Director: Dean DeBlois
Cast: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz, Murray McArthur
Screenplay: Dean DeBlois
125 mins. Rated PG for sequences of intense action, and peril.

Live-action remakes are nothing new, especially these days, where Disney has seemingly reinvented their brand solely based on them. It’s an easy and safe notion, with a comfortable IP, to just do the same thing but live-action, and they make money. I’m no big fan of the trend, though there are times when they are excellent, but most of the time they leave me wanting more. I think the latest release with this trend, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, may have just broken me. It’s a movie that’s probably more well-made than most live-action remakes of animated films, but the decision to adhere so closely to the original film made for a dull, soulless, and often boring retread.

Young Hiccup (Mason Thames, The Black Phone) has a lot to live up to. His father is Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, 300), the chief of the village of Berk. Other young people in his community are prepared to defend the village from the ever-increasing dragon attacks, but Hiccup is seemingly unable to hold his own prowess, and he’s mostly been relegated to sharpening weapons and working alongside friend and occasional mentor Gobber (Nick Frost, Shaun of the Dead). When he comes across an injured Night Fury, the most mysterious and frightening of all dragons, he intends to slay it for the glory it would bring, but he cannot bring himself to do so. Naming the creature Toothless, Hiccup forges a bond that might bring about change for Berk and the dragons, if only he can convince everyone else.

It frustrated me to no end to watch the events of How to Train Your Dragon unfold in front of me as I quickly realized that this version of the tale would be exactly the same as its animated predecessor. While being a technically well-made film (the production design, costumes, and visual effects were all excellent), this remake played it safe without a single discernible change with the exception that this time, it all fell flat for me. When I go into a remake or an alternate adaptation, I try to avoid seeing similarities with the original as it doesn’t seem fair to the film I’m viewing, but director Dean DeBlois (who co-directed the original) gave me no other choice, clinging to the original film so much that it would’ve been impossible not to see the similarities between them. This film is entirely coasting on goodwill, but sorry, you don’t get to take a victory lap.

It’s unfortunate, because I do genuinely like these performers, and I think they’re doing exactly what they were hired for. Between The Black Phone and Monster Summer, Mason Thames is proving he has what it takes to be a lead, and his performance is the best in the film, the least like an impression. It’s easy to forget, especially when the visual effects are as good as they are here, that he’s often acting against a CG creature in his scenes with Toothless and the other dragons. He sells the idea that he’s in this world and carries the film, aided by the aforementioned CG and the remarkable production design and costume work.

Is a movie really written if it uses the same dialogue and actions? Is it really scored if it reuses the music? Is it directed if it’s shot the exact same way? Is it performed if the actors are doing impressions? These are the questions I walked away with, but more than anything, I walked away disappointed. There’s a way to make this live-action remake work, but you have to do SOMETHING new with it. The remakes to films like Scarface, The Fly, and The Thing all worked because a filmmaker with a unique vision took the concept and did something original with it. While it’s better made than recent Disney fare like Snow White or Lilo & Stitch, those films are at least trying something original, albeit in a more limited capacity than the properties deserve. Now, I’ll be clear and say that, for some reason, there are viewers who only want to see a translation of the original film, and they’ll probably love How to Train Your Dragon, but I’m quite tired of remaking the same movie but making it 25 minutes longer and duller in the process.

2/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

• For my review of Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders’ How to Train Your Dragon (2010), click here.
• For my review of Dean DeBlois’ How to Train Your Dragon 2, click here.
• For my review of Dean DeBlois’ How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, click here.