A superfluous but spectacular adaptation.

Like it or not, it’s fair to assume the current trend for live-action remakes of classic animations isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Soulless cash grabs though they tend to be, these films clearly appeal enough to fans and audiences (if not critics) that it’s hard not to see the trend continuing for some time to come.

Taking a well-known and well-loved animated IP and adapting it into a live-action setting is such a simple, cynical, shrewd little money-spinner that it’s actually quite surprising the only studio to really do it (so far) is Disney. Of course, the House of Mouse has such a vast vault of classic animated features that it’s no real shock to see them become the most prolific live-action adapters out there. Until now that is.

Step forward DreamWorks, who have clearly seen this potentially lucrative approach and want a slice of that big, juicy pie. So, just as Disney’s live-action adaptation well appears to be running dry, DreamWorks Animation are only just getting started.

On the rugged village of Berk, a Viking boy named Hiccup (Mason Thames), the inventive but underappreciated son of Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler), defies centuries of tradition by befriending a dragon named Toothless. However, when an ancient threat emerges that endangers both species, Hiccup's friendship with Toothless becomes key to forging a new future. Together, they must navigate the delicate path toward peace, soaring beyond the boundaries of their worlds and redefining what it means to be a hero and a leader.

One of the biggest conundrums with any live-action adaptation of an animated classic is just how loyal you are to the source material. It’s an exceptionally thin line between being overly faithful to the original to the point of imitation and going off script with a new story – one that risks alienating your fanbase entirely.

Somewhere in the middle is definitely the sweet spot, yet, as Disney have shown over the past few years, such a balance is a difficult thing to achieve. Just this year, for example, Disney have released two very different takes on this approach in Snow White and Lilo & Stitch to two very different audience reactions (and box office returns). However, if there were ever any temptation for DreamWorks to try something different with their wildly successful How to Train Your Dragon franchise, it hasn’t come through in the end product, which is, for all intents and purposes, a word-for-word, bar-for-bar copy of the original.

In many ways, such reverence for the original How to Train Your Dragon is wholly unsurprising. The 2010 original is, by all accounts, exceptional and undoubtedly one of the best animated features of the 21st century, however, with so little new being offered here, the question remains - what’s the point?

While the film’s narrative has some padding added here and there to offer a little more substance to certain plot points and characters, the story itself is essentially a carbon copy of its predecessor that shows no ambition to colour outside the lines. As understandable as such loyalty is, when the entire ambition of an adaptation is to trace the film, you know and love while rendering it in a far less colourful live-action setting, you do have to wonder if it’s really worth your time and money.

The plot certainly works and manages to hit all the right beats, but then so did that of the original. The characters are great, and the world is immensely fun to be part of, but that was also the case with the animation. The music is perfect, but in bringing back John Powell to resurrect his wonderful original score, there’s really nothing new there either.

Almost across the board, this How to Train Your Dragon is what you saw in its predecessor, and how much you get out of it as a film will depend entirely on the degree to which this kind of cover band filmmaking irks you. For some, it will be pure money-grabbing, cash-cow-milking laziness, to others, it will be giving them everything they enjoyed about the original, just morphed into a different format. The truth will probably lie somewhere between the two for most of the film’s audience.

Perhaps the film’s biggest saving grace, and the one thing that truly justifies its existence, is the effort that’s been put in to make it look good. As with so many of the recent lacklustre Disney efforts, How to Train Your Dragon could have easily been a lazy, ugly rehash, yet, while such accusations can be thrown the plot’s way, visually and action-wise, that’s far from the case.

It’s clear that some real time, effort, and heart has gone into making this How to Train Your Dragon both look and feel the best it can, and to that end, a huge amount of credit must go to returning director Dean DeBlois, whose clear affection for and connection to this franchise really shines through. DeBlois has taken great care to bring the How to Train Your Dragon world to life in live-action as strikingly and faithfully as possible, and in a world where Disney have been churning out uninspired adaptations at a rate of knots, this level of thoughtfulness is quite commendable.

For its part, the action is rather spectacular, and while nothing on offer here ever feels quite as awe-inspiring as the animation, the fight and flight sequences are astounding, while the various CGI dragons on display are mightily impressive. Even Toothless looks great, with his design retaining the cuteness and charm of the character’s animated counterpart, even if his cartoonishness feels slightly odd next to the more fearsome, “realistic” dragons around him.

As for the human characters, while the hair and costumes are a little too cosplay-like at times, it’s hard to deny that they look the part. Like many of its other elements, the film’s character designs have been ripped wholesale from the animation, yet, while some elements come off too goofy for a live-action look (looking your way Hiccup’s hair), most of the cartoonish, larger-than-life character elements are very fun and suit the tone well.

Regarding the cast themselves, everyone plays their part well enough, but while it feels unfair to draw direct comparisons to the stellar voice cast from the 2010 original (especially considering the fact that they are all 15 years older now and mostly unsuitable for their roles), it’s hard not to feel at least a little disappointed that most of them are nowhere to be seen this time around.

Of this new batch of actors, perhaps the biggest question mark is with Mason Thames as Hiccup. Although there’s no doubt that Thames puts in a solid showing in the lead role, his voice and demeanour pale in comparison to Jay Baruchel’s original embodiment of the character. Of course, Baruchel is now 43 and wholly unsuitable to play the teenage Hiccup, yet his tonal flexibility and inherent charm with the role just isn’t matched by Thames, who feels rather too passive and inert at times.

Around him, the support cast is a solid mix of old heads and young faces, with Nick Frost and Nico Parker in particular offering much to enjoy. Of the entire ensemble, however, there’s no question that the film’s real MVP is the returning Gerard Butler and his Stoick the Vast.

Buried under a hefty mix of costume, wig, and prosthetics though he may be, Butler nevertheless shines with a performance that embraces both the silliness and brevity of the character. Most importantly, Butler shows just how dear he holds both the character and the How to Train You're Dragon series, which really does shine through in every scene and makes for an easy connection between us and the film.

He absolutely owns the role, elevating the movie as he goes, however, Butler’s reprisal of the character rather sums up this version of How to Train You're Dragon as a whole, once again bringing into question what the actual point of it is. As fantastic as he is, Butler’s presence here encapsulates the entire issue with the film, namely that, as entertaining and as watchable as the execution is, with being a word-for-word carbon copy of the original, it can never truly be any more than merely ok.

While How to Train Your Dragon is essentially a word-for-word, bar-for-bar copy of the original, as a solid piece of cover band entertainment that hits in a lot of the ways the original did, it makes for one hell of a ride. Yes, it’s cynical, unnecessary, and uninspired, but with impressive visuals, a desire to do things right, and an on-form Gerard Butler pulling the strings, How to Train You're Dragon manages to justify its existence in a way that your average live-action Disney cash-in just can’t.

How to Train Your Dragon is in cinemas now.