Dean Deblois’s “How to Train Your Dragon” (2025) is a Creatively Bankrupt Display of Greed and Ego – Review
- Colton Gomez
- Jun 15
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 25
Review
By Colton Gomez | 06/15/25 | 5:01 P.M. Mountain Time
Fantasy, Action | Rated PG | 1 hr 56 min | "How to Train Your Dragon" (2025) Release Date: May 23, 2025
“How to Train Your Dragon” (2025) is completely unnecessary. DreamWorks may have finally earned its title as a dream factory now that it has manufactured the same idea twice. They use the same script, recreate the music, and force actors into shapes they were never going to fit into. Dean Deblois returns as director, leaving Chris Sanders out of the picture altogether this time. The whole thing stinks of greed, ego inflation, and creative bankruptcy.
The isle of Berk is home to Vikings who hate dragons for constantly raiding their village. Hiccup (Mason Thames) is the only one who doesn’t seem to possess the strength nor the will to kill the village’s enemies. Hiccup secretly manages to trap the most feared dragon, a Night Fury. He forms an unlikely bond with the creature (who he calls Toothless), which is hidden in a secluded forest and can’t fly. His father—also the chief of Berk—Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler) sees Hiccup as an embarrassment and sends him to dragon training, where he attends classes with his peers on how to kill and defend against dragons. Hiccup learns the true nature of the dragons and aims to change the village mindset on how to handle them.
What’s strange about this remake is that not every scene is shot-for-shot. Deblois extends some scenes or gives some minor characters more screen time, which is just baffling. It feels clunky, like he’s trying to justify even to himself why he’s making this film. Deblois is primarily an animation director. This is his first foray into live action filmmaking and he’s noticeably nervous.
John Powell wrote the score to the original and returns to re-score the remake. It’s almost entirely the same music, save for some changes of color. It just feels like he didn’t give it much thought. Why would he? It’s one of the most gorgeous scores ever written. He might want to rework some themes or make it feel more grounded with a heavier sound for the live action, but maybe he just knew this project was green-lit and didn’t want anybody messing it up. I never got the chance to hear the original score in theaters, so seeing the remake with largely similar music was pretty enjoyable.
I can’t help but wonder if the film was shot chronologically because of how awkward the first third of this movie feels. Butler and Thames have little chemistry in their important scenes which rely on a fractured father-son relationship. They feel like Thames was self-conscious and Butler wanted to be working on his next action movie. As the film progresses, the knots are slowly worked out but never completely smoothed over. Deblois is used to handling actors in a voice-over booth and seems confused on how to work with them to get a physical performance as well.
I think the actors did their best (except for Butler) and I really just feel sorry for them. All they get to do is copy the original performances. They don’t get to bring their own voice to the character or offer a new interpretation. They’re just there to fill the space and wear the costumes. It’s every actor’s dream to have an entire movie directed by line readings.*
*Ahem, no it’s not.
Thames performed well as an animated personality but his quieter scenes don’t convince me of the emotional burden he’s supposed to be carrying. I can see him try to understand what the scene is about instead of actually feeling it. He might need more training as an actor but I think Deblois’s direction failed him more than Thames failed the scene. No actor in this film seems confident in their portrayal and no one is convincing enough. When all the students fail the test, do you blame them or the teacher?
Nico Parker plays Astrid, an ambitious and tough Viking in dragon training with Hiccup. She stands out as one of the few actors here who can carry their own despite a confusing film and director to deal with. It feels like she’s held back not by the story but by the rigid structure it has to follow. She’s noticeably a step ahead of her co-stars which draws attention away from the scene’s emotions. It’s distracting to see someone believe in the story they’re telling and feel the emotions of the scene next to someone who is trying to do the same. I think some actors here are miscast or underutilized. Parker is not miscast.
The rest of the dragon training class does what they can with their roles, which frankly, isn’t much. However, Gabriel Howell as Snotlout was just really fun to watch (especially in a shot where he jumps onto a table and sends a full cup flying). He gives it his all. His job is to fail miserably as he hits on Astrid and serve as comedic relief. I can see in his face that he is convinced of the emotions he’s supposed to be feeling. Where other cast members seem nervous while onscreen, Howell is obviously comfortable.
As a standalone film, it’s okay. But knowing that it’s just a transplant has put me in a pessimistic mood about the future of films. Everyone is craving original ideas because so many films already feel too similar to one another. I can’t justify any reason why this film should be made, needed to be made, was itching to be seen. Deblois and DreamWorks insult their audience by thinking they can get away with this. Disney has always been slowly splitting their fans with corporate practices and their venture into live action remakes. I don’t like the direction DreamWorks is heading.
To adopt the mindset for a moment that Deblois somehow thought he could improve upon the original, makes the entire project a gross display of ego and greed. This film was done better fifteen years ago with a better team. Deblois’s remake is caught in between the worlds of live action and animation. There’s a noticeable tension as it seems he just didn’t know which line to straddle and ended up going somewhere in the middle.
Chris Sanders co-directed the original with Deblois, and played a big part in shaping Hiccup’s identity and quirky personality, along with the world he lives in. Deblois always wanted a more mature Hiccup and got to make his changes in the succeeding films sans Sanders. But when he has the chance to make the first film how he would’ve wanted it in the first place, he mindlessly follows old shot lists. A high school student could have directed this remake and achieved a similar result.
Everything good about this remake is just the remnant magic of the original iteration. I’m still baffled by the concept of shot-for-shot remakes. I didn’t like Disney’s; and I don’t like DreamWorks’s. The magic was created fifteen years ago and only leaks into this film.
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Review by Colton Gomez
Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd
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