Live-action remakes of animated films often prove to be a futile exercise. From Aladdin to Snow White, the remake factory has proved itself to be extremely unpleasant and unnecessary. The studios, however, don't hear the word "unnecessary." All they hear is "money." Hence, we have a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon (2010), directed by Dean DeBlois, the man who also worked on the animated film. Shouldn't this, at least, be considered as good news? What's more, DeBlois apparently agreed to return on the condition that he be given complete creative control over the live-action film. Wonderful, right? Why, then, does the new How to Train Your Dragon still feel soulless and uninspiring? Why does it look less like a passion project and more like a cash-grab opportunity? With all that "creative control," all DeBlois has done is add more logic to the story. The dragons sometimes try to escape from the arena when Hiccup (Mason Thames), Astrid (Nico Parker), and other kids confront them for practice. DeBlois has also slowed down the momentum of the film. The original How to Train Your Dragon flies in a hurry. In this live-action remake, the scenes are allowed to breathe. The conversations have a clear start and end point, which gives the drama more definition, though there is still a lack of urgency. The stakes are almost non-existent, whether you have watched the original or are going in blind. That's because the material is utterly predictable; the movie merely works as a show-off piece.
Even within those narrow ambitions, the animated film triumphs because its images are more colorful and more fluid. Consider the scene where Hiccup takes Astrid on a ride for the first time. In the 2010 movie, the "camera" spins along with Toothless when he goes through a cloud to introduce his riders to the beauty of the dark, glowing skies. Here, that transition occurs casually and impersonally. The new HTTYD is unimaginative; it's also devoid of beauty. The Viking village, the seas, the land, the sky, the dragons, the dragon's nest - everything is more expressive, more appealing in the animated film. Where the live-action adaptation proves to be superior is in the realm of storytelling.
The plot here is more coherent, and the relationships (like Hiccup's attraction towards Astrid) are well-defined. One of the kids is shown desperate for his father's attention, but this thread is reduced to a bland comic device. It's just inserted to create a (superficial) distinction between HTTYD (2025) and HTTYD (2010). The message that one can derive from this first installment is that you should not feel compelled to follow in your parent's footsteps. The adults are not always right, and kids can reach greater heights if they are allowed to be free from the shackles of tradition, rules, and society. This message, though, emerges more clearly from the animated film. Then again, that original action fantasy is built around this moral lesson, as things like character development and story just rush by too quickly. I don't think DeBlois's tweaks in HTTYD (2025) work more effectively because, for the most part, all I could hear was a voice echoing from the screen saying, "Look what money can buy." To watch this live-action remake, then, is like seeing a hand that was once free turn into something cold and rigid. And so, once again, we are left asking, "Was this remake necessary?" I think we all know the answer to this question.
Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times