DreamWorks takes us back to the skies of Berk in a shot-for-shot, live-action retelling of How to Train Your Dragon. Boy meets dragon. Boy trains dragon. Everyone stops hating dragons. If you’ve seen the 2010 animated masterpiece, you already know the plot—because this movie basically plays Mad Libs with the exact same script. Familiar? Very. Fresh? Not quite.
Live-action Hiccup played by Mason Thames is not giving nerdy outcast vibes. I’m sorry, but this man walked on screen looking like a Marvel Phase Six contender. The animated Hiccup played by Jay Baruchel was all awkward elbows, gangly limbs, and zero riz. This Hiccup? He looks like he drinks protein shakes, not invent dragon traps.
Gerard Butler returns as Stoick the Vast and delivers the performance like he never left the recording booth. He is Stoick—gruff, growly, and glorious. The beard? Majestic. The stare? Bone-chilling. The presence? A brute-force thunderclap.
And Nico Parker as Astrid? Chef’s kiss. She nails the warrior princess vibe, all steely glares and quiet strength. It’s the kind of performance that could’ve carried a spin-off if this wasn’t so laser-focused on recreating every pixel of the original.
Now let’s talk technicals, because wow. The CGI is insane—like, “I’d believe this dragon flew out my screen” insane. Toothless looks spectacular, flight scenes are smoother than dragon-hide butter, and the visuals are jaw-dropping at times. It’s truly a technical marvel.
But here’s the catch: while it looks stunning, it still feels animated. We’re moving from one form of fantasy animation to another, and honestly? It kind of defeats the purpose. There’s a strange uncanny valley between realism and animation that this film lives in—and that valley is called “Why did we need this?”
This remake walks the tightrope between nostalgia and redundancy—and unfortunately lands in the safety net of sameness. It’s fun. It’s cool. It brought back a lot of feelings. But it did not bring anything new to the table.
There’s a lingering question throughout the whole runtime: “Why?” Why remake a film that already holds up perfectly? Why not use this big budget and gorgeous VFX to give us a fourth instalment instead of a redo of the first? My biggest fear now is that this is just the beginning of a trilogy of reboots no one asked for.
Nothing here blew my mind—but it did warm my heart. It’s like reheating your favourite takeaway: still tasty, still comforting, but not quite as magical the second time around.
How to Train Your Dragon (Live Action) is a soaring spectacle that never crashes, but also never climbs to new heights. Fun for fans, nostalgic for many—but please, DreamWorks… let’s not turn this into a live-action trilogy. Let sleeping dragons lie.
