- Director : Dean DeBlois
- Actors : Bronwyn James, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Mason Thames, Nico Parker
- Producers : Adam Siegel, Marc E. Platt
- Language : English (Dolby Atmos), Spanish (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1)
- Studio : Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
- Media Format : 4K, Subtitled
- Run time : 2 hours and 6 minutes
- MPAA rating : PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Release date : August 12, 2025
Maybe I’m just a
purist. Or maybe I’m a cynic. Whatever the reason, I just can’t help but feel like
the trend of making live action remakes of animated classics is often nothing
more than a way to exploit fanbases and squeeze a little more money out of the
initial creativity. Part of the problem is likely my views on the business
practices of the studio with the white-gloved mouse, who has been the biggest culprit
in this unfortunate trend. As I went into the experience of watching the live
action How to Train Your Dragon, I was completely aware that it had a
difficult task given my preconceived notions, and yet I still found myself won
over by the effectiveness of the filmmaking. Is it the same as the animated story
in many ways? Yes. But it is a testament to the filmmaking that I still found
myself on the edge of my seat during several sequences, despite there being no
mystery about what would happen.
The story
remains the same, despite some additional elements resulting in an increased run-time.
A group of Vikings live on the Island of Berk, which is also plagued with pesky
dragons that pillage the livestock and set fires to the structures. As a
result, the villagers celebrate the warriors able to fight and take down the flying
reptilian beats. Among the greatest warriors is Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard
Butler), though his son Hiccup (Mason Thames) is a disappointment who prefers inventing
things to hunting dragons. In his efforts to impress his father, Hiccup seeks
out a way to catch the most feared of the dragons, known for never being seen
much less defeated. After succeeding in taking the dragon down, Hiccup discovers
that he is not as vicious as some believed, building a bond with the animal he
names Toothless.
The themes of
acceptance, especially when someone or something is different than us and
potentially thought to be dangerous because of these differences, remains at
the center of How to Train Your Dragon. These are worthwhile (if not somewhat
basic) themes to include in a family film, made greater by the effectiveness of
the characters. Even those that cannot speak. The one thing I found somewhat
jarring about the live action adaptation of the animated film was the fact that
everything looked more realistically rendered, except the character design for
Toothless. I understand that people have certain expectations when a beloved
property is adapted, but it was odd to see such a cartoonish looking dragon
appearing the same way in live action. I’m not sure what (if any) solution
there was to this dilemma, but every other realistic aspect of the visuals only
reminded me how odd the large-eyed design was.
One of the wise
decisions made in making How to Train Your Dragon was the choice to bring
back one of the original directors of the 2010 animated film, Dean DeBlois.
DeBlois also directed the animated sequels in the franchise, and is signed on
for the planned sequel to this live action adaptation. While this automatically
gives DeBlois the kind of insight necessary to make changes to the text without
losing sight of the story’s core, it isn’t always a guarantee that a director
best known for animation will be as effective in a different medium. But after
this adaptation, I imagine DeBlois will have opened up a new world of
opportunities for himself.
One of the most
debated elements of this adaptation had to be the casting. It was a smart
decision to bring Butler back to the role he voiced in the original franchise,
and I think Thames was a decent stand-in for the protagonist. There were some
that complained about the forced diversity in the casting of Nico Parker as
Astrid, but odder than that were the introduction to multicultural Vikings in
an early sequence, only to never mention them again. I don’t mind diversity in
casting, and didn’t even need an explanation for Astrid not having blonde hair,
but shoehorning in explanations for diversity in the Viking community was just
unnecessary. When you have a story about dragons, maybe just rely on the
audience’s suspension of disbelief a bit more.
The 4K Ultra HD Collector’s
Edition of How to Train Your Dragon also comes with a Blu-ray and
digital code copy of the film, though the 4K is the ideal choice given how
spectacular some of the visuals are in the film. The test flight and final
battle alone are deserving of the Ultra HD. The Dolby Atmos audio is also quite
impressive with the right home entertainment system. In addition to the
presentation of the film in the best possible format, the Collector’s Edition
comes with over an hour of extras. There is extra footage, including deleted
scenes with an introduction by the director, and a gag reel. Additionally,
there are multiple featurettes, many of which are also introduced by DeBlois. Though
the highlight from the director is his feature-film commentary track.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Special Features: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment
Agree? Disagree? Questions for the class? All comments are welcome...