attractive boy.
Speaking of Hiccup, we both listed Mason Thames, a definite rising newcomer, and Gerard Butler as standout performances. They were both terrific, with oodles of emotion and nuance in their voices (did Gerry Butler finally break free of his tradition of only signing onto bottom-of-the-barrel crap?). I also quite enjoyed Nick Frost hamming it up as Gobber and cannot wait for his interpretation of Hagrid. My girlfriend loved Astrid and her new scenes, and was happy that Astrid stood up for Hiccup and stayed by his side in the arena. I, however, felt that that character arc was slightly rushed, given that both hardass, stoic bully Astrid (she really lays into him!) and open-minded, friendly, helpful Astrid both get expanded upon, which makes the transition between the two feel disconnected and rushed.
Several changes and alterations seemed to detract from the overall experience instead of adding to it. My girlfriend believed that Hiccup’s axed “I’ll cut out your heart and give it to my father” line as he stands over a fallen and restrained Toothless lessened the intensity of his desperation to belong. Similarly, the change from “If something goes wrong, just promise me they don’t find Toothless,” to “If something goes wrong, just don’t get involved; my father respects you too much” shifts the focus from the essential and titular bond between Toothless and Hiccup to the lesser character dynamic of Hiccup and Astrid. In relation to the final battle, she was also miffed that they removed the scene of Hiccup discovering that dragons aren’t fireproof on the inside, which is a vital aspect of the final showdown with the queen dragon.
Meanwhile, a carryover criticism from the original, I don’t love that the final showdown is just against a big dragon. It’s kind of lazy to me when films make the final battle just a bigger version of what we’ve seen in the film before. However, on the topic of dragons, my most controversial opinion is regarding the film’s tone and stakes. I think that if the narrative of “dragons aren’t what we think they are” is to be focused on, there needs to be an on-screen death of a dragon. How to Train Your Dragon is frequently lauded for its adult themes and stakes, citing Hiccup’s lost leg as a serious event, relative to its rating, meant to push the stakes and emotion further. This is not expanded upon in the remake, and the jump to live action unfortunately didn’t push the boundaries of the family-friendly ideology. The scene that really captures this for me is right at the beginning, when Hiccup is trying to kill a dragon with his machine. He’s not paying attention and gets snuck up on by a bloodthirsty Nightmare, and there’s a big dramatic swelling moment and “oh no.” But then, he is cartoonishly and childishly chased through the village as the dragon lazily fails to peck at him safely. I get that it's a kids movie, but The Lion King handled death and mature themes back in 1994, and something like showing that killing dragons is unnecessary instead of telling could easily be done by actually having a character kill a dragon on-screen. This could push the reasonably adult themes further into a tone and set of stakes that matches throughout the entire film, if not trilogy.
How to Train Your Dragon is a neatly crafted, expansive and lovingly constructed whirlwind of emotion, humor and production value. While not perfect by any means, it’s a stylish yet familiar block of entertainment that offers substance to many types of watchers. We both liked this film a lot, and it’s a high recommendation directed mostly toward fans of the source material (or of the genre and setting) of all ages.
The argument lies in the idea that How to Train Your Dragon was all these things in 2010, and that we've seen this movie before. I'm not going to tap into the ongoing, exhaustive argument about the validity and purpose of remakes or whether or not they should be reviewed in the same light as other films. The only thing I'll add is this: in 2019, when Jon Favreau’s Lion King remake came out, I vehemently defended and loved the finished product, calling it the definitive version. But, despite that, in the six years since, if I ever got a Lion King itch, I'd just go back and rewatch the original, which I did half a dozen times. I never saw the remake again.
