Insights on Live-Action How to Train Your Dragon

Warning: This post contains spoiler alerts!

On June 13, 2025, the live-action "How to Train Your Dragon" was released in theaters nationwide. I was fortunate enough to see the film, opting for the 4DX experience. This changed how I watched the film; it felt like I was flying a dragon myself! Many believe that live-action remakes of animated movies often stray from the original story. However, with "How to Train Your Dragon," it's clear that this film avoids that stereotype. This blog post will explore how similar the two films—live-action and animated—are and evaluate how well the producers handled this movie.

The new live-action film shares many similarities with the older animated movie and exceeds viewers' expectations. Audiences can connect and feel familiar while watching. Sometimes, producers deviate from the original plot, which can lessen enjoyment. However, the producers of "How to Train Your Dragon" did a wonderful job of making the movie as a tribute to the original film rather than remaking it.

Not only did the plot stay consistent, but so did the characters' development and various relationships. The development of Hiccup's character, played by Mason Thames, maintained the idea that he physically and emotionally cannot kill a dragon, yet he was forced into it because of his father, who is the chief. Along with this, we also see other character relationships, such as Hiccup and Astrid, played by Nico Parker. Initially, Astrid saw Hiccup as someone incompetent because he couldn't kill a dragon. As the movie progresses, we see Astrid gain a sense of respect for Hiccup based on what he can do and how he is able to excel at Dragon Training. Another example of how the characters remained closely the same is through Fishlegs, played by Julian Dennison. Throughout the movie, Fishlegs would mention random facts about each dragon they encountered. In the animated film, he is obsessed with dragon facts and even has dragon cards for every dragon.

Overall, I believe that this movie completely exceeded my expectations. The film did a wonderful job from casting to scenes and visual effects. The attention to detail in staying true to the original story enriched the viewing experience, proving that this is a live-action adaptation of the original film. I love the "How to Train Your Dragon" series, and I am super excited about the second live-action movie coming out on June 11, 2027. I hope that you get to watch and enjoy the movie as much as I did!