When it was first announced that Dreamworks was remaking this into a live-action film, I had no hope. At this point, Disney had been remaking their films and I don’t know what for. Cash cow opportunities? Maintaining the ownership over their IP? Both seem plausible. Though, what’s for sure is that they’re not doing a great job at it—at all. Hence, the skepticism towards Dreamworks doing the same thing. What’s their objective in remaking this? Are they just following Disney for the sake of following? After watching, I noticed there was a certain passion felt throughout the film. This time, the remake was different.

The remake was different, but the story is just the same. We still follow Hiccup, the son of the village chief, desperate to be a dragon slayer. Though, as he obtains an easy chance to kill the highly-regarded Night Fury, his principles change. This is what makes Dreamworks’ remake different and better; they stick to what the audience know and are familiar with. Beloved characters don’t change and neither does the plot. Dreamworks also blows Disney out of the water with its CGI. Every single imagery looks amazing. The dragons are amazingly detailed and lively. The water physics looks great. Everything involving fire and gas flows perfectly.

There’s nothing much to say other than How To Train Your Dragon manages to capture that magical feeling that I felt when I watched the original as a child. I was not remotely expecting anything great out of this remake, but Dreamworks truly outdid Disney in their own game. How To Train Your Dragon represented its animated predecessor very well. It kept everything that made the original a very satisfying watch. This is a great one for families to watch in the cinema.