How to Train Your Dragon (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts

Grade – C+

• For better or worse, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is a live-action remake that doesn’t stray too far from the original. 
• Roger Deakins’ visual consultant work is missing (he worked on the three HTTYD animated films). Cinematographer Bill Pope does a fine job, but it’s pretty close to a shot-for-shot remake, which doesn’t allow Pope to do anything other than shoot a professional-looking film.
• Mason Thames and Nico Parker are solid.
• Aside from money, merchandising, theme park promotion, and licensing (and competing with Disney), I’m not sure why it exists.

I don’t mind remakes. They’ve always been around and won’t stop being produced because they are easy to finance and make decent money. When done right, remakes like Fright Night (2011), Let Me In (2010), The Crazies (2010), Dawn of the Dead (2004) and The Fly (1986), work as companion pieces that hit familiar beats and offer something new and fresh. However, for every standout, it seems like there are double the amount of remakes like Martyrs (2015), Inside (2016), Speak No Evil (2024) and Psycho (1998), that pull their punches and have zero reason to exist other than making money. In the case of How to Train Your Dragon, it’s somewhere in the middle. Director Dean Dublois is back, Gerald Butler is back, and a lot of money was spent making something serviceable. 

If you aren’t familiar with the How to Train Your Dragon world, it focuses on a teenage Viking named Hiccup (Mason Thames), who desperately wants to follow in the footsteps of his legendary dragon-killing father Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). They live on an island named Burk, which is home to a collection of wannabe dragon killers from all over the world. They spend their days rebuilding their village (after dragon attacks), protecting livestock (from dragons), and prepping for more attacks (from dragons). It’s an ugly cycle that is unwinnable for the stubborn denizens of the isolated island. Basically, Vikings don’t like dragons, Hiccup befriends a dragon, and things get crazy when Stoick decides to attack the home of the dragons – which doesn’t end well for his fleet of wooden ships. During all of this, there are training montages, chaotic flights, and a budding relationship between Hiccup and Astrid (Nico Parker), the town’s most promising dragon slayer. 

What’s nice about the remake is that it respects its source material. However, by appeasing diehard fans, DeBlois has made a boring film for people who have watched the animated movies. In an interview with The Wrap, DeBlois admitted that for “better or worse” he stuck close to the plot lines of the first film (which was adapted from a book) and he made the correct (AKA boring) decision. He clearly loves his characters, but by sticking to the playbook, he’s delivered a safe and borderline meaningless remake that he directed because he didn’t want anybody else to take the reins (makes sense). An interesting fact is that DeBlois was given full creative control and he decided to not gamble by keeping the story the same and expanding upon the world a little bit more. As a first-time live-action film director it’s smart that he kept things simple and safe, and the additions he made make sense. He’s given more backstory to Astrid, which allows Nico Parker to showcase her skills (she’ll be a big star soon). Also, Burk is no longer the exclusive home of burley Scandinavian Vikings, as it’s become home to people from all over the world who want to kill dragons.

The biggest problem with the movie is that there are no “whoa” or “holy moly” moments. The VFX is fine and the production design by Dominic Watkins feels lived-in, but the movie never soars. Being familiar with the animated films understandably makes things less surprising, but I’ve watched plenty of remakes that have caught my attention (For example, the opening attack in 2004’s Daw of the Dead). I distinctly remember holding my breath and feeling the wind during the first flying scene in the OG HTTYD. I never once felt any emotions during the flying scenes in the live-action film – which comes down to familiarity and the fact that they aren’t exciting. 

When the credits started rolling the remake was met with loud cheers and applause, so it seems like Dreamworks has a hit on their hands. From a business perspective, the producers made wise decisions, but It would’ve been nice if they made a film that was a little less familiar. Dreamworks must’ve learned from recent Disney live-action films and decided to avoid controversy, so they gave remake/rebootquel-loving audiences a faithful remake that won’t ruffle any feathers. It’s smart, but it’s quite cynical in a landscape of cynical money-making exercises.