- 8 months ago
Film Brain reviews this live-action remake of the animated film from only 15 years ago, which reaches new heights of redundancy.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Projector, and on this episode, Mason Thames learns how to train your dragon in this live-action remake.
00:07On the Isle of Berk, Vikings and Dragons have fought for generations, with Stoic the Vast, played by Gerard Butler, being the most famed dragon slayer of all.
00:33But his scrawny son Hiccup, played by Mason Thames, struggles to live up to his father's expectations, but one of his inventions injures one of the most feared and mysterious kinds of dragons, a Night Fury.
00:45But Hiccup can't bring himself to kill the Night Fury, which he names Toothless, and instead secretly helps, studies and trains the dragon, soon realising that everything the people of Berk know about dragons is wrong.
00:58For the past 15 years, we have been inundated with Disney remaking their classic animated films in live-action, kicked off by the box office success of Alice in Wonderland, but went into high gear from Cinderella onward.
01:11And these remakes are a pretty contentious subject.
01:14Some, like The Jungle Book, were praised, but the most notorious were ones like The Lion King, which was almost identical to the original, with the vivid and evocative 2D drawings stripped away by realistic CGI animation that repainted everything in muted greys.
01:31Despite that, The Lion King was one of the most highest-grossing films of that year, and I think I've made my feelings pretty apparent on these remakes several times over the years.
01:41So it's perhaps gloomily inevitable that Disney's closest rival, DreamWorks Animation, smelling all that green, would follow in their footsteps.
01:50Enter How to Train Your Dragon 2025, which is the first live-action project from DreamWorks Animation, not to be confused with their former parent studio, DreamWorks SKG, which they split from in 2004.
02:02And when they announced they would be remaking How to Train Your Dragon in live-action, I can sum up my exact response to that in one word.
02:09Really?
02:10The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy are some of the most critically acclaimed animated films in recent memory.
02:16I do mean very recent memory, by the way, as the third film, which conclusively wrapped up the story, if slightly disappointingly, only came out six years ago in 2019.
02:27I even reviewed it on this channel at the time.
02:30And I do have to admit, I was a bit dismissive of the original film when it came out in 2010,
02:35and didn't see it theatrically because it was marketed like a generic kids' film.
02:39It was only later when I caught up with it, was I surprised by not only the spectacular animation, but also the unexpected emotional way of the story.
02:47This was something that was only expanded upon further by the sequel, which is the high point of this franchise,
02:52which took some daring choices for something primarily aimed at young viewers.
02:57But regardless of your age, the animated How to Train Your Dragon movies are great films that show the ability of animation to tell compelling stories for every age.
03:07They're family movies in the truest sense.
03:09They thrive not in spite of the medium of animation, but very much because of it, from the astonishing fantasy worlds to the expressiveness of the characters and their designs.
03:19And maybe that's the thing that's grown to annoy me, and I know it does many others,
03:23that these live-action remakes seem to treat the fact that these stories were animated as a problem to be solved,
03:30like it was somehow illegitimate until they were made real.
03:34So let's be clear.
03:36Animation is just as valid as live-action.
03:39Both are just vessels to tell stories, and some stories work better in one medium than they do the other.
03:46What I will say, though, is that there is something about animation that can be so universally expressive.
03:52Movies like Flow and Robot Dreams had me in floods of tears without a single word of dialogue.
03:58Thinking that animation is for kids and live-action is for grown-ups is that of cynical teenagers and jaded adults,
04:05and it's a shallow and frankly stupid opinion.
04:08Still, for a few brief moments, I suppose there was a little nagging counter-argument in my mind
04:13that the movies brought very little resemblance to the book series written by Cressida Cowell.
04:18In theory, a new series of adaptations could go back to the source material to do something more like the books.
04:25That was largely dashed when it was announced that Dean Dubois, who co-written and directed the original 2010 film,
04:30and primary writer-director of the sequels, would reprise his role in the director's chair,
04:35which effectively indicated that this would likely be the same movie over again.
04:39Dubois also rather boldly gets a solo writing credit for a script which is largely identical to the one
04:45which was previously credited to two other writers.
04:47But hey, I'm not the WGA.
04:49Dubois is certainly no stranger to the live-action remakes, given only a few weeks ago the live-action version of Lilo & Stitch release,
04:58and Dubois co-directed the original animated film with Chris Sanders,
05:02who co-wrote and directed the 2010 How to Train Your Dragon.
05:06And Dubois has gone to major lengths, even by the standards of these redos,
05:10to make sure he's made an almost identical film again.
05:12He's got composer John Powell back in to effectively repeat the themes he created for the original animated trilogy.
05:19He has Gerard Butler reprising his role as stoic that he originally voiced,
05:23and now he's physically playing the character.
05:26And it is a good performance.
