Call me old school but there was an inherent charm in the 2010 animated version of the film with a sense of innocence that formed the core emotion in How To Train Your Dragon. That quality is still prevalent here but to a lesser extent, even as humans are fleshed out as humans, while the animated versions of the dragons are retained but enhanced digitally through AI. For those unfamilar with the original source material – How To Train Your Dragon follows the story of Hiccup (Mason Thames) born in the war-torn land of Berk wherein the Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies over the years. As a result, Hiccup is also taught to harm and kill the dragons until his encounter with Toothless, a dragon with whom he forms an unlikely bond that goes against the principles of his own clan.

One aspect where the drama holds true is its relevance – back in 2010 there was no war erupting between different nations, people (relatively) weren’t divided on religion, caste or race, and world was still a better place to reside. In 2025 when wars are a new normal and human lives just don’t matter anymore, with hate-mongering people doing the rounds, the messaging of love that the drama here imparts is pretty good. Moreover, the makers do one thing right – to keep the soul of the drama intact from the original, something that you notice in the shot breakups too. But then the question would pop up – why not re-release the original animated film as opposed to making the exact same story all over again?

There are a couple of aspects that work quite well in its live-animation remake too. For instance, the father-son dynamic between Hiccup and his alpha father Stoic (Gerard Butler) remains an interesting one. This is particularly true because men have a tendency of creating walls around them, while unable to be expressive with one another, a trait that is particularly true for a father and son relationship. So you initially see Stoic doubting his son about his abilities to handle the dragons, a sentiment that holds true for most parts of the film. You literally see a clash of ideologies when Hiccup mentions his idea of taming the dragon, as opposed to Stoic’s idea of creating harm. Hence, the resolution itself had a bittersweet tone to it.

The crux of the film of Hiccup’s warm dynamic with Toothless, a dragon that he had initially injured, still makes for a decently heartwarming watch. Here I must add, that the animation version hits different because it did have a sense of purity and innocence tagged to it, which slightly deviated here with the introduction of the live-animation aspect of the drama. And there is a good reason that I can think of – here you literally have a human interacting with a VFX induced creature, as opposed to both characters in the original being animated (and thereby holding an equal stature). My argument might seem to be at a tangent but to replicate the emotions of the original animated film isn’t always easy. Yet, I did feel that their bond did hold some sort of emotional quotient, even as you see Hiccup warming up to Toothless by gently placing his hand on his face, or even studying his patterns for future references that includes the rides that the duo share in a sequence of bonding.

What didn’t exactly work for me was the filler sequences involving the dragon-fighting class involving a bunch of misfits including Astrid (Nico Parker), who would eventually spark a romantic inkling with Hiccup. The sequence did feel soulless that missed upon the fun quotient that was integral to the drama, despite replicating the shots from the original. And again this stemmed down to the animation, that had a sense of innocence tagged to it. Hiccup was quite the underdog in the original, and his antics were equally fun to witness. This is not to say that Hiccup wasn’t an underdog this time around – but the change in the age demographics of the character did dilute the fun quotient to an extent. This remains a technical criticism that eventual adds up to the criticism of the film. The sequence of events introducing the chief nemesis to the viewers didn’t exactly feel threatening enough, something that further stifled the drama. And although the final act is absolutely breathtaking with the manner in which it is shot, the sheen of the drama in trying to overcome an AI generated beast did feel a little artificial as compared to the animated version, that was thrilling. That said, the underlying messaging of the film of spreading love over hate holds even more relevance in today’s times, and that made me go softer on the overall criticism of this remake. Overall, the screenplay has its moments and does fairly well in replicating the beats of the original, but barring the messaging, the drama felt all but pointless.