So turns out the issue with Disney’s live-action remakes… may just be Disney itself, because this one was actually decent!

“How to Train Your Dragon” is a remake of the 2010 animated movie of the same name, and follows a young viking (Mason Thames) who finds and befriends an injured dragon. Nico Parker, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Frost, and Gerard Butler also star, while the original film’s co-director Dean DeBlois writes and directs.

I have actually never seen the original “How to Train Your Dragon” (though I did see the third one, “The Hidden World”), so this was a rare instance of me going into one of these live-action remakes of a classic animated film blind. I really enjoyed this summer’s “Lilo & Stitch” remake (though I was biased since it was one of my favorites growing up), and from what I was hearing the “Dragon” remake was pretty loyal to the source material, if not a shot-for-shot remake like so many of these are. And so while I can’t speak as to how fresh or original it is in its own right, I think “How to Train Your Dragon” is a fun, beautiful, and at times tender family movie.

I wasn’t a big fan of “The Black Phone,” but I did think a young Mason Thames did the best he could with the material he was given; I also thought he showed some good comedic delivery skills in last year’s “Incoming.” So it’s cool to see him headline a big-budget blockbuster film, and hopefully he can continue to develop as an actor because he has some charm and sympathetic moments here (even though he’s acting alongside a tennis ball half the time). He shares a father-son relationship with Gerard Butler (giving a legit amount of effort here) that feels real, which isn’t always the case in these types of films (all too often we get the “I’m not giving up my dream, dad, I’m giving up yours” speech and it feels forced).

Some of the side characters are amusing (I liked Gabriel Howell’s cocky Snoutlout), though as is the case with childrens’ films there are some over-the-top performances or reliance on potty or stupid humor. Nick Frost seems to be having fun as a one legged, one armed blacksmith, though at times through his accent and goofy mustache it’s hard to make out what he is saying (which is a shame, since he’s responsible for many of the film’s exposition dumps).

The film looks pretty and lush, and there are only one or two shots that had me thinking “yikes, that’s a rough green screen” (so by modern blockbuster metrics, that’s a home run). The dynamic between Thames and Toothless the dragon (who, despite this being a live-action remake of an animated film, is sadly not played by a real-life dragon) is felt, and the flying sequences are pretty engaging and fun. The sets and Irish countryside feel lived in and not simply a flat soundstage on some backlot, and you can feel DeBlois’ passion to make this film feel as authentic as he could (when it was announced, he essentially said that if they were going to remake his film anyway, then he may as well be the one to do it).

“How to Train Your Dragon” lacks a certain “it” factor about it, but just like with “Lilo & Stitch” I think cute animals and some warm family messages go a long way when it comes to being a successful kids’ movie. Sure, at the end of the day this film isn’t needed and is just an advertisement for amusement parks and stuffed animals, but as far as those things go, we’ve had far more egregious examples.

Critics Rating: 7/10