How to Train Your Dragon, released in 2010, was a massive hit, which subsequently led to two sequels, four shorts, and two television series spanning over 100 episodes, keeping fans engaged for the better part of the 2010s. Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois brought brilliant storytelling to this dragon-filled animated fantasy, with DreamWorks Animation delivering their very best visuals for the franchise. How to Train Your Dragon was a true animated marvel. Which is precisely why news of the live-action remake took fans by surprise.
While it is true that How to Train Your Dragon didn’t need a live-action remake, How to Train Your Dragon proves that it can be done quite well and without feeling like a soulless cash-grab. You might ask, what’s the secret to making a good live-action remake that doesn’t incite ire the way that Disney has with their remakes, including their most recent attempt, Lilo & Stitch? The answer is quite simple: if you can, bring back the original creators to retell their story in a new format and stay true to the original story. While Lilo & Stitch is currently on a fast track to $1 billion, it has been met with a lot of criticism for how it strips away a lot of what made the original animated feature — ironically, also created by Sanders and DeBlois — so special. How to Train Your Dragon avoids that criticism by creating a mostly faithful adaptation, with a few little tweaks along the way.
How Does the Cast of the Live-Action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Stack Up to the Original?
This live-action How to Train Your Dragon follows the same plot as the animated feature. Hiccup (Mason Thames) desperately wants to be accepted by the people of Berk — and to not be seen as such a burden to his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). While trying to prove that he can be a dragon hunter like the rest of the Vikings and capture the feared Night Fury, he discovers that he and the seldom-seen dragon have more in common than his people. At its core, How to Train Your Dragon is a coming-of-age story for Hiccup, while also imparting important lessons about embracing our differences and learning to never judge a book by its cover.
I was surprised to discover just how much of a pure remake the new film is. With a script and visuals that so closely match the original, the live-action film easily solidifies itself as an epic and thrilling crowd-pleaser. The most impressive aspect of How to Train Your Dragon isn’t the seamless visual effects that bring Toothless and the entire flock of dragons to life — it’s the flawless casting choices. The original Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) had an iconic voice that matched his affable personality and somewhat dorkish character design. I don’t know what Viking magic they used to turn an animated character into a real boy, but Mason Thames is Hiccup. He has endless charisma and charm, and he endears himself to the audience within the first few minutes, just like his animated counterpart does. The live-action also gives audiences more time with Hiccup and Toothless as they bond and train, expanding upon the more montage-like sequences in the animated film.
Similarly, Nico Parker proves precisely why she was cast to bring new life to Astrid (previously voiced by America Ferrera). Her introduction is exactly as it is in the original film, with Hiccup’s adoration for the tough-as-nails Viking on full display. Parker and Thames have fantastic chemistry, and she does well at pulling off Astrid’s emotional evolution in ways that the animated film didn’t necessarily give the character the space to develop on her own. In an era where Disney remakes are afraid to embrace the romances that defined their animated movies, How to Train Your Dragon stays true to Hiccup and Astrid’s young love, and it’s such a delight to see how it plays out in the final act of the film.
Gerard Butler is the bridge between the animated movie and the live-action remake. He originated the role of Berk’s chieftain, Stoick the Vast, and returns in How to Train Your Dragon to give Thames’ Hiccup the exact same daddy issues. The new film does quite a bit more with Stoick than the original, expanding upon the scenes he shares with his son, and also exploring more of his role as chieftain and his relationship with the other Vikings. While the film still focuses on Hiccup’s journey, it leaves a lot of room to show things from Stoick’s perspective, which appeals to the older audiences. This shift also helps to underscore the film’s core themes about understanding new perspectives and letting go of long-held beliefs. Butler is magnificent in the role, and it’s a refreshing change of pace from the action-hero track he’s been on for the past decade. He has all the makings of a character actor, and he knows how to lean into the theatricality of Stoick’s larger-than-life persona. Butler and Thames are a brilliant father-son duo, and they both do well with making the dynamic from the animated film even more relatable and appealing.
The rest of How to Train Your Dragon’s ensemble cast are perfect live-action matches for the original. Nick Frost is hilarious as the snarky blacksmith Gobber the Belch (previously voiced by Craig Ferguson), who serves as a sort of fun uncle for Hiccup and a sounding board for Stoick’s parental shortcomings. Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn bring an element of humanity to the film’s comic relief, Tuffnut and Ruffnut. Julian Dennison is precious as Fishlegs, the over-eager dragonslayer hopeful. The remake also gives more depth to Snoutlout (Gabriel Howell), positioning him as a foil to Hiccup. Not only is he also vying for Astrid’s attention, but he’s desperate to earn the respect of his father, Spitelout (Peter Serafinowicz). It’s these little tweaks that elevate the remake, taking the adaptation to new heights.
‘How to Train Your Dragon’s Visuals Exceed Expectations
When How to Train Your Dragon debuted in 2010, it earned a lot of critical praise for its 3D animation, with some, including Collider, focusing on how brilliant the flight sequences looked. At the time, it really was the very best example of flight in animation, and set the bar high for subsequent animated films across the studio landscape. How to Train Your Dragon employed the ever-talented team at Framestore (including VFX Supervisors François Lambert, Andy Kind, and Glenn Melenhorst), alongside the production’s VFX Supervisor Christian Manz and VFX Producer Chris Raimo, to bring to life Cressida Cowell’s vibrant world of Vikings and dragons, and their talent takes the world of Berk to a whole new level. Toothless, with all of his precious catlike tendencies and judgmental reactions, feels real. You rarely see the seams between the actors and the dragons as they fight and fly with them, which is a credit to the film’s cinematographer, Bill Pope, too.
The final act brings some of the most awe-inspiring visual effects when everyone converges at the dragons’ nest to face the terrifying “Red Death.” The sequence is quite scary in the animated movie, but the visual effects in the new film definitely have the potential to give kids nightmares. That sequence alone guarantees that How to Train Your Dragon will be nominated for best visual effects at the Academy Awards next year.
In addition to the visual effects, How to Train Your Dragon’s entire visual aesthetic takes what works in the animated film and transforms it into something befitting its fantastical and historical elements. The film’s production designer, Dominic Watkins, perfectly recreates the world of Berk, expanding upon the animated film’s locations to make it feel more tangible and lived-in, while the costume designer, Lindsay Pugh, recreates the original’s iconic looks with an edge of historical realism that elevates them.
During an era where the vast majority of live-action remakes have failed to understand why the animated movie was beloved in the first place, How to Train Your Dragon is a breath of fresh air. While you could make an argument that the film exists purely to support Universal Studio’s new and insanely impressive Isle of Berk, the film justifies its existence through its boundary-pushing visual effects, and the enjoyment factor explains why a sequel has already been greenlit. How to Train Your Dragon is the gold-star example of how to do a live-action remake right.
How to Train Your Dragon comes to theaters on June 13.
How to Train Your Dragon is the rare remake that knows exactly what fans want.
- Release Date
-
June 13, 2025
-
Mason Thames
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
-
Nico Parker
Astrid Hofferson
-
-
- How to Train Your Dragon is a 1:1 adaptation of the original animated movie, ensuring that fans of the original are wholly satisfied with the remake.
- Mason Thames and Nico Parker are exceptionally well-cast, and bring new life to the animated characters.
- The visual effects raise the bar, just as the animated movie set the gold-standard for animation at the time.
- Gerard Butler gets the chance to bring new depth to Stoick, building on his pre-existing performance.
- The film is thirty minutes longer than the original animated feature, which makes it a little more tedious for younger audiences to enjoy.
