How to Train Your Dragon (2025) – Movie Reviews by Ry!

How to Train Your Dragon (2025) – Of Vikings and Dragons: May we find … Friendship

From translation to adaptation, a feeling of what can be becomes a likelihood of possibilities.  From books to graphic novels, personal memoirs to visual journeys, storytelling becomes a mastering of concepts within the median at hand.  For film, the plethora of genres and modes to create a story are endless, but when it comes to adapting within … will it be worthy?  In this review, I look at the latest live-action adaptation to hit the big screen.  From animation to realism, what is familiar can sometimes feel new.  Even if you know the tale, How to Train Your Dragon still leads you into a whimsical escape from the heart.

In a world of Vikings and Dragons, one unlikely friendship will test tradition and show that a new future is possible.  In the world of film, adaptations become a path of newness and escape.  From graphic novels to comic books, turning these pages into a visual journey can bring new life to things unfamiliar to film fans.  In more recent years, turning animated tales into live action has been a trend of mixed results.  So, with this latest attempt … it becomes fruitful and hope that it can spin something unique in the familiar.  In the beginning, we are thrust into this world of Vikings and their island home of Berk in a bombastic display of action, grit and dragon prowess.  Through a voice narrated prologue, we learn that the Vikings have been living on this island for many years, hoping to find and destroy the dragon’s nest.  Through the perspective of Hiccup (Mason Thames), we get an understanding that he is an outcast of this society, but only maintains some respect because he is the son of the clan’s leader, Stoick (Gerald Butler).  Once the foundation of the world is laid out, we lead through a linear directive that follows Hiccup as he tracks down a dragon in the forest, known as a Night Fury.  It is at this point that the journey kicks into high gear, showcasing how Hiccup and Toothless (the name given to the Night Fury), learn to become friends in this treacherous world.  As their friendship becomes the backdrop to the overall staging of the journey, the layering of familiarity breeds a humanistic allure that is keen and astute.  The adaptation shines a light on many ‘key’ elements from the original, but this one builds through a certainty of emotions that wrap you in the relationships that are fruitful to the cause of the journey.  Beyond the unlikely friendship, the dynamic between Hiccup and Stoick is layered within a clash of personalities, but also a wrangling of love found between parent and child, specifically the father/son motif.  The clashing of progress vs. tradition creates a sense of blindness and ambition, one where created conflict is organic but expected.  It is here that you feel the journey’s heart, one that propels the adaptation to stand on its own in familiar grounds.   

Beyond these two relationships is the world.  As Hiccup, Toothless, Stoick and the other natives navigate Berk and the surrounding world (view the cast on the film’s IMdb page – link), the lively views and sweeping vistas provide a euphoric feeling that stands out in the adventure.  For all the ‘staying true’ to the animated tale is prevalent, it is a sense of brevity that makes the journey worth the escape.  All the goodness that comes to be finally comes to a crossroads, leading into a third act that brings about twist to a finale that is strong, familiar but most of all … strikes strong with heart.  How to Train Your Dragon is a live action adaptation that stands strong in predictable settings.  For those who are fans of the IP or adventure films, there is much to find here.  For everyone else, I believe there is fun for the whole family to see this on the big screen.

Full Score – 3.5 out of 5 (Matinee)