'How to Train Your Dragon' (2025) Review: This Shot-for-Shot Remake Soars Higher Than Expected
Dare we say DreamWorks does what Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" remake couldn't do? Make a retread just as fun as the original
If you’ve ever read The Men Who Would Be King, the fantastic dive into the creation of the animation studio DreamWorks, then you know about the company’s not so friendly rivalry with the Walt Disney Company and how often the latter studio came out on top. A Bug’s Life vs. Antz, Finding Nemo vs. Shark Tale, Cars vs. Turbo? So it was only a matter of time before DreamWorks decided to mimic Disney but jumping on remaking their own animated offerings, starting with a live-action version of their highly successful 2010 feature How to Train Your Dragon.
It holds a lot in common with Disney’s recent redo of Lilo and Stitch: each is a near shot-for-shot remake about a story of a neglected child and their unconventional pet. But where Lilo & Stitch (2025) didn’t know how to strike the right balance between new material and recreation, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) does. Director and co-writer Dean DeBlois—who, ironically, co-wrote and directed the original How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch—crafts a remake that is just as heartwarming, exhilarating and fun as the predecessor.
Situated on the isle of Berk, a tribe of Vikings spend their days killing the dragons that invade and raid their land. Their chief Stoick (Gerard Butler) is committed to finding the dragons’ nest and destroying them once and for all. But when his son Hiccup (Mason Thames), determined to make his father proud, finds the most elusive dragon of all—a Night Fury—and befriends it, the boy must decide whether he stands with his people or the dragons.
There are slight tweaks to this new iteration of How to Train Your Dragon but, for the most part, it’s a near shot-for-shot retread. On the surface this should make for an ultimately boring experience, and it very well could be if you’ve watched the original frequently or fairly recently. But a story well told is still a well told story and How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is. We meet Hiccup as the town disaster, desperate to please his macho, dragon-killing father and failing at every turn. Hiccup’s attempt to kill a Night Fury yields success—which no one witnesses—and ends up seeing a lot of the village lit on fire. At its core, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is less a boy and his dragon story and more a boy trying to bring honor to his dad story.
Thames’ performance owes a lot to Jay Baruchel’s original vocal work, but his performance is still relatable (even under an unfortunate wig). Thames turns Hiccup into a charming nerd less interested in doing the right thing for his family as he is trying to be his own man. His journey through the Trial of Flame, a series of training exercises where the winner must kill a dragon publicly, sees him utilize elements he’s learned to subdue the dragons. He’s less interested in winning and more seeing if his hypothesis is true. His interactions with the Night Fury, the adorable Toothless, is where Thames truly shines. Too often in CGI-heavy movies you can feel the actor is working alongside a tennis ball (or nothing at all), but Thames makes you believe Toothless is standing next to him, particularly in the gorgeous flying sequences (Matrix cinematographer, Bill Pope, does great work).
The original animation of the movie back in 2010 was gorgeous and it’s brought to lush life with this new iteration. As mentioned, Pope beautifully shows off the green landscapes of the Irish locations the movie was filled in. Hiccup’s rides with Toothless show off the differing topography, whether it be verdant, rolling hills, or sharp, craggy oceanside cliffs. And the sheer amount of CGI dragons in the frame never clash with the reality of the landscape. If you’ve complained about Marvel CGI of late, DreamWorks has some top quality work here, whether that being in Toothless’ deep green eyes or the dragon entirely made up of flames.
Thames doesn’t carry this movie on his shoulders, he’s complemented by a great supporting cast. Gerard Butler is big and brash as Stoick. His dynamic with Hiccup is fairly simple—he sees his son as such an embarrassment he jokes about being able to go back out in public—but the script does a solid job of showing his growth over the runtime. If anything, his scenes opposite Nick Frost’s Gobber, the armorer missing some limbs, illustrate Stoick’s fear of having a son who is different and why he’s so overprotective. Nico Parker is solid as the confident Astrid, while the various other youth playing the various fledglings in the Trial of Flame all have moments to shine.
It is hard to shake off the feeling that this is a Cliff’s Notes version of the original film, a fact enhanced by how quick that two hour runtime is. Scenes feel like they should go on a beat longer, particularly before the third act confrontation in the nest of the dragons. The movie also doesn’t do a whole lot with being a disabled story—Toothless is missing part of his tale and a character navigates limb difference—but that’s to be expected.
How to Train Your Dragon doesn’t reinvent the wheel so much as much the same wheel again in the same fun way as the original. The visuals are beautiful to look at and the cast brings a lot of fun and heart. The remake doesn’t try to supersede the original so much as give a different option to a story that remains as compelling now as it did in 2010.