Film Name: 新·馴龍高手 / How to Train Your Dragon
I have always been more of an “anime and manga enthusiast”: if there is an original manga, I would definitely prefer the manga over the anime; if there is an original anime, I would definitely prefer the anime over the live-action adaptation.
Especially the latter point—I believe many people share this sentiment. After all, live-action adaptations of anime and game IPs are few and far between when it comes to quality. In recent years, the only one I can recall and actually enjoyed is the 2019 version of “Aladdin”… And even Disney, the studio behind “Aladdin,” has had its fair share of missteps on the live-action adaptation front.
Given this experience, I didn’t have high expectations going into “How to Train Your Dragon”—but the result was that the film was much better than I anticipated.
Of course, it must be acknowledged that as a remake of the 2010 animated film “How to Train Your Dragon,” “How to Train Your Dragon” inevitably suffers from a lack of originality.
The film’s plot largely mirrors the animated version, with many scenes, dialogues, and even classic shots replicated 1:1 from the original. However, some details and scenes have been appropriately modified, expanded, and extended, resulting in a runtime nearly half an hour longer than the original.
This is both a flaw and an advantage: the animated version’s story is already highly refined and engaging, so adapting it directly is unlikely to result in major mistakes. Additionally, unless you’ve recently revisited the animated film, watching this movie will still offer a sense of freshness. For new audiences unfamiliar with the animated series, it’s even more accessible (this observation was inspired by overhearing a whispered conversation from the person sitting behind me last night).
Reality is so frustrating. In the current landscape where big-budget films using adapted scripts generally follow the trend of “the more you change, the more you mess up,” the conservative and steady approach of “the less you change, the fewer mistakes you make; don’t change at all, and you won’t make mistakes; don’t aim for greatness, but strive to avoid mistakes” can still stand out as refreshingly clear and straightforward.
“How to Train Your Dragon” left a deeper impression on me because it changed my view of “live-action adaptations of animated films” to a certain extent.
The reason I am an “anime enthusiast” is primarily because anime has a higher ceiling in terms of visual expression, allowing for greater freedom to accommodate, fill, and showcase human imagination, and expanding the possibilities of a work’s style. In contrast, live-action films and TV shows are ultimately based on real-world settings and performances, and even with the assistance of visual effects and other technologies, there are limits—especially when it comes to live-action adaptations of animated works, which always give me a sense of “self-degradation.”
However, since “How to Train Your Dragon” faithfully