How to Train Your Dragon
The popular 2010 cartoon is given a live-action reboot to diminishing returns.
The way of the dragon: Toothless and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Mason Thames)
Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
All credit to Cressida Cowell, whose original story of brute authoritarianism versus a humanitarian sea change has buoyed a raft of novels and a media franchise. The first big-screen, animated adaptation was a delirious experience with pictorial wit and sharp dialogue that spawned two sequels. However, a live-action remake of the cartoon seems somewhat redundant as there’s already so much computer-animation required, while Gerard Butler merely animates his old role of the Viking blowhard as if channelling Brian Blessed. The Viking villagers themselves are a rum and smelly lot, inhabiting the island of Berk which is “so far off the map that it might not exist.” Odder is the mix of Scottish and English accents, whereas the younger generation have been completely Americanised, requiring the likes of Nico Parker (daughter of Thandiwe Newton and the director Ol Parker) and the Yorkshire-born Bronwyn James to spend much of their rehearsal time with the dialect coach Ben Furey. Why? Is this merely to chime with an American audience, the same demographic that was force-fed an American Winnie the Pooh? Strangely, the impossible accents of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and co failed to dent the success of that particular franchise.
Hiccup, our protagonist (the Dallas-born Mason Thames), is the son of the mighty Stoick the Vast (Butler), the latter dreaming that one day his son will inherit his valour and bloodlust. But Hiccup is a dreamer of a different stripe, who views the island’s invading dragons as potential allies in reptilian clothing. He also wants to impress Astrid (Parker), and is torn between his compassion for a wounded Night Fury dragon and his passion for the hottie in the cohort. What’s a lad to do? Centuries of tradition dictates that one day he will grow up to inherit his father’s throne and dominance, if only he could exhibit an iota of ruthlessness…
Nobody could denigrate the animation of this live-action remake, following 2019’s underwhelming How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. But with human actors stepping into the shoes of the cartoon figures, a certain magic is instantly lost. Only Gerard Butler seems to match his two-dimensional counterpart, bellowing and spilling testosterone in his wake. Mason Thames on the other hand, best known for his starring role in The Black Phone, lacks the comic innocence required of Hiccup, and even Nick Frost as the one-legged, one-armed blacksmith Gobber the Belch is given little material to shine. And after all the confusion, bluster and battle of the opening passages, it takes a while until the sinew of Cowell’s original story begins to flex. But the message of overcoming one’s fear (and hatred) of the unknown natural world should still carry some weight for a new generation, and the original director Dean DeBlois recycles the old material well enough.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Frost, Gerard Butler, Ruth Codd, Naomi Wirthner, Murray McArthur, Marcus Onilude.
Dir Dean DeBlois, Pro Marc Platt, Adam Siegel and Dean DeBlois, Screenplay Dean DeBlois, from the novel by Cressida Cowell, Ph Bill Pope, Pro Des Dominic Watkins, Ed Wyatt Smith, Music John Powell, Costumes Lindsay Pugh, Sound Randy Thom, Dialect coach Ben Furey.
DreamWorks Animation/Marc Platt Productions-Universal Pictures.
125 mins. USA/UK. 2025. UK Rel: 9 June 2025. US Rel: 13 June 2025. Cert. PG.
