Movie Review - How to Train Your Dragon

Director: Dean DeBlois
Genre: Action/ Fantasy/ Adventure/ Family
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz
 
Description: As an ancient threat endangers both Vikings and dragons alike on the isle of Berk, the friendship between hiccup (Mason Thames), an inventive Viking, and Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, becomes the hey to both species forging a new future together.
 
Review: Fifteen years after the huge success of the animated film “How to Train Your Dragon”, about Vikings battling dragons, the time has come for a remake. A live-action version of that it is. And not all live-action remakes work, just ask Disney. “How to Train Your Dragon” shows that turning an animation into a live-action film can definitely be good.

The original co-director, Dean DeBlois, returns to transform his animated world into a live-action version. And he has done an excellent job. He cast strong actors who closely resemble their animated counterparts, and visually the film looks polished. The high-quality production, costumes, and beautiful location also come into their own under his direction. Clearly, more effort has been put into this than the average remake.

Toothless looks convincingly real, and his bond with Hiccup is once again rock solid. Their friendship is still the beating heart of the film and it will touch the viewers. Composer John Powell is also back to reinforce the movie with his music.

All the ingredients are there, simply because the recipe has remained unchanged for the most part. The fact that it still works so well underlines how timeless the original story is. The end result is therefore solid, although it could come off as lazy, because it’s practically a shot-for-shot copy of the animation. But I rather have a copy of an animated movie that I already love and the live-action being just as great, then that they had made unnecessary changes and the film turned out bad or mediocre. “How to Train Your Dragon” is so fun and I’m not mad about it at all!

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 94

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Bourne identity (2002)
A man (Matt Damon_ is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
 

Drama: 1917 (2019)
April 6^th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers (Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay) are assigned to race time and deliver a message that will stop 1600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
 

Comedy: Daddy’s Home (2015)
Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) is a radio host trying to get his stepchildren to love him and call him Dad. But his plans turn upside down when their biological father, Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) returns.
 

Animation: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
A hapless young Viking (Jay Baruchel) who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friends of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
 

Romance: Top Gun (1986)
As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in class, one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learns a few things from a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) that are not taught in the classroom.
 

Horror: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
After nearly 50 years of hiding, Leatherface returns to terrorize a group of idealistic young friends who accidentally disrupt his carefully shielded world in a remote Texas town.
 

Science Fiction: Terminator Salvation (2009)
In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine (Sam Worthington), comes to John Connor (Christian Bale) on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?
 

Crime: John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.
 

Thriller: Munich: The Edge of War (2018)
A British diplomat travels to Munich in the run-up to World War II, where a former classmate of his from Oxford is also en route, but is working for the Germany government.
 

Documentary: Django & Django (2021)
A homage to Italian director Sergio Corbucci of the 1960s and contemporary director Quentin Tarantino, recounting a memorable period in Italian cinema with the sensibility of today.
 

Family: A Cinderella Story (2004)
Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge), the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery (Hilary Duff) is excited about the prospect of meeting het Internet beau at the school’s Halloween dance.

Netflix Friday - Volume 60

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Outpost (2019)
A small team of U.S. soldiers battle against hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
 

Drama: The Pianist (2002)
A Polish Jewish musician (Adrien Brody) struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

Comedy: Fatherhood (2021)
A father (Kevin Hart) brings up his baby girl as a single dad after the unexpected death of his wife, who died a day after their daughter’s birth.
 

Animation: How to Train You Dragon (2010)
A hapless young Viking (Jay Baruchel) who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
 

Romance: Blue Jay (2016)
Meeting by chance when they return to their tiny California hometown, two former high-school sweethearts (Mark Duplass, Sarah Paulson) reflect on their shared past.
 

Horror: Happy Death Day (2017)
College student Tree (Jessica Rothe) must relive the day of her murder over and over again, in a loop that will end only when she discovers her killer’s identity.
 

Science Fiction: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
When their relationship turns sour, a couple (Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet) undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories.
 

Crime: Sicario (2015)
An idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating wat against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
 

Thriller: Split (2016)
Three girls are kidnapped by a man (James McAvoy) with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24^th.
 

Documentary: Sophie: A Murder in West Cork (2021)
The documentary follows the investigation of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, a French film and TV producer who was killed while at her isolated holiday cottage in West Cork, Ireland, in 1996.
 

Family: Dennis the Menace (1993)
When his parents have to go out of town, Dennis stays with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. The little menace is driving Mr. Wilson (Walter Matthau) crazy, but Dennis is just trying to be helpful. Even to the thief who’s arrived in town.

Netflix Friday - Volume 6

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.

Action: Deepwater Horizon (2016)
A dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.

Drama: Moonlight (2016)
A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence and burgeoning adulthood.

Comedy: Easy A (2010)
Clean-cut high school student Olive (Emma Stone) relies on the school’s rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

Animation: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
A hapless young Viking (Jay Baruchel) who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Romance: Clueless (1995)
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.

Horror: Krampus (2015)
A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.

Science Fiction: Pacific Rim (2013)
As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.

Crime: Wind River (2017)
A veteran hunter (Jeremy Renner) helps an FBI-agent (Elizabeth Olsen) investigate the murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation.

Thriller: Captain Phillips
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

Documentary: Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)
Survivors worldwide reveal the manipulation and emotional scars suffered at the hands of wealthy convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their stories expose a sex trafficking ring of powerful enablers leading up to his 2019 arrest.

Family: The BFG
An orphan little girl befriends a benevolent giant (Mark Rylance) who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world.