How to train your dragon
Dreamworks has released the live action remake of the animated classic ‘How to train your dragon’ and for a first time not doing an animated film, they really don’t miss the trick. The DreamWorks and Universal team really made some great choices on the lead up to this film, first of all the director of the original films Dean Dubois is back to created the live action version and other companies need to follow suit as Dean really knows the in’s and out’s of this franchise, which means he can show the magic of Berk spot on. It’s a pleasure to see this do well as usually animated to live action never really works, with Disney failing at nearly every remake they have created. They really keep every story beat and identity of the first film and that was the best decision they could make
First of all the casting choices in ‘How to train your dragon’ was one of the highlights of this. Bringing back Gerard Butler to play Stoic was the best choice, if it’s not broke then don’t fix it, he was great with his voice acting and even better portraying his character on the big screen for real this time. Mason Thames and Nico Parker were the best of the younger casting with Mason showing Hiccups awkwardness and rise to heroic nature so perfectly (despite not having the iconic voice of Jay Baruchel).
The Isle of Berk does look really great in this to, you don’t get a huge look of the place but when we do you feel emerged and full of wonder. The cinematography looked at its best during the scenes with any of the dragons in them, mainly added with a really warm colour pallet especially when hiccup first meets toothless. The fact that the CGI is spot on for all the dragons, especially toothless shows a testament to how much the DreamWorks team care, unlike other remakes that change the identity of the characters. A huge shout out to the props team too, every single set was built naturally and made the look of this film feel more authentic and real despite being full of fantasy and wonder. My only gripes were the ensemble cast and the dialogue. The dialogue is made for an animated film, where cringe and goofy lines can be pulled off, but the ensemble cast really don’t do a great job in their delivery, especially Tuffnut and Ruffnut. I also think that the Ensemble cast could have been casted better, Nico Parker and Mason Thames are perfect but the rest could have been swapped and changed.
TheRatedReel gives How To Train Your Dragon Four stars out of Five