“This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies or parrots … we have … dragons.”
It looks like DreamWorks is joining the live-action adaptation competition, as How to Train Your Dragon represents the first official live-action adaptation of a DreamWorks feature. Emphasis on competition, given the inherent rivalry between Disney and DreamWorks founder and former Disney executive, Jeffery Katzenberg. I won’t spend a lot of time rehashing their history, but in summary, tensions between Katzenberg, Eisner, and Disney resulted in Katzenberg leaving Disney upon conclusion of his work contract with the company in October 1994 and going on to co-found DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. More on the subject is How to Train Your Dragon, which represents a picture-perfect successful adaptation in my opinion. Helping bring the adaptation to life is at least one familiar face in Gerard Butler, who reprises his role as Stoick. Rounding out the cast are Mason Thames (The Black Phone), Nick Frost, Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), and Nico Parker in her second live-action adaptation (the first being Dumbo).
Following its blueprint, the adaptation tells the story of Hiccup, the Viking son of the chieftain, who is a bit of outcast. Hiccup is unlike his brethren, as he is a out-of-the-box thinker and inventive, which puts him at odds given the brawn-over-brains mentality of the other villagers. What Hiccup seeks more than anything is the approval of his father, Stoick, the village chieftain and renowned dragon slayer. A bit of context: the village is plagued by dragons that steal their crops and livestock and destroy the village. A rite of passage among the villagers is a dragon-slaying trial, with the top student given the honor of slaying an actual dragon. This year, Hiccup is to take part inthe trials. Meanwhile, during the dragons’ last attack, Hiccup, using an invention of his, managed to bring down the rarest and most revered dragon species. However, instead of killing it, Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society.
As I said earlier, this adaptation represents a very good first outing in what will likely become a very profitable enterprise for DreamWorks and Universal. Auspicious timing as well, as How to Train Your Dragon is one of the premier themes of the newly opened Universal Epic Universe, which opened earlier this month. Additionally, Universal Pictures has already announced its plans for a live-action adaptation of the second film of the original animated trilogy, How to Train Your Dragon 2, with a June 11, 2027 release date. And it is a safe bet that Universal will also adapt the final film in the franchise.
Performance-wise, the film delivers. I imagine reprising Stoick was the equivalent of riding a bike for Gerard Butler, without the restriction of a recording booth. Mason Thames was a compelling Hiccup, doing justice to the role made famous by Jay Baruchel. Through Thames, Hiccup is conveyed as awkward but funny, as well as sensitive, but able to rise to the challenge of leading his people down a new path. Representing the flip-side of that coin is Nico Parker, daughter of legendary actress Thandiwe Newton. Nico, like Thames, successfully embodies Astrid’s important traits. She is resilient, brave, and has conviction. She admirably shows this when put in the difficult position of having to decide between what she knows and the confidence of a friend. It’s funny; I spent much of the movie looking at Nico and feeling like she looked familiar, only to find out that she was related to a woman whose catalog I’ve been watching since 1994 (Interview with a Vampire). Given her legendary pedigree, I am not surprised at Nico’s ability to be captivating on screen, and I look forward to seeing more of her in the roles to come.
Now to the most important factor of the film, Toothless. This is a live-action adaptation, but as dragons don’t actually exist, the CGI recreation of this pivotal character would either make or break the film. In my estimation, it made the film, and was done with the utmost care to ensure that the fictional dragon would be done proper justice. To drive authentic performances between the cast and their dragons and to inform the work of the visual effects teams animating the dragons in post-production, puppets were used on set. This meant the cameraman could frame where the dragon would be while the actors had something to act against. Next, the visual effects animation team programmed eight-axis gimbals (a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis), which were saddled up for the actors to ride with each of the dragon’s heads attached during flight scenes. The gimbals allowed each rider to give performances unique to their dragon’s flight cycle, thereby delivering the realistic high-flying adventure that was both wanted and needed for the film.
Despite the competition of a romantic comedy led by three of the hottest names in Hollywood, I fully expect that this live-action adaptation will easily win this weekend, and if I’m being honest, most likely next weekend too. Die-hard fans of the animated version surely won’t be disappointed to see their favorite dragon back on the big screen, but this time surrounded by a live cast, courtesy of DreamWorks’ first live-action foray, which I suspect will be the first of many. Personally, I can’t wait until they get to Shrek.
