Dragon’s nearly identical retelling lacks freshness
It would be hard to fault writer/director Dean DeBlois (2002’s Lilo & Stitch), who directed the original How to Train Your Dragon animated trilogy, for choosing to return to direct the live-action remake. After all, the original HTTYD is a near-perfect film, with a gigantic brand and fan-base. DeBlois and his team decided that the best way to capture the magic of the original was to “transfer” it to live-action– nearly shot-for-shot, and line for line. Well, Mr. DeBlois, not all the dialogue and shot-for-shot sequences are as effective with a new cast and without the colorful emotive freedom of animation. Dragon-riding is still exhilarating in the live-action version, but the rest of the film lacks the script re-tuning necessary for a new narrative tone and visual palette. The new How to Train Your Dragon will be a grand scale adventure for those unfamiliar with the original film, and certainly a blast for young kids, but for the previously Dragon-trained audiences, the new live-action version will fail to match the original’s transportive wonder and wit.
In addition to DeBlois’s return to the director’s chair, John Powell returns to provide the musical score (a highlight of the franchise), and Gerard Butler (Greenland) returns to play the viking chief and father to the story’s hero, Hiccup, played by Mason Thames (The Black Phone). The new cast also includes Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as Astrid, a bad-ass warrior and Hiccup’s love interest, Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) as Gobber, the war torn blacksmith and battle trainer, and Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) as Fishlegs, one of the motley crew of teens vying to be the next mighty dragon slayer. Butler’s performance is the only one that matches the film’s tone. After all, he is reprising his role, so he’s familiar with the emotional gravitas and narrative flow around him. The others struggle to keep up. Thames, in particular, by no fault of his own, is tasked with delivering awkward one-liners that were specifically tailored to Jay Baruschel’s (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) uniquely “dorky” vocals in the animated versions. In other scenes, the editing works in the same way, cutting quickly and abruptly back and forth from dragons to speedy dialogue to capture humorous energy, but this editing style works best with the speed at which animated characters can move and speak, not live-action. The whole movie feels like it’s gasping for a level of excitement that’s just out of reach. Even the creature design for Toothless lacks the mysterious black-scaled quality of the original, instead lightening him up in more “realistic” reptilian fashion, which dulls the mesmerizing effect of his luminescent green eyes.
The dragon-riding is cool, though. It would be hard to mess up the spectacle of Hiccup and Toothless’ first test flight, with Powell’s soaring music to accompany the duo splicing through clouds and maneuvering through a coastline of giant rock formations. For those unfamiliar with the original film, Hiccup’s initial dragon flight and a few other scenes will really stoke their sense of adventure. If it weren’t for the obvious retreading, the new How to Train Your Dragon could’ve added an expanded dimension (literally) to its fantastic world. Ultimately, my suggestion would be to show the uninitiated the original film.
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How to Train Your Dragon opens in theaters on Friday, June 13th.
