FILM
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
HERE BE LIVE-ACTION REMAKES
Not toothless, but a remake that could have done with more bite.
★★★
OUT NOW / CERT PG / 125 MINS
DIRECTOR Dean DeBlois
CAST Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Peter Serafinowicz
PLOT On the island of Berk, dragon-slaying is a way of life, although not for hopeless young Hiccup (Thames). Until he shoots down a rare Night Fury...
2010’S ANIMATED HOW To Train Your Dragon boasts a fun, sparky script and an unimprovable story about a lonely, damaged boy bonding with a lonely, injured dragon. This remake has, therefore, largely decided not to improve it, playing out a near-identical script with live human actors and calling it a day. It’s the Gus Van Sant’s Psycho of animation remakes. It is frequently soaring and gorgeous, but can’t take full credit for its beautiful moments because we’ve quite literally seen it before.