The original How to Train Your Dragon movie is one of those movies that is Very Important To Me. So when they announced a live action remake I was slightly dubious. Given the drivel that the Mouse House pumps out.
But then I discovered that it was being directed by one of the two original directors, Dean DeBlois... and I was basically onboard.
Then the trailer came out and I fucking cried. I was all in.
And, I have to say that How to Train Your Dragon absolutely sits comfortably beside it's animated predecessor as a slightly more mature and complex retelling of the original.
And, oh how I cried. I cried during the closing narration for fuck's sake. The bit that is all happy and joyful. But I knew that crying was absolutely going to happen.
It's one of those interesting things where it's very nearly a completely faithful remake, but there are just, as DeBlois said in an interview, "good, subtle, and significant enhancements" to certain elements.
And in some spots that pulls it above the 2010 version, in other spots, it drops it below slightly, and sometimes it does both in the same scene.
First up though... Mason Thames. This entire movie, no pun intended, rides on his back. If he doesn't work, nothing works. He is, without doubt, exceptional in this. He brings all the personality Jay Baruchel brought to animated Hiccup, and fills him with even more emotion than the animators managed.
This version strengthens the relationship between Hiccup and his father Stoic (and nobody else could have been Stoic, so I'm so glad that Gerard Butler returned... the only returning cast member between the two as far as I'm aware). And they definitely give Stoic some more depth, give him moments to just exist in not understanding his child. Things that 2010 got across, but 2025 leans into.
And I wonder how much of that is a 55 year old DeBlois vs a 40 year old DeBlois. Also understanding exactly who all these characters are after three movies with them and coming back and getting to take a fresh crack at them all.
The viking kids are good overall. Do they suffer ever so slightly from not being voiced by comedians? Slightly. At the same time the roles get expanded during some of the action scenes and they're all well cast. But, honestly, the supporting cast of Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were never my favourite characters in any of the movies.
Which brings us to Astrid. Played by Nico Parker. Firstly, I like that the movie explicitly created a relationship between Astrid and Stoic, even if it's more of a "tell don't show" relationship beyond a couple of small moments. I just feel like Parker was... a little... flat. I dunno how to describe it really. And maybe that's how the character was written... and maybe America Ferrera pulled off a miracle in 2010 by making Astrid more than the sum of her parts. Like I said, I can't put my finger on it. I'd need to see the movie again I think. She's good, don't get me wrong, there's just something that she didn't quite have that Thames had in spades. Maybe this version of Astrid feels harsher at the beginning, so her change feels too abrupt, I don't know.
On the "some changes are both positive and negative" front... making the tribe of vikings be composed of people from various places around the globe who specifically came to hunt dragons... great. Gives us the opportunity to cast people other than just white folks... completely on board.
But it also changes to vibe of the village a little. Instead of being people who have always lived on this little rock sticking out of the ocean and who are too stubborn to go live anywhere else just because there are dragons, now you have people who, potentially, sought out this place because of the dragons. It doesn't change anything explicitly in the movie, but it changes to feel of the place somewhat when I thought about it afterwards.
That may also be because I feel like we spend too much time with the adult characters at the start of the movie. I kind of don't need Snotlout's dad. I don't really need the woman with one leg who has no other personality traits as far I can see. I'm not sure I need the "blink and you'll miss it" scene that may or may not have been Astrid's parents, because they never have a scene with Astrid, so I'm basing that completely on something I read after the movie. It just pads out the start a little too much.
It's a 125 minute movie compared to 2010's 98 minutes. And a good chunk of that is in the final battle scene, but I also feel like the other half of that time is spend on characters that the movie really isn't about. I get the idea that we're expanding the world, I just wanted to get to the good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean Toothless.
The CGI Toothless is excellent. There are times when I felt like perhaps we get slightly less personality from him... but that might be more a case of the lighting and texture and live action of it all. It's been a minute since I've watched the 2010 version (that's absolutely on the docket for tonight's viewing), but it felt like there were certain scenes in that where his expressions had been easier to read because they weren't hidden by 2025's dust and lighting and fog and just being "real". But again I could be making comparisons between a single movie's worth of character vs three movies worth of character.
Because he looks amazing overall.
Speaking of the CGI... there were moments in the first half of the movie where I just kept thinking that nobody in a particular scene was actually outside in the world. Or they were, but that background was definitely not really there. Not that it doesn't look amazing, but there was just something that just pulled me out of it in certain spots.
I also specifically need to call out Lindsay Pugh, the costume designer. She did amazing work... especially on Hiccup's hoodie. I'm slightly obsessed with that particular garment. But everybody looked amazing. I will extend that kudos out to all the art designers and set decorators.
Likewise John Powell, who was the composer for the original three HTTYD movies and returns for this one. I've been listening to the soundtrack while typing this and absolutely love it. I specifically love the Meeting the Queen track for whatever the hell is going on at the start of it. Powell definitely improves on his original score from 2010.
The story, which I love, doesn't really change... not in any meaningful ways... and didn't need to. I still love that there are consequences in these stories.
If I had to rank them, based on right now of not having seen 2010 in a hot minute... I think 2010 just edges this out. But we're talking a few degrees of separation. And I absolutely need to see 2025 again.
Which is why this also gets the same rating as 2010.
yani's rating: 5 toothless dragons out of 5
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