logo
‘How to Train Your Dragon' is the best live-action adaptation ever, but some parents may hate it

‘How to Train Your Dragon' is the best live-action adaptation ever, but some parents may hate it

Now this is how you make a live-action adaptation of a beloved animated classic.
While Disney's live-action remakes of films from its animated library have been a mixed bag, DreamWorks' reimagining of its 2010 'How to Train Your Dragon' is the first that actually might be better than the original.
Directed by Dean DeBlois, the filmmaker behind not only all three 'Dragon' animated films but also the original ' Lilo & Stitch ' (2002), the new version excels because it makes its teenage protagonist deeper and more mature — and its monsters extra frightening.
In fact, this 'How to Train Your Dragon,' while rated PG feels like PG-13 and might be too scary for some children, even those who love the original animated feature. These CGI dragons are truly terrifying. But with 'Jurassic World Rebirth' arriving in theaters soon, that's the cinematic world we live in.
The story remains mostly unchanged. Hiccup (Mason Thames, star of ' The Black Phone '), the sensitive, peace-loving son of the fierce Viking king Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, who voiced the same character in the animated films), struggles to find his place in Berk, the seaside mountain village that is under constant threat from dragon attacks.
Stoick, disappointed in Hiccup, hopes to toughen the kid up by enrolling him in dragon-fighting school. Among his classmates is his school crush Astrid (Nico Parker) and the jocular Fishlegs (Julian Dennison, seen earlier this year in ' Y2K ' and the star of 2016's ' Hunt for the Wilderpeople ').
Hiccup's desire to kill dragons takes a serious hit when he meets Toothless, a small dragon caught in a trap in a wooded area. Instead of killing the dragon, Hiccup frees him, then makes daily visits to understand the creature.
The movie doesn't succeed unless the dragons are good, and the team behind this 'How to Train Your Dragon' hit the mark. The CGI work and DeBlois' swooping, dizzying camera work — this is the director's first live-action film — during the battles are top notch.
While the story is predictable even to those who haven't seen the original, the strength of this remake is its thematic plea for cultural understanding and the art of diplomacy. For generations, it's been dragons against humans, but why are dragons attacking? The Viking king is right to strengthen his village's defenses, and to train his subjects in the art of war. But is war the only solution or is there another way?
As Hiccup, the 17-year-old Mason is sensitive and appealing, a young boy who goes from dazed and confused to meeting the moment — and teaching dad a thing or two. Butler brings some touching moments to the proud king's gradual understanding of his son.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Miley Cyrus Bangerz Era, Hip-Hop Comments Divide Fans
Miley Cyrus Bangerz Era, Hip-Hop Comments Divide Fans

