Fan favorite films getting live-action remakes seems to be a modern day horror. They never live up to the original and invite new audiences in with mediocrity and the wonder toward how the original garnered so much love. “How to Train Your Dragon” (2025), directed by Dean DeBlois, is thankfully an exception. Audiences should still absolutely prioritize seeing the 2010 animated film and its sequels, but the live-action is a good way to bring in more fans; great news for the new theme park, Epic Universe.
The beloved story started its life as a children’s book by Cressida Cowell in 1999 titled “Hiccup the Seasick Viking”. The picture-book for toddlers gave wings to Cowell’s next 12 book series under the trademark name “How to Train Your Dragon”. The 2010 film by the same name was when the franchise really spread its massive, reptilian wings and took flight, kicking off the next fifteen years of content.
The original film captivated audiences with stunning visuals that left people wishing to visit the island of Berk and tame a dragon of their own. The live action does exactly the same thing. The visuals are phenomenal and all things one can find in the wild off-screen if they know where to look. Well, except for the dragons.
The CGI in the film is a little inconsistent. One can see a visible shift in quality alongside lighting changes and from the start of the movie to the end. If one were to listen closely in the theatre, they might hear another audience member say something like “oh, that one looks real!” in disbelief after clunking through the less desirable shots. The sometimes clunky animation, however, feels authentic to the 2010 quality of the original; not always the best, but infinitely endearing.
With great visuals comes the need for great casting and costuming. The casting director (Lucy Bevan) did a spectacular job finding talented actors that compliment their given characters beautifully. Some fans were skeptical when the cast started rolling out looking nothing like their animated counterparts. So what if Astrid (Nico Parker) doesn’t have blonde hair and blue eyes? Same goes for the twins (Bronwyn James and Harry Trevalwyn) who don’t quite look like twins and Fishlegs (Julian Dennison) who also isn’t a blue-eyed blondie. The actors were cast based on skill; who can best portray each character’s personality and movement. A bunch of teenagers who look like they walked straight out of the animation but can’t act to save their skin would have ruined the film. Everyone did a lovely job staying true to their characters and should return to reprise their roles, should “How to Train Your Dragon 2” also get a live-action.
Some fans were a little nervous to see how the ever-iconic Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III would translate to live-action. The actor in the theme park chooses to play the character larger than life and utilize the motions used on screen when mimicking other characters; spoiler alert if you haven’t seen him for yourself, it’s recognizable but a little uncomfortable to behold. To the satisfaction of those fans, Mason Thames is true to life and moves like a human rather than an animation, while still staying true to the larger than life, adorkable personality fans know and love. He also doesn’t force his voice to sound exactly like Jay Baruchel. The only character in the movie who should sound exactly like his animated counterpart is Stoick the Vast and that is only because Gerard Butler reprised the role.
The costume designer, Lindsay Pugh, did a wonderful job costuming for the most part. The characters look like vikings and harness the style of the animated outfits. Astrid gets multiple costume changes rather than always rocking the same blue outfit from the 2010 film. She has a red training outfit that’s unique to the live-action adaption as well as both the iconic blue outfit and the red outfit from the second animation. Hiccup also dons a few extra outfits, though he spends most of his time in the usual green get-up from the animation with the addition of a hood. While real life vikings would have worn hoods for warmth, they wouldn’t have looked much like a modern hoodie. Hiccup’s hood is a little jarring, but he never lifts it so it doesn’t take away from the film.
No great film is without flaws and “How to Train Your Dragon” (2025) definitely has a few. The biggest flaw that presents during the film comes in the form of pacing. Some of the shots feel rushed or unnecessary. Some iconic scenes, like Hiccup mimicking Stoick, were cut completely and some scenes that feel random were added in. It feels a bit like the cast and crew were so excited to get to certain parts of the film that they didn’t care about any of the filler scenes.
Despite the unfortunate cuts, the most disappointing part of the film comes after the film at the end of the credits. Modern audiences love a good end-credit scene. They make sitting through the credits while reading names they’ve never heard of feel worth it. “How to Train Your Dragon” (2025) does indeed have an end-credit scene, but it’s completely lackluster. Spoiler-alert, it’s a two second clip of Hiccup’s hand on the Book of Dragons that was likely cut from a previous scene. That makes two missed chances at seeing Hiccup mimic Stoick!
Overall, “How to Train Your Dragoon” (2025) translates well to live-action. The film is pretty much shot for shot and that is perfectly okay. For audiences that really love the original films and want more or those who don’t like animation but want to experience the story, this film is definitely worth the watch.
