How To Train Your Dragon is the third animated movie this year after Snow White and Lilo & Stitch to get the live-action treatment and it’s by far the best one. I think fans of the original will flock to it to see how it measures up and the results are going to be mostly satisfying.
This remake stays true to the spirit of the original which focuses on a Viking village called Berk in which dragons attack the villagers and they have to fight back. Gerard Butler, who lent his voice to the character of Stoick the Vast, the leader of the Vikings reprises his role.
Mason Thames plays his son Hiccup, who is much more interested in creating weapons than killing dragons. During a raid of the village, Hiccup brings one of them down, a fearsome one known as the Night Fury, but no one believes him. He tracks down the dragon and intends to kill it, but he can’t bring himself to perform the act.
Nick Frost plays Gobber, who trains Hiccup and a few others to fight the dragons. At first, Hiccup is reluctant, but has a change of heart when one of the other trainees is his love interest, Astrid (Nico Parker). Hiccup is torn between his duties to fight the dragons and making friends with the one he brought down, which he names Toothless due to the dragon’s retractable teeth.
Meanwhile, Stoick wants to lead his men to a gigantic nest that houses all the dragons and eliminate them. Again, Hiccup is torn between the two and tries to stop his father, but he will hear none of it.
The movie is a great-looking spectacle that combines the usual computer-generated creatures with actors on what seem to be practical sets. The dragons themselves have a great deal of texture and detail. Each one is different, and each is rendered in an inventive way.
This remake of How to Train Your Dragon features solid work from its cast, who bring a certain amount of humor, charm, and heart to their roles. However, it also makes time to give these characters something to do instead of just being marionettes for the special effects sequences.
Some of the flying sequences are much more convincing and exciting than the big action sequences. They have a quality that reminds me of Avatar and even some of The Lord of the Rings.
Speaking of action, the weak point in the film is the climactic battle between the Vikings and the dragons, which takes up quite a chunk of the film. It drags on and could’ve ended sooner.
How to Train Your Dragon might not reach the near-perfect heights of its animated counterpart, but the spirit of the original is serviceable enough to soar.