Buzz Feed

time30 minutes ago

  • Buzz Feed

Miley Cyrus Bangerz Era, Hip-Hop Comments Divide Fans

In 2017, Miley Cyrus released her sixth studio album Younger Now, which was described by Pitchfork as a bold 'statement of reinvention' following her infamous Bangerz era. When Miley released her self-described 'dirty south hip-hop' album Bangerz* in 2013, she embraced a very provocative persona, boldly cutting her hair off, singing about topics like recreational drug use, and, of course, twerking on Robin Thicke at the VMAs. After a few years, Miley's public image totally shifted. She grew out her hair, rekindled her relationship with Liam Hemsworth*, and started penning songs about inoffensive topics. Enter: Younger Now. While she was promoting the 2017 album, Miley memorably made critical remarks of hip-hop — the same genre that had influenced Bangerz. She told Billboard, 'I also love that new Kendrick [Lamar] song ['Humble']: 'Show me somethin' natural like ass with some stretch marks.' I love that because it's not, 'Come sit on my dick, suck on my cock.' I can't listen to that anymore. That's what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much, 'Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock' — I am so not that.' Fast forward to today, and Miley has reflected further on her relationship with hip-hop. During a recent appearance on the Every Single Album podcast, Miley was asked if she was 'playing a character' during her Bangerz era. She replied, 'I really did what I wanted to do…It was marketed not just by me, but just by the way that the press perceived it, as this is like some rebellious thing…That to me, that's a strategy, and I, that's not really what I do.' Then, when asked if she had 'fallen in love' with hip-hop, Miley said, 'Yes, because all my friends, that's all we listened to,' adding, 'It's not a genre, it's a statement.' 'For me, hip-hop at the time was my soul. [Those were] the concerts that I was sneaking out to go to. That was the thing that my parents wouldn't let me listen to, you know,' she went on. 'I wasn't unique in the fact that I was a white girl listening to hip-hop,' she said before quipping, 'Like, just go look at a fucking Coachella set list.' Miley was later asked if she had 'any different perspective' on her relationship with hip-hop now, and whether or not she felt differently about inserting herself into that world because she spent a lot of time listening to the genre. She replied, 'I wasn't just listening like a regular person with headphones on to Juicy J, I was friends with Juicy J, actually. So like, I don't know what to say. Like, I was actually smoking fat fucking wax bowls with Wiz Khalifa. Like, I'm not faking!' Reacting to Miley's comments, several fans were left pretty disappointed that she avoided taking 'accountability' for her 'cultural appropriation.' 'she didn't want to be a Disney star anymore. she wanted to be edgy. She benefited from the 'lifestyle' then rejected it when it no longer suited her image. And yes, people change their tastes as they grow older, but she should at least be able to acknowledge all of this after all these years with a few less 'likes' and excuses,' someone said, while another person wrote: 'Every time I think she's going to make a point it doesn't happen. Girl.' Let me know what you think below. You can find Miley's full interview here.

‘Eddington' Trailer: Ari Aster's Western of Pandemic Paranoia Hits Theaters After Dividing Cannes
‘Eddington' Trailer: Ari Aster's Western of Pandemic Paranoia Hits Theaters After Dividing Cannes

Yahoo

time32 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

‘Eddington' Trailer: Ari Aster's Western of Pandemic Paranoia Hits Theaters After Dividing Cannes

A24 has dropped the trailer for 'Eddington,' Ari Aster's modern western that divided the Cannes Film Festival after its Croisette premiere. The film will hit theaters nationwide July 18 — and it very well may 'hit' with heated debate. The film takes place in 2020 — yes, that 2020 — in the most visceral way, with the anti-mask local sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) of the fictional Eddington, New Mexico, facing off against the town's COVID-guideline-advocate mayor, played by Pedro Pascal (the second of his three summer releases). The heavy-hitter cast also includes Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O'Connell, Micheal Ward, Amélie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr., and William Belleau, all of whom represent various perspectives on the pandemic spectrum. More from IndieWire Pedro Almodóvar's Next Movie 'Bitter Christmas' Set for Spanish Theaters and Streamer Movistar Plus+ 'Pinch' Review: Taut Debut Highlights One Woman's Response to Sexual Harassment - and Complicity IndieWire reported last month on the film's polarizing audience response, with people truly either loving or hating the film, and few in between. The cast and crew addressed the controversial COVID epic's hot-button reactions at a Cannes press conference. 'It's very scary to participate in a movie that speaks to issues like this,' Pascal said. 'It's far too intimidating a question for me to address. I'm not informed enough. I want people to be safe and protective. I want very much to be on the right side of history … I felt like [Aster] wrote something that was all our worst fears as that lockdown experience was already a fracturing society. This was building toward an untethered sense of reality. There is a point of not going back. I was overwhelmed by that fear, and it's wonderful that it was confirmed by Ari.' 'I wrote this movie in a state of fear and anxiety. I wanted to try and pull back and show what it feels like to live in a world where nobody can agree on what is real anymore,' Aster added at the same presser. IndieWire's David Ehrlich wrote in his A- review that the director is 'exclusively interested in making the kind of films that should be reviewed straight onto a prescription pad, is too beholden to his neuroses for his latest movie to play like a cheap provocation. This time, however, there's a good chance those are your neuroses, too.' Prior to its release, 'Eddington' will open the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 16. It will be in theaters everywhere July 18. Watch the trailer below. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store