Film Review: Dragon remake a surefire smash

The 2010 animated feature How To Train Your Dragon, produced by DreamWorks, captured the hearts of audiences worldwide with its enchanting storytelling and stunning visuals.

It is based on a series of books by Cressida Cowell, first published in 2003.

Set on the mythical Viking island of Berk, the story centres around Hiccup, a timid yet inventive young Viking who encounters a rare dragon named Toothless and befriends him.

The success of How To Train Your Dragon led to two sequels, and the franchise has earned nearly $2 billion at the global box office, marking it as a significant achievement in animated cinema.

The franchise extends beyond the films, branching out into a variety of animated TV series that delve deeper into the lore and adventures of Hiccup, Toothless, and their friends, further enriching the vibrant universe fans have come to love.

The latest instalment is a live-action adaptation that retells the story of the first film. With human actors and real landscapes combined with CGI dragons, the entire film was shot on location here in Ireland.

The film marks the return of original writer and director Dean DeBlois, with Gerard Butler reprising his role as Stoick, the main character’s father, but does it capture the magic of the original?

Mason Thames, the break-out teen star from 2021 horror film The Black Phone, plays Hiccup, the son of Stoick the Vast (Butler), Chieftan of the land of Berk. It is a Viking stronghold, an island that has been at the centre of bitter fights between humans and dragons for centuries.

Most people, both men and women, on the island are large, brave, muscular, and not afraid to risk losing a limb to battle a dragon. Stoick is the biggest of them all and proud of his Viking lineage; however, he is not exactly proud of his teenage son Hiccup, who manages to get into trouble in the blink of an eye.

Hiccup is intelligent but not a strong fighter. However, he wants to make his father proud, so he invents a device to capture dragons. Hiccup uses it to catch a much-feared Night Fury dragon, but after it is in the trap, another dragon attacks it.

The result is a battle. The Night Fury dragon escapes so no-one believes Hiccup caught one, and everyone is furious for the damage he has caused, no more so than his father, who is ashamed the future Chieftan is such a poor Viking.

As Stoick storms off with a group of warriors to search for a hidden dragon nest, Hiccup and several other teenagers have reached the age where they are required to attend dragon-fighting school under the guidance of Gobber the Belch (Nick Frost).

Gobber has his work cut out. In addition to Hiccup, he must train the overly enthusiastic yet gormless Fishlegs Ingerman (Julian Dennison) and the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who have been training for years but have never passed their test.

The only hope is Astrid (Nico Parker), a skilled warrior with plenty of spark ready to take on the task of killing dragons.

When he isn’t training, Hiccup sneaks off into the woods, and this is where he encounters the Night Fury dragon he caught in the trap. Instead of killing him, Hiccup looks deep into his eyes and realises that the dragon doesn’t pose a threat.

The boy names the dragon Toothless and begins the process of earning his trust. Soon, they are learning to fly together. Hiccup begins to wonder that if one dragon can be trusted, does that mean all dragons can be? Have dragons and humans been fighting for the wrong reasons all these years? If so, how can Hiccup persuade his father to stop fighting them and instead learn to live alongside them?

Live-action remakes have a tendency to be carbon copies of the original, and there are places where How To Train Your Dragon falls into this pit; however, it works in this case.

The first film was pretty much perfect, so translating scene for scene makes sense. There is enough originality in the rest of the film to allow for some recreation.

With excellent performances, particularly from Thames, who is without doubt the next big thing to come out of Hollywood, thrilling action sequences, and plenty of heart and humour, How To Train Your Dragon is a true definition of a summer blockbuster.

Toothless is so cute, most kids, and some adults, will leave the cinema hoping to find a pet dragon in their garden when they get home. I know I did!

How To Train Your Dragon, in cinemas now, cert PG.