Back in 2010, I wasn’t expecting much from my dad when he said that he wanted to take us to the theatres to see the screening for the first release of How to train your Dragon. I had no clue what the movie was about, I had never saw any trailer, but the only thing semblance of a first sight was the poster at the front of the building, so no knowledge Once the movie started, I was in disbelief, the animation, details, designs, and story plot had me hooked like a fish on a beach. As an adult, I have always felt a deep connection to this animated film, so much so that I watched the whole trilogy, short films, and even the episodic seasons called “Riders to Berk” and “Race to the Edge”. So with all that in mind, I actually had high expectations towards the live action remake about 15 years later after the animated movie.
The plot remained the same with the same story around a main protagonist named Hiccup Haddock, who was the smallest and scrawniest Viking that lived on their home island named Berk. The island had a village that was full of the strongest Vikings that were in a turf war with the mythical creatures called dragons, they would terrorize their home by stealing their food stock, burned down the houses, and attacked so many Vikings, many living with missing arms and limbs or even scars to show off their survival.
While the fighting continued, Hiccup snuck away from the fight to use his handmade machinery and actually shoot down a certain dragon that no Viking was able to see in the darkest nights, called the Night Fury. His father named Stoick the Vast was the strongest chief of the tribe, whenever Hiccup gets in trouble, everything he does reflects on him, so everyone begins to get angry at him. So, he ends up sending his son home while they clean up the damages done by the dragons.
Upset for embarrassing his dad, Hiccup disobeys his father and ends up sneaking away to prove to them that he actually indeed shot the dragon down. Usually, any Viking would kill a downed dragon, however instead of killing him, he let him go, which formed a forbidden friendship between Dragon and Viking. He noticed that the dragon was wounded and couldn’t fly, because when he shot him down, during the fall he lost one of his tailfins.
Feeling guilty, Hiccup used his time to actually bond with the feral Night Fury and gave him his iconic name, “Toothless.” He also used his own designs of machinery to help make a replica tailfin; however it was a long time of trial and error. ”
His father wanted him to join to help him get stronger so that way he could be able to take his place as the chief of berk. Stoick believed that the first step to becoming a true Viking warrior was to honor the historic traditions of slaying his first dragon in the ring.
Hiccup used tricks he learned from bonding with Toothless to help him without harming the Dragons from using light to catch a dragon’s attention like a cat chasing a laser to scratching certain dragon pressure points in order to stun any dragon without harming them. He ended up becoming the first Viking ever in his village to actually ride a dragon and he ended up finding a way to the war between dragon and Vikings, while losing a left foot in the process.
Everyone doubted Hiccup because of how weak he was, but he was determined to put his life at risk just to protect his only friend, Toothless, and the same goes for the dragon. The unlikely duo had always been in my mind ever since I was a kid, so I am proud to say that this ride-or-die duo had definitely got me excited to see an actual live action remake.
I watched the 4DX experience at regal cinemas for the early screening the day before it came out, I took my mom and my dad, because they were there when we watched all of the trilogies growing up. We didn’t know how it was going to plan out and I was worried, mostly due to the unsuccessful ratings for most live action movie remakes created with this generation.
So the remake stayed about 99% true to the actual movie script, so it was like re-watching the old movie, but with extra scenes and some changes. The lead actor to Hiccup (Mason Thames) was done SO perfectly, his voice and character had added so much emotion and depth to the actual story line, especially with heavy scenes from Hiccup being yelled at by his father to Toothless being taken away to lead the Vikings to the Dragons nest. Those types of scenes actually had me shed a tear a bit.
Along with the other students of dragon training, the fearless Astrid (Nico Parker), the arrogant Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), The dragon expert Fishlegs (Julian Dennison) –A.K.A. Ned from “Spider-Man” starring Tom Holland and Zendaya–and the two who squabbles up the first chance they get, The disputing twins Ruffnut (Bronwyn James) and Tuffnut (Harry Trevaldwyn).
This is where most reviewers had doubts of the movie. These actors look nothing like the original characters and the story line is a tad different. In the original animated movie, Astrid is a blonde and Nico Parker is half blonde. This remake displayed the characters’ entire case so perfectly. They all had their own build up and characteristics. Astrid, who is the fiercest Viking in all of Berk,had created an ironic, yet romantic, relationship to Hiccup. Unlike other Disney princesses, she proved that we don’t need prince charming to come to our aid.
With little effort, DreamWorks shows Disney how live action remakes should be done! No changes, minor tweaks, and best animation I have ever seen. “Lilo and Stitch” is living proof that we don’t need tweaks that are so unnecessary to change the whole story.
For example, “Lilo and Stitch” had cut out a main character from their movie, Captain Gantu. Gantu is the alien who is trying to capture Stitch and wreaking havoc all over Hawaii. Along with that, the climax of the story changed due to them making Jumba, the evil scientist who created Stitch, the main villain of the story. Changes like these are not necessary to the actual meaning and lessen of the story.
Hopefully with the successful blueprint of the “How to Train Your Dragon” remake, it can help shape the ideas of live action remakes. Disney does not need to make drastic changes to their movies – they just need to keep it close to the original.
