Tripwire Reviews How To Train Your Dragon

Back To Berk

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows reviews Universal’s live action How To Train Your Dragon in cinemas in the UK and US now…

How To Train Your Dragon
Directors: Dean DeBlois
Stars: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost

Between 2010 and 2019, Dreamworks made three How To Train Your Dragon animated films, based on Cressida Cowell’s hugely successful children’s book series of the same name. The first film grossed just under $500m at the box office while its follow-up,  How To Train Your Dragon 2, passed this, bringing in $618m. The third film, The Hidden World, didn’t make quite as much as the second one, grossing a still very respectable $539m at the box office. So it was one of the most popular animated franchises in modern Hollywood.

So fast forward six years and Universal have decided to resurrect the series with a live action adaptation. HTTYD, as it shall now be known for ease and brevity, was always a fun, enjoyable kid’s adventure series with kid Viking Hiccup’s friendship with injured dragon Toothless offering a sweet and exciting children’s story which stays just the right side of cloying. Gerard Butler has returned as the village of Berk’s chieftain Stoick, offering a little continuity between the animated series and this live action iteration, as does the return of director DeBlois.

The rest of the cast is brand new with Thames as Hiccup, Nick Frost as viking Gobber and a host of new teenagers including Nico Parker as Hiccup’s love interest Astrid. So the story of a village besieged by dragons and how one boy’s friendship with a dragon saves them is pretty much the same as it was in the animated films. The CGI here is very solid and Thames makes for a very likeable protagonist. Butler is pretty good, possibly the highlight here, as his irascible Stoick is easily the most watchable thing on screen.

The CGI used to create the dragons has a  nicely idiosyncratic feel to it, bringing the world of Berk and its environs to life with aplomb and pizzazz too. The look of Toothless, giving him a Japanese feel as they did in the animated features, really works to create a contrast between Hiccup’s friend and the other more threatening dragons.

The film leaves things open for a follow-up which is already in pre production for 2027.

It isn’t that HTTYD is a bad film as it’s a perfectly serviceable retelling of the story we saw 15 years ago in the first animated How To Train Your Dragon. But does it add anything new to proceedings? It will reach a new audience, many of whom weren’t even born when the original films were released.  Also, everyone loves a good Viking tale and this film has an emotional core to it which will connect with the audience and a simple but inventive plot. So How To Train Your Dragon is a very decent kid’s film that will keep the little ones occupied over the summer.

JOEL MEADOWS