I used this as a staff pick on our social media recently, but I'm writing more here because I enjoyed it that much.
Most of the live action remakes of animated movies recently have been pretty disappointing. I've avoided almost all of the Disney ones since Mulan. So many of them seem to change the heart of the story. That's not true with How to Train Your Dragon.
There are some subtlties lost with the live action, but overall, the live action is lives up to the animated.
If you're unfamiliar with either movie, based on a series of books of the same name by Cressida Cowell, they follow a young viking named Hiccup. His people live in a village called Berk and are dragon slayers. Hiccup is an outcast living in the shadow of his chieftan father, Stoick. In trying to fit in with his peers, he injures a Night Fury, an illusive dragon no one has ever killed before. After confronting the dragon, Hiccup can't bring himself to kill it, instead he befriends it, naming him Toothless.
Its a beautiful story of being yourself, not getting stuck in tradition, accepting others, and standing up for your convictions.
With the live action, writer and director Dean DeBlois returns to write and direct. This is one of the main reasons it works so well. You have someone who understands and is passionate about the material. Gerard Butler also reprises his role as Stoick, which was appreciated.
The one who arguably had the biggest shoes to fill was Mason Thames, who plays Hiccup. Jay Baruchel, who was the original voice actor, nailed not only the awkwardness of Hiccup, but the sort of bumbling confidence and determination. The story is dependent on believing this awkward teen could change his peoples' way of life.
Mason does an incredible job of taking up the mantle. He had a quiet confidence underneath his awkwardness. You see him grow throughout the movie, that confidence becoming less quiet. He nails all the key aspects of Hiccups character.
Overall, I don't think its quite as good as the original animated, but it's pretty darn close. If you loved the orignal, I'd recommend giving this one a shot. If you haven't seen either, start with the animated. While it's a movie made for and geared towards kids, it's still something adults can get a lot out of.