What’s It About

Follows a young Viking as he aspires to hunt dragons, and how he becomes unexpectedly a friend of a young dragon.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

Let me be honest from the start. When I first watched this movie, I couldn’t help but notice some troubling patterns that reminded me of classic colonizer stories. Here’s a white Viking boy who becomes the “dragon whisperer” – the only one who can understand and speak for these misunderstood creatures. Sound familiar? It’s the same old story where the white character becomes the bridge, but here’s the thing – I’m not going to let those old patterns ruin what’s actually a pretty solid movie. Sometimes, you have to look past the surface stuff and see what the film is really trying to say. Dean DeBlois knows what he’s doing behind the camera. The guy wrote and directed the original animated version, plus he worked on “Lilo & Stitch.” That experience shows everywhere in this live-action remake. He takes care of the story like it’s his own child, which makes sense since he basically raised it from the beginning. The biggest win here is Mason Thames as Hiccup. This kid brings real heart to the role. He’s not trying to copy Jay Baruchel’s voice work from the cartoons – he makes Hiccup his own. Thames shows us a teenager who feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere, and man, that hits differently when you see it with real human emotions instead of animation. Gerard Butler comes back as Stoick, and wow, does he bring the heat. In the animated movies, Stoick felt kind of one-note. Here, Butler digs deep and shows us a father who loves his son but doesn’t know how to connect with him. Their scenes together feel real and painful in the best way possible. Let’s talk about what everyone really wants to know – does Toothless look amazing? Yes. Absolutely yes. The computer graphics team outdid themselves. Toothless has these bright green eyes that show so much personality. When he’s playful, you see it. When he’s scared, you feel it. The bond between Hiccup and Toothless becomes the heart of the whole movie, and it works because both characters feel alive.The flying scenes will make you wish you had your own dragon. Director of Photography Bill Pope captures these moments with incredible beauty. When Hiccup and Toothless fly through the clouds, you forget that you’re watching special effects. It’s real magic. The movie was filmed in Northern Ireland, and the landscapes are stunning. There are real cliffs, real forests, and real storms – it all helps to make Berk seem like somewhere you could really go. The sets and the costumes are real and realistic-looking, not on a Hollywood lot. Here is my major issue with the movie – it is much too safe. DeBlois takes the connection to the original animated film so seriously that sometimes it seems like DeBlois is just checking the boxes. “Okay, if it happened in 2010, I have to make it happen here too.” Sometimes that goes well, but it also means it will be a surprise when it does not. The supporting teen characters suffer the most from this copy-and-paste approach. In the animated version, characters like Snotlout and the twins had distinct personalities that made them funny and memorable. Here, they feel like background decorations. Nico Parker does her best as Astrid, but even she can’t escape feeling a bit flat compared to her animated counterpart. The film has this strange thing with accents that also irks me. Stoick is Scottish, Hiccup is American, Fishlegs is Kiwi (because that’s where the actor is from), but everyone else is British, which is a bit distracting and makes everything feel less real world. Now, that elephant in the room – the white savior stuff. I get it. This story was written by a white British author, adapted by white filmmakers, and stars mostly white actors. The “chosen one” narrative is baked into the foundation. But here’s what I think the movie is actually about: learning to see the humanity (or dragon-ity?) in your supposed enemies. Hiccup doesn’t save the dragons because he’s special – he saves them because he’s willing to listen and learn. The real message is about breaking cycles of violence and hatred. The Vikings have been killing dragons for generations. The dragons have been fighting back. Everyone thinks they’re protecting their families, but really they’re just continuing an endless war. It takes someone willing to step outside that cycle to find a better way. Is it perfect? No. Does it still lean on some tired tropes? Yeah. But the core message about empathy and understanding feels genuine. This movie works best as a family experience. Kids will love the dragon action and the friendship story. Parents will connect with the father-son relationship between Stoick and Hiccup. There’s enough depth here to keep adults engaged without being too heavy for younger viewers.The themes about acceptance and finding your own path hit home for anyone who’s ever felt like they don’t fit in. Hiccup’s journey from outcast to hero isn’t just about training dragons – it’s about learning to be yourself in a world that wants you to be someone else.”How to Train Your Dragon” (2025) isn’t going to change the world or fix Hollywood’s diversity problems. But it’s a well-made, visually stunning movie that tells a story worth telling. Yes, it has issues with representation and some tired storytelling patterns. But it also has heart, amazing special effects, and performances that make you care about these characters. If you’re looking for groundbreaking cinema, this isn’t it. If you want a fun, family-friendly adventure with gorgeous visuals and genuine emotion, you’ll have a good time. Sometimes that’s enough. The movie reminds us that the best way to defeat an enemy might be to understand them first. In today’s world, that’s not a bad lesson to remember. How to Train Your Dragon is A solid, safe remake that succeeds more than it fails, even if it doesn’t take enough risks to be truly great.

OUR RATING – A SOARING 7

MEDIA

• Genre – Fantasy
• Street date
• Digital – July 15, 2025
• 4K/Blu-Ray/DVD – August 12, 2025
• Video – 1080p
• Screen size – 2.39:1
• Sound – English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, French (Canada): Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, Audio descriptive
• Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras

• Includes a digital copy of How to Train Your Dragon (2025) (Subject to expiration. Go to NBCUCodes.com for details.)
• Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Director/Writer Dean DeBlois
• Gag Reel
• Love and Legacy: Making How to Train Your Dragon
• Building Berk
• Dreaming Up the Dragons
• Fit for a Viking
• Forbidden Friendship with Introduction by Director/Writer Dean DeBlois
• Test Drive with Introduction by Director/Writer Dean DeBlois
• Feature Commentary with Director/Writer Dean DeBlois