How To Train Your Dragon Review
Gorgeously rendered, this live action update has a lot of heart, despite being a pretty much shot-for-shot remake of the animated original.
Hiccup (Mason Thames) lives in a viking community that is obsessed with hunting dragons. Trying to gain his father, the chief of the village, Stoic’s (Gerard Butler) approval, he knocks a Night Fury - the rarest of dragons - from the sky, but despite his best efforts he winds up forming a friendship, or indeed a kinship, with the beast. Toothless the dragon becomes his friend, and his great aide, as he finds himself atop the village pecking order due to his newfound knowledge of dragons. But how can he turn a village away from its basest instincts? And can he protect his newfound friend, when even his own family wants nothing more than to kill him?
The biggest qualm that one might have with the new How To Train Your Dragon is a simple question. Why?
The original animated version is really, not that old. And like many of these new live action adaptations, this one features a significant swathe of VFX (or animation if you will); here, many of the landscapes, and of course the dragons themselves. Although to be fair to this film, a lot of the sets are - or feel - practical.
There are wonderful performances abounding in this piece. Mason Thames makes a great Hiccup, taking over vocally with ease from Jay Baruchel while bringing a lot more of Hiccup’s physicality and image to the role. Nico Parker’s Astrid is a standout too, and it’s a joy to see Gerard Butler reprise his role as Stoic.
Toothless is rendered stunningly, which is a great benefit to this film. Originally one of the cutest and most appealing elements of the animated version, it is great to see this dragon retain that charm. Some of the other dragon characters, the same cannot be said about, as their transition to real life either feels too phony, or too scary.
Ultimately, it is a tough film to judge. It’s a beat-by-beat remake, so of course it hits all the same feels; particularly when the score, which is wonderful, comes in. There’s so much to love about the original film, and so much to love here. You find yourself feeling all of the same emotions, but there is a ringing note in all of that emotion that feels discordant. And frankly, it’s that same old question of why.
I have no answer. But I can say, unreservedly, that you’ll have a good time watching this film in the theatre, even if the motives for it being there are sketchy.
