‘How to Train Your Dragon (2025)’ Review

Let’s play “spot the difference” with a shot-for-shot live-action remake

I watched the original ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ in theaters when it was released in 2010 and have been in love with the film franchise ever since. The simple but well-written story, flawed characters who are open to change, masterful animation, and a legendary musical score put the film on the map as an animated classic for the ages. So when I saw that they were making a live-action version, I was terrified. How can you reimagine something that’s already so good without ruining it?

The third in a series of 2025 live-action remakes of animated classics, Director Dean DeBlois decides to take a different approach than Disney execs with his film and, as hinted in the trailers, created a nearly shot-for-shot live action version of the original 2010 animated film.

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ tells the story of a young nerdy viking boy searching for belonging in a world of “kill or be killed”, where dragons raid the village nearly every night, leaving the vikings in a fight or die war against the dragons. Lacking the physical strength necessary to join the fight, Hiccup uses his inventive talents to shoot down a dragon (Toothless), whom he will befriend throughout the course of the film. The main conflict, however, lies between Hiccup and his father, Chief Stoick the Vast, who cannot find a path of communication through their different interests. Stoick, though he clearly loves his son, is embarrassed by his son and makes deriding comments in public about his son’s clumsiness and inability to participate in the dragon hunt. Hiccup wants to make his father proud, but he knows that he can’t do it in the way that his father wants him to. After being proven wrong about Toothless, Stoick apologizes to his son and the film ends with both father and son and vikings and dragons reconciled.

The script in both films are almost exactly the same. As I watched the opening sequence of the film, which is narrated by Hiccup, I watched apprehensively for differences… and was confused by the lack of any noticeable differences. The dialogue was almost word-for-word the same as the original. The shots were almost the exact same as the original. The only significant difference in the plot was that Berk was racially diverse. Congratulations. Instead of a random Viking village, Berk was now an island settled by the best dragon slayers from various parts of the world. While I was glad they at least gave an explanation for the racially diverse cast, the new characters added nothing to the story, and I wouldn’t have noticed if they were removed halfway through the film.

That being said… it was a visually fantastic film. I walked into the theater expecting to be disappointed by the quality and artistry of the CGI dragons, but I was extremely impressed by artistic changes made to adapt the cartoon to live action. Toothless, of course, looks almost the same, but details in his design truly brought the beloved dragon to life. Some details I noticed were a third eyelid (as found in reptiles), realistic boning in the wings, and intricate scale textures that shimmered an iridescent blue in the sunlight. If not for the humanoid expressions in his eyes and movement, I might have been convinced that Toothless was a real dragon. Expecting tacky and airbrushed CGI, I was shocked by the quality of the special effects, which integrated well into the breathtaking wilderness of Northern Ireland, where most of the movie was filmed.

Mason Thames, the 17 year old actor for Hiccup, was the perfect choice to play the dorky teen. While it is hard to make a character your own when you are asked to portray a beloved character with a near exact script, Thames did a fantastic job of living out the spirit of Hiccup while avoiding pure imitation of the original character. In particular, his characterizations of Hiccup’s clumsy and awkward movements were endearing and spot on. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his co-star Nico Parker, who plays Astrid. Although there was controversy over Parker’s casting due to her appearance, I was not bothered by her appearance so much as her lack of acting talent. Her performance lacked the spunk, expressivity, and aggression that the original character was so well known for, and I’m not sure I saw more than three different expressions on her face throughout the whole film. In general, her performance was boring and unbelievable, damaging the chemistry between Astrid and Hiccup, which is such an integral part of the animated film. Similarly, Fishlegs (Julian Dennison), Ruffnut (Bronwyn James), and Tuffnut (Harry Trevaldwyn) were rather bland and lacked any significant character choices whatsoever.

The only exception to the disappointing cast for the Berkian teens is Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), who was the only character that made me laugh at all, despite the fact that all four are supposed to contribute to the comedic relief, particularly Ruffnut and Tuffnut. To end on a good note, Gerard Butler as Stoick was the only choice and fulfilled my expectations in every possible way.

At the end of the day, I’m just not sure why this movie exists. Other than the stunning visual effects, nothing of value has been added to the movie. Between the surge of live action remakes and a general decline in the quality of animated films, I am concerned that appreciation of animation as an art form is getting lost in audiences today. It’s true that nothing can replace a human person interacting with another human person, but that does not mean that animation cannot also communicate human stories well. Further, most of the recent remakes have mediocre acting at best and heavy use of cheap CGI. While I believe that ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ was executed better than some, I would encourage people to save money on the ticket and popcorn and watch the animated film. You won’t really miss much.

I do recommend, however, that you listen to the “reimagined” score by John Powell. Unlike the film itself, there is enough difference from the original soundtrack to make the new score an exciting listen.