There is no shortage of live remakes from animated classics. Only this year, the public has already seen new versions of snow White And Lilo & Stitch. The two were presented to mixed criticism, but solid box office performance for the latter helped prove that the outlet of familiar stories remains. Disney has long been the king of live adaptations, from the 90s with Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book And Glenn Starring 101 DalmatiansBut the studio launched the serious trend with 2014 Evil. NOW, DreamWorks jumped on the train with How to train your dragonA remake of the 2010 beloved animated film.

The original film, the first of a trilogy, follows a Viking Paria boy named Hiccup who challenges his father and his hateful village of Dragon to bond with a formidable but surprisingly sweet dragon he nicknamed. Like most live remakes, fans approached him with apprehension: why should this exist? Although the final result is not entirely up to the magic of the original – and it is doubtful that everything live live has ever been – How to train your dragon is one of the most successful attempts at recent memory, thanks to the talent and the return filmmaker, a charming cast and dazzling visuals.

How to train your dragon is better seen on the biggest screen

The island of Berk is translated magnificently into live action

The original film of 2010 won the public with its sincere history, but a large part of its lasting impact had to do with its advanced visuals. Directors Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois recruited The director of Renom Roger Deakins photography (better known for his frequent collaborations with the Coen brothers and his Oscar -winning work on 1917 And Blade Runner 2049) As a visual consultant, aimed at helping their animated film to have a live visual sensation. The team has delivered, and some of the scenes from the original film are pure works of art.

Although this is not precisely a remake shot-for-shot, 2025 How to train your dragon Borrows from many decorations and recognizable sequences of the 2010 film. The opening, where Hiccup describes by voice off what it is to live on the island of Berk and to face the problem of the annoying dragon of the village, is roughly withdrawn from the original. Similarly, some of the hiccup flights with stewed people resemble animated versions. But there is certainly a more cinematic feeling in remake; The new film is based on the radical landscapes of Northern Ireland, where it was filmed, with a huge effect.

The real rendering of the dragons is also magnificent. Each breed has a distinctive and fully achieved look which avoids caricatural quality which can occur with a poorly dissociated CGI. Instead, these glorious animals all seem to have been able to get out of one of the originals Jurassic movies. Deblois’ decision to use puppets for filming, so that the actors really interact with something, have really paid. The heart of the story looks at Hiccup and Krokmou develop their link, and there is no way that anyone bought it if he seemed that Hiccup was an interaction with an empty space.

The remake benefits from having a familiar face at the helm

The co-scriptwriter and co-director of the original film returns for the remake

Deblois, which co-written and co-produced the original film of 2010, then wrote and directed the second and third films of the original animation trilogy, returned to the bar to write and make the adaptation live. The filmmaker explained why he wanted to come back for the live action How to train your dragon Remake, and simply put: he wanted a do-over. Deblois said in interviews that he was aware that there were things that he knew that the original could have done better, and he was delighted to have the chance to rise himself.

Deblois love for this world and these characters bleeds at every moment. It is obvious that the new film is managed by a person with in -depth knowledge of the original. Smartly, he also brought back several key players. One was the composer John Powell, who marked the original animated trilogy. Powell’s new partition for the 2025 version is based and increases its original work, using recognizable and appreciated refrains in a way that new fans and old will appreciate.

By the way, Deblois even tried to recruit Deakins, the director of photography who consulted the original animated films, to shoot the new version. Although Deakins was not available, he recommended that Bill Pope, who was clearly in locking with the visual sensitivity of Deblois and Co. Then, of course, there is the main star.

The only return star strengthens a solid casting

Gerard Butler is a welcome show and has great chemistry with young stars

There is only one real Stoick the vast, and it’s Gerard Butler. It is just as powerful in the live version that its vocal performance was in the 2010 film. The costume is also excellent; The visual appeal to see Butler dotted with Viking equipment really helps history feel immersive (and also recalls some of his other fantastic roles, as 300). But perhaps more importantly, he has great father-son chemistry with Mason Thames, who plays the son of Stoick Hiccup.

For a family film, many Hiccups and the confrontations of Stoick in the original film become a little intense, and Butler and Thames realize these confrontations in the new flawless, allowing viewers to understand the views of the two characters. Thames himself is a beautiful hiccups, filling the shoes of the original voice actor Jay Baruchel, although some of the comic lines that Baruchel has navel do not land quite the same release of Thames’ mouth in the new film. Nico Parker, for better or for worse, is certainly more an interpreter out of competition in the film. At the start, it is certainly a little distracting that she is a virtual twin of her mother, Westworld Star Thandiwe Newton. But once this obstacle has passed, it is clear that Parker is perfectly suited to the more developed version of the remake of Astrid.

While the longer execution time of the new remake (it is about 30 minutes more than the animated version) is sometimes late, the additional moments which give more depth to secondary characters like Astrid are very effective. In particular, there is a conversation where Astrid sums up why it is so frustrated by Hiccup and its white boy privilege. (Casting Parker, a person of color, in this role, rather than opting for a white blonde avatar of the animated version of Astrid was an intelligent choice here.) The film also adds a surprising depth to other smaller characters, like Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), Hiccup of Hiccup, but slightly Dim, friend who became a rival. There is an entire secondary intrigue (although subtle, minor) threaded in the parental negligence of Snotlout, and the resolution is surprisingly touching.

Live remakes are affected, but this is well done

How to train your dragon maintains a large part of the heart of the original

At the end of the day, was this live remake necessary? Probably not. But is it a pleasant watch? Absolutely. The new adaptation does not recruit here; Unlike recent controversial changes, the Lilo & Stitch remake makes the original story, there is absolutely nothing very different in How to train your dragon. Deblois did not really need to improve his previous work, because the 2010 How to train your dragon is already spectacular. That said, the filmmaker takes the opportunity to reorganize some of his visuals satisfactorily, and some of the new film’s sequences will leave viewers as breathless as the first.

How to train your dragon is in theaters on June 13, 2025.

How to train your dragon

Release date

June 13, 2025

Execution time

116 minutes

Director

Dean Deblois

Writers

Dean Deblois

• 

  Mason Thames

  Horrible Haddock III hiccup

• 

  Parks Nico

  Astrid Hofferson

Advantages and disadvantages

• Amazing visuals and scores.
• Large chemistry among the actors, in particular the tracks.
• Some small details deepen the secondary characters.

• The first half drags and the execution is longer than necessary.