05:28His role in the Dragon films is some of Butler's best film work,
05:31but it is him effectively giving the same performance he gave 15 years ago,
05:36much as how James Earl Jones did in the do-over of The Lion King.
05:39But Dubois has even gone to the extent of often painstakingly and exactly replicating as much as possible from the earlier animated films.
05:49The sets and props try to copy their animated counterparts,
05:52the designs of the dragons are largely identical, with Toothless in particular being virtually unchanged.
05:58And as much as Toothless is absolutely adorable with his cat-like features and mannerisms,
06:03I did find that he's stuck out more in live-action,
06:05because he has the big-eyed expressiveness of an animated character
06:09that feels much more at home within those original films where everything looks like that.
06:14Toothless, dare I say it,
06:16maybe should have had a sensitive redesign that tried to maintain those key features,
06:20but given it a more photoreal appearance.
06:23Dubois also straight-up copies the exact dialogue and performances,
06:27sometimes even the framing,
06:29so that in many instances this is a straight-up line-for-line remake.
06:33You could almost have the original film play out side-by-side with the new one
06:37and see how close they are,
06:39which is literally what I'm doing right now in editing.
06:42It is almost a complete clone of the earlier work.
06:45And having endured the Disney remakes for so long,
06:48I think some people have forgotten what the purpose of a remake should actually be.
06:53There does seem to be some that seem to think the reason these remakes are bad
06:55is because they change things and that fidelity is the sign of a good remake.
07:01On the contrary, the entire point for a remake is to try and change things.
07:06Sure, remakes can be bad when they change things poorly,
07:09but a remake that serves to be a copycat is an abject failure,
07:13because that movie already exists.
07:16There's a reason why Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot psycho was universally mocked
07:21and remains a byword for bad, unnecessary remakes.
07:25But try to think of some of the most notable and best movie remakes over the years.
07:30Things like Scarface, The Fly, The Thing, The Invisible Man, The Nutty Professor.
07:36Okay, I'm kind of joking about that last one.
07:39Or am I?
07:40The point is, though, these movies were bold reinventions of their predecessors,
07:45ones that were so successful that in several cases, they supplanted their predecessors.
07:50They added fresh new angles on the original stories that expanded upon their core themes and ideas.
07:56And I personally would much rather have something that tried to do things differently and fail
08:01than not try at all.
08:04At least that thing has its own identity.
08:07Something to set itself apart from the earlier movie.
08:10Movies are not sacred objects.
08:12They're stories.
08:14And we've iterated on stories from the moment we started telling them.
08:18But this cycle of hyper-faithful remakes and franchises repeating their old glories
08:23has created a worrying blockbuster stagnancy that this so-called new
08:27How to Train Your Dragon is at the forefront of.
08:31Movie executives are terrified of change.
08:34And even more so because there are vocal segments of the audience
08:37who are also terrified of anything changing in this perverse feedback loop.
08:42Remakes also serve to modernize and update stories.
08:46But that doesn't really apply to something which is only 15 years old.
08:50If you want it to be charitable, at least Disney remade films that were 20, 30 years old.
08:56So you can make the argument that the kids who saw the original films
09:00became parents that were introducing those stories to their kids.
09:03But not enough time has passed here for even that argument to work.
09:08And DeBras makes so few substantial changes
09:11that he clearly thought he'd done a very good job the first time around.
09:14And he's right.
09:16He did.
09:17Which makes this all the more spectacularly pointless and redundant.
09:21The cardinal sin of How to Train Your Dragon 2025
09:24isn't that it's a poorly made remake.
09:27Far from it.
09:28DeBras' first live-action narrative feature is solely directed,
09:31has very high production values, and is mostly a very well-produced movie.
09:35It would be a good film by most standards
09:37if it wasn't for the fact that it's derivative in nearly every single decision it makes.
09:42Almost an unfathomable amount of time, money, effort, and resources,
09:47around $150 million reportedly,
09:50has gone into making the world's most expensive carbon copy.
09:53It borders on the frankly obscene
09:55when you think about what this could have made instead.
09:58Which begs the question, why exactly does this exist?
10:03Well, aside from the obvious one,
10:04I've tried to hoover up money from people's nostalgia and affection for the franchise, that is.
10:09Well, one of them is that they've created a new Isle of Burg attraction
10:13at Universal Studios Florida.
10:15It's one of the epic universes that have opened there this year.
10:18The film is a very expensive tie-in and cross-promotion for that,
10:21and they've made no secret about that, as one of the promo videos is the cast in Dubois
10:26visiting the admittedly pretty cool-looking attraction.
10:29The other, and this is pure speculation on my part,
10:32but I suspect the other reason this got made is because Universal and DreamWorks
10:37want to hold onto the film rights for the books,
10:39because if they aren't using the license, it will expire.
