On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup stands apart, defying centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury...
Every time I think I’ll get off the live-action regurgitation train, something or someone has to drag me back into it and despite it not being from Disney this time, they ruined the concept of a live-action remake so often and consistently, I didn’t want to entertain the idea of seeing “How To Train Your Dragon” remade. So thank my friend Gabby for talking me into seeing this despite my profound protestation against it.
I guess you could do MUCH worse than this.
Outside of a few honest-to-god decent changes that double down on the series’s themes of otherism, this is still a prime example of the kind of creatively bankrupt easy-win fluff that has diluted the Hollywood scene for a decade and change; competent plagiarism that lulls you into a false sense of security - or, I suppose, complacency - because it's not only competent and confident in itself, you can clearly see the passion crafted into playing out the near-identical script. I really was holding out hope for this new version to play a little loose with the source material based on the Cressida Cowell books and branch out just enough to feel fresh while also feeling the same but nope; storywise, it’s all spread on you right here like an evasive swab test from the first frame onwards and those few changes I mentioned don’t really elevate the experience beyond what the original animated film gave us. I would call this the Gus Van Sant’s Pyscho of animation remakes but one, we already got that with the Lion King and two, at least this one doesn’t actively half-ass everything.
And yet, in the spirit of transparency and in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say this. Putting aside how it faithfully picks apart a story that’s already really enjoyable, this remake doesn’t feel….completely…..pointless. THERE, I SAID IT; this line-by-line, shot-for-shot, beat-by-beat pilgrimage got me mildly invested against my better judgment. There is something to be said for a sense of familiarity and comfort in these trying times, I suppose, as it still follows through on the usual plot structure with carefully curated set-ups and payoffs, rising and falling action and conflicts that boil over into satisfying albeit formulaic and somewhat rushed arcs, driven purely from the protagonists’ relationships and the way his actions impact the world and environment around him. However, one thing that this film does repeat that hits a bit harder in this iteration is the very stigma of human nature and the importance on breaking traditions.
The fact that this movie, this series began with jingoistic and bloodthirsty Vikings seeking to wipe out a misunderstood enemy desperately defending themselves out of fear, only for one of their own to constantly defy the dominant narrative in his community in exchange for a more idealistic approach, ties into not just karma, empathy and brains over brawn but a very faint war on terror allegory that will likely go over most people’s heads.
For as many possible limitations Dean DeBlois had working against him, part of me can’t help but applaud him. His aspiration to step out of his comfort zone and attempt to transpose his own story into a different language and environment just to see if he could make it work shows a healthy dose of admiration and care for his project, shameless mimicry aside. As mechanical as his direction can come across as, he still maneuvers through every scene less like a drunken sailor and more like an experienced veteran.
The decision to move this to northern Ireland and Iceland to film was probably the best decision they made in regards to this production design; using its majestic cliffs and landscapes beyond just plain digital patching or convenient backdrops and giving the film a kind of sincerity and textural fidelity that managed to upstage its predecessor in moments, as if the cartoon fantasy had grown a real-world epidermis. Attention to detail is meant with the type of slavish devotion and neurotic precision that made me want to scoff and applaud at the same time. I felt actual legitimate weight to these locations and their faithful recreations to their animated counterparts and while the worldbuilding isn’t that broadened out or expanded beyond a few choice words of dialogue, its so uncannily true to the animated psycho-geography that I occasionally lost the muscle memory of the original, caught up in the strange, uncanny valley where cartoons and reality blur and clash.
Bill Pope had a high task, living up to Roger Deakin’s work in the original film but my lord, does he try. The cinematography and editing go hand in hand: consistent with visual storytelling, painting its scope and scale with a dense sylphlike stability that keeps the shots from being too crowded or stretched thin and the shift in its IMAX aspect ratio actually pays off in further immersing us into this world again….but it all comes at a cost. Glaring green-screen effects become more apparent as the movie progresses, the artificial lighting clashes with the scenery and as expected, the muted color palette really started to irk me after a while.
Despite its runtime being half an hour longer than its counterpart, it maintains a tight pace and avoids dragging itself out for an eternity and the tone remains mostly steady, weaving in and out seamlessly between moments of tension, relief and awkward drama without any jarring shifts. A few brief abnormalities aside, the VFX and CGI hold up pretty well for the most part, sound design remains as crisp, fluid and salivating to the ear and the near-transcendence of John Powell’s score one again makes for yet another mystifying, elegant eargasm. I legitimately almost got goosebumps when it got up to the flight scene again.
I’m torn on the performances however; you can tell how everyone is equally as committed to their part as the other even if their chemistry varies and they’re lumbered with dialogue that’s hampered by their own deliveries. Gerald Butler once again owns every scene as Stoick with his booming voice and commanding presence, Nick Frost’s infectious energy made Gobber just as entertaining as his animated counterpart and Mason Thames makes the best out of his first leading role as Hiccup. Can’t say much about the supporting cast, for they’re simply passable with Nico Parker being the only exception: she’s putting her best foot forward as Astrid but her lack of chemistry with Mason or the rest of the cast kept throwing me off, unfortunately.
To tell you the truth, I’m kinda pissed off at how much of this I actually found ok. By being a live-action remake by proxy, it’s a black hole of originality that inevitably dooms itself by its reluctance to take creative risks with its own source material. Yet, paradoxically, it’s that very adherence to cling so tightly to said source material that any enjoyment out of this could be found. What a coincidence….
