‘How To Train Your Dragon’ (2025) Review – A Live-Action Remake Done Right

An unsung curse that has plagued the cinematic landscape for years now is that of the dreaded “live-action remake”. Despite coming on strong with Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book reimagining in 2016, just about every genre entry since has suffered from a lack of color and inspiration in favor of a bland, play-by-play remake of whatever animated classic is being castrated.

That is, until Dean DeBlois decided to tackle his own How to Train Your Dragon franchise, sculpting the live-action reformation with the same hands that created the original. The result is, in a rarity for the type, almost as magical as the original animated release was in 2010. DeBlois and Dreamworks didn’t just get this one right — they set a new standard.

While the live-action makeover’s narrative is almost a one-to-one retelling of the first movie, it sets itself apart with strong casting and unique visuals. In an age of much more expensive movies looking unrealistic and unconvincing, the remake of a children’s dragon movie coming onto the scene with some of the best visual effects in the last half-decade was certainly unexpected; yet, here we are.

How to Train Your Dragon simply looks fantastic. The franchise’s cartoonish sensibilities are not lost in live-action, like many feared they would be; instead, they’re adapted in style, lending themselves to the realistic look of the titular creatures without losing the whimsy that makes them feel so unbelievably special. Toothless, especially, is flawlessly executed here. His characterization (which, of course, relies entirely on expressions) strongly translates to the film’s relatively grounded visual palette. If anything, he stands out more in this one than he did in the original. Just fantastic work across the board in that regard here.

Mason Thames as Hiccup, situated aside Toothless for most of the runtime, is nothing short of a stroke of genius in this adaptation. His interactions with the computer-generated dragon are terribly convincing and wonderfully spirited, and his bouts of emotion with the rest of the village, especially Gerard Butler’s Stoick, his father, are staunch standouts. Butler voiced the character in the animated trilogy, but his role reprisal here isn’t as simple as it seems. Seeing him in costume and working alongside the rest of the cast in physical form adds a new layer to his delivery as the character. He and Thames create the perfect sort of jagged, confused, painfully loving father/son relationship that the narrative necessitates at the center of the movie. Each of them plays a huge role in the third act’s emotional weight, elevating every scene they’re in and then some.

On that final act, it too is brilliantly done here. While the original film still stands a little taller in most regards, if not only for the reason that it was the first to tell this story on the big screen, the last thirty minutes of the new retelling may actually be a tad stronger. How to Train Your Dragon’s scale, from the moment the characters meet at the dragons’ lair, is that of a true, proper blockbuster. It’s clear that much of the money went to the last few scenes, but the result is a truly dazzling sequence of stakes taking physicality in the form of fire, beating wings, and lone teardrops. If anyone, by that point, is still asking the question: “Why did this need to be made?” That scene answers it.

Was this movie necessary? On the whole, perhaps not. But is it welcome? Absolutely. Prior to this release, it had been more than a decade since audiences were able to see this classic story told at the cinema. For the first movie’s director to return to retell it in this form, and to this degree, is a true delight. How to Train Your Dragon is the best live-action remake of an animated movie ever. Point, blank, period. Here’s to hoping they tackle the sequels next.

How To Train Your Dragon will debut exclusively in theaters on June 13, 2025, courtesy of Universal.