10:42I don't have any evidence for that, but we know how this stuff works.
10:46For example, it's been admitted that The Bourne Legacy was made
10:49so that Universal could retain that series for a few years until Matt Damon could return.
10:55Likewise, it would not surprise me if Dubois directed this,
10:58because he's often admitted how very personal this series is to him
11:02and reflects the relationship he had with his own father.
11:05So if he wanted to protect his own creation,
11:08if Universal was set on remaking this with or without him,
11:11of course he's going to sign up.
11:14Again, that's purely speculation,
11:16and it's not like he's going to admit that on the press tour,
11:18but it would certainly go some way to explain why this deliberately
11:22tries to alter as little as possible.
11:25Regardless, this film's existence feels like it's not by need,
11:29but by corporate mandate.
11:31Speaking of roller coasters,
11:32I actually saw this in the 4DX format,
11:35because they've been especially pushing the premium format versions.
11:38It was filmed for IMAX, so you get the full aspect ratio there,
11:42but they've also been promoting the 4DX version,
11:45and it's pretty easy to see why.
11:47The 4DX application is extremely aggressive,
11:50especially in the test flight sequence,
11:53swooping through the rocks and in the climax.
11:56I was getting jostled and thrown around intensely,
11:59and so much smoke is pumped into the auditorium during the film,
12:02there was actually diffraction in the projection near the end.
12:05But one thing that 4DX does very well is flying seats,
12:10and in those moments,
12:11you genuinely feel like you're soaring through the air,
12:14riding toothless,
12:15as the seat tilts and the wind blows through your hair.
12:19I enjoyed parts of the 4DX more than the film itself,
12:22but you could easily re-release the original
12:25and just apply these effects onto it.
12:27It's not a justification for a new film.
12:30And if it seems like I can talk about why the film exists more than the film itself,
12:34there is a reason for that.
12:36There really isn't all that much to say about it.
12:38Have you seen the 2010 How to Train Your Dragon?
12:41Well, then you've seen this one.
12:42That pretty much sums things up.
12:45So what exactly does this new version alter?
12:48Well, the most significant change is the tone.
12:50The live-action film is darker, especially visually,
12:53compared to the brightly colored animated film,
12:55a change you'll have no doubt anticipated if you've ever seen any of these remakes.
13:00Filmed in Belfast and making gorgeous use of the scenery at times,
13:03Dragon 2025 often looks like Game of Thrones,
13:06which was also filmed there.
13:09I'm not sure that really fits the tone of the story,
13:11and it is occasionally a bit murky,
13:13but it is a major difference.
13:15But this is also a reflection of the fact that
13:17a lot of the broader, more cartoonish gags of the 2010 flick
13:20are eliminated and removed.
13:22For example, Hiccup doesn't faint after his first encounter with Toothless,
13:27and some small comedy scenes have been eliminated entirely because of this,
13:31like Hiccup trying to sneak Toothless into the village.
13:34There are some gags which are retained,
13:36but a lot of the more incidental humor is gone now.
13:40In their place, the film does add several additional scenes of its own,
13:44and it does run about 30 minutes longer.
13:46Some of this does go towards the sporting characters,
13:49like the other teenagers in training,
13:51who get marginally more depth and dialogue.
13:54The most prominent of these, and that's not really saying much,
13:57is that Gabriel Howe's Snoutlout struggles to even be noticed by his father, Spittalout,
14:02an added character played by Peter Serafinowicz,
14:04which ostensibly amplifies the father-son themes.
14:08But this plays out in a small selection of extremely minor scenes,
14:12and if you add them all together,
14:14I don't think the screen time would add to much more than about two minutes tops.
14:19And that's the thing.
14:21The new version is longer, but it isn't any deeper,
14:24and Dubois doesn't take the opportunity to expand upon the core ideas
14:28when the exchanges between Hiccup and Stoic are word for word for batum,
14:32and the new ideas don't go anywhere because they're simply bolt-ons.
14:37The citizens of Burke are now not entirely Vikings,
14:39and now they're representatives from all over the world.
14:43So the implication is that this serves as a strategic outpost against dragons,
14:47and adds a bit more representation as well.
14:49But it's tokenistic, because it's almost instantly forgotten.
14:53Most of the alterations are so minor as to be almost incidental,
14:57like the sheep grabbed at the start is now a decoy.
15:00Although a few of the choices are just plain odd.
15:03When Astrid is picked up by Toothless,
15:05he originally strands it on top of a tree.
15:08The remake relocates this,
15:10so she's now perilously hanging on the side of a cliff,
15:13which makes it seem like Toothless is trying to murder her.
15:16Yeah, that's not really much of a choice in that situation.
15:19Either get on this dragon, or fall to your death.
15:22Much of the added time is just down to pacing,
15:25which is slower in the 2025 incarnation.
15:28Although the added running time is in the action sequences,
15:32like the opening attack on Burke is bigger and longer,
15:34and the climax is also lengthened and more bombastic.
15:39Sometimes these little bits of breathing room help in those action moments,
15:43but most of the time, the slower pacing hurts the film.
15:47A new sequence of Stoic's boat being attacked as he searches for the dragon's lair
15:51is just there to give Butler some more screen time and add an action beat.
15:56But it adds nothing to the story.
15:58There's a reason why it was only implied in passing originally.
16:02Comparatively, the 2010 movie feels lighter and faster on its feet,
16:07with very little bloat on it.
16:09The other thing that sets this version apart are the performances.
16:12As far as Hiccup goes,
16:14Mason Tent on the black phone is perfectly fine,
16:17but he's not as sincerely awkward or as gawky as Jay Boruchell's voice works,
16:22so he kind of feels like a Disney child TV movie version of the character.
16:26There are two definite standouts in the cast, though.
16:30One is Nick Frost as Gobba,
16:32who gives the character a much more world-weary,
16:35but genuinely caring edge than Craig Ferguson's take.
16:39Again, toning down the slapstick of the character,
16:42but Frost adds a bit of dramatic grit while still retaining some of the humour.
16:46And Frost's performance might actually be an improvement,
16:50but it just goes to show that even with most of the same dialogue,
16:53you can still have two totally different performances,
16:57because there's far more to acting than just saying the words.
17:01The other one is Nico Parker,
17:03as Hiccup's rival and love interest, Astrid,
17:06originally played by America Ferreira.
17:08Parker, who is the absolute spitting image of her mother, Tandaway Newsome,
17:12is no stranger to remakes, as she previously appeared in Dumbo,
17:15but she's excellently cast as Astrid,
17:18really saying the character's strong self-reliance and determination.
17:21And Parker already has an undeniable screen presence
17:25that sets her apart from the other young cast.
17:28I think she's genuinely one to look out for,
17:31because I really don't think it will be long
17:33before she'll be leading films of her own.
17:35Hopefully ones that aren't remakes.
17:38The 2285 How to Train Your Dragon
17:40is an extremely faithful facsimile of a fairly recent film to begin with.
17:45Fans will find that some of the heart remains intact,
17:47the story's core themes of father-son relationships,
17:50compassion and understanding still resonate here,
17:54but a lot of the soul is missing,
17:57because it forces itself to do everything
17:59almost exactly the way it was,
18:01almost to the point of being mechanical.
18:04That forces viewers to constantly compare it to the original,
18:07and it always comes up wanting.
18:10Even for new viewers, kids and adults alike,
18:12I can't recommend you choose this as your introduction to this world
18:16when there is a superior version very easily available.
18:20And if you're a fan of the original,
18:21you'll no doubt have a copy of it at home,
18:23so you don't need to bother seeing this.
18:26At all.
18:27It is the same movie,
18:29but I re-watched the 2010 animated film for this review
18:32after I saw the remake,
18:34and it remains stirringly triumphant and uplifting.
18:37There's a pure joy to it that this can't touch.
18:40Stay home and watch that instead.
18:44And I am fully aware that me advising people not to see this
18:47won't make a damn bit of difference,
18:48because Universal is already expecting this to be such a hit
18:51that they've already announced they're going to remake the sequel
18:54months before this reached cinemas.
18:56And it is infuriating to hear that something like the Lilo and Stitch remake
19:00has outgrossed the original film's entire run within days.
19:04But that speaks to A, just how much these films have come to be adored,
19:07and B, just how big of a family market there is.
19:11Do parents want absolute retreads of the films they grew up with?
19:15I'm not really convinced,
19:17but the success of these films comes down to the fact that for many family audiences,
19:21these remakes are usually the only option they're given at the cinema
19:24that are family-friendly.
19:26It's a huge, hungry audience that is massively underserved,
19:30and they deserve better than microwave reheat
19:32instead of stories for their own generation.
19:35But if you can,
19:36support things like Elio,
19:38an original Disney film,
19:39over things like this,
19:41which are as regurgitated as the fish from Toothless' Mouth.
19:45This is up there with The Lion King in terms of sheer needlessness,
19:49but maybe it's even more than that,
19:50since it is the same director,
19:52composer,
19:53script,
19:54shots,
19:54even the same actors.
19:56The original made you feel like you could fly.
19:59This remake is so dispiriting,
20:02and its crown of being the most pointless remake
20:05is going to get very quickly usurped by the Moana one very soon.
20:09If you like this review and you want to support my work,
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20:22including access to my Discord server,
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20:27Or you can just simply like, share, and subscribe.
20:29It all helps.
20:31Until next time,
20:32I'm Matthew Buck,
20:34fading out.
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