Like Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon is a ‘live action’ remake, I have never seen the original animated version which has spawned a trilogy. I can just imagine the executives at Dreamworks saw what was going on at Disney, saw they were making a ton of money (clearly before Snow White came out) and looked at their back catalogue to see what they could do that was similar and How to Train Your Dragon is what they ended up with. I won't be comparing this version to the original because it wouldn't be fair so if the plot is similar to the original then…..great.
Mason Thames (last thing I saw him in was Black Phone), plays Hiccup who starts off wanting to be a dragon killer to please his dad before getting a change of heart and forming a friendship with Toothless. Like his dad, I never once believed he would be a good fighter and I suppose that was the point. Not sure how close he is compared to the animated version but I thought they cast well. Nico Parker is good as Astrid who starts off as a competitive figure and then becomes someone that Hiccup can trust and they end up being a couple She seems quite good at flipping and was good at the action scenes which is just as well as she does them a lot. Gerard Butler has had a strange career but it does seem like he’s having fun in this. He gets to be a shouty scotsman. All he does is get to be bombastic and shout a lot, disappear for half an hour and then come back so he can see his turn show that he thinks dragons are not bad. I think this is one of the better Butler performances although that's a low bar to clear. The film’s not really about Butler’s character but he does what he needs to do.
The film has a litany of familiar faces and names. Nick Frost (Gobber the Belch) becomes the father figure when Stoick the Vast does his disappearing trick and because it’s Frost, it's a great performance with the necessary dose of comedy. I saw Fishlegs and thought he looked familiar and upon doing some ‘research’ I found out he was Julian Dennison who was the kid in Deadpool 2. All the gang that Hiccup becomes friends are all good in their own way and could become regulars in future films.
The animated dragons are all really good and I don't know what the budget was but it was probably less than Snow White and yet looks a hundred times better. Toothless is done well in the sense that he looks friendly but still looks imposing as a flying dragon. I don't usually review the score but I will this time and think that John Powell does a great job with creating a lovely score that helps make this film feel a lot more epic than it probably would have been in the hands of a less talented composer.
The plot is relatively straightforward, Stoick is on a search for the dragons’ nest and when Toothless shows Hiccup where it is then there is a race to stop bloodshed between the Vikings and the Dragons. The film builds up Hiccup’s skills as they are non-existent at the beginning but thanks to Toothless they become the envy of the entire village. By the end of the film Hiccup has his friend, he has the girl but only has one of his legs so it’s a mixed end to the film. I will say that I was worried that at two hours the film was going to drag but it was the perfect running time. It doesn't outstay its welcome which is a rare thing for a film to achieve these days. How to Train Your Dragon is a good film. I don't think it will do as well as Lilo & Stitch financially but it does what it needs to do and it is inevitable that there will be a sequel and to be honest, I wouldn't mind another one. I’m not sure where you would go after killing the big bad dragon but I suppose the animated sequels will be used to make them.
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