“How to Train Your Dragon” has soared past its animated predecessor at the box office, and there is no question as to why. The live-action version of the beloved film features breathtaking scenery, intense action scenes and heartwarming character relationships.
“How to Train Your Dragon,” originally released in 2010 by Dreamworks Pictures, was an animated film beloved by many. The quirky characters, lovable dragons, and Viking-inspired aesthetic made the film a fan favorite, securing the No. 1 rating among Dreamworks’ films on Rotten Tomatoes.
The live-action remake stands apart from the original animated film in multiple ways. Though the scenes were similar to that of the original film, director Dean DeBlois brought new life to the Isle of Berk.
The film begins as Hiccup, the inventive son of the village chief, starts to navigate his role on the isle. The villagers live in constant conflict with dragons, fighting to defend their flocks, families and homes against the monsters.
When Hiccup manages to capture a dragon with one of his inventions, he finds that maybe dragons are not as bad as he has been led to believe. The relationship between Hiccup and the dragon, christened Toothless, blossoms, and he realizes that he would rather be a dragon rider than a dragon fighter.
Though the story of the film is the same as the original, seeing it in live action was a completely different experience.
The flight scenes throughout the movie were hyper-realistic and incomparable to other dragon-style films from recent years. Both the use of CGI and the particular animation style helped the dragons come to life to battle it out and also helped convey their emotions and humanize them.
The characters were well-rounded, like in the original film, but the live aspect allowed these new actors to take their own direction with the roles. The actors displayed a new, more complex side to these beloved characters while keeping the tone of the movie light for its intended juvenile audience.
The relationship between Hiccup and his father felt much more complex in this version of the film. Seeing Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, Hiccup’s father, wrestle with the expectations he has of his son while still trying to accept him brought an emotional intensity to the screen that the previous film did not have. Hearing Stoick tell Hiccup how proud he was of him at the end of the film was a cathartic end to the tension between the two characters.
This film is suitable for all ages, bringing viewers old and new together in theaters to experience the magic that comes when you learn how to train a dragon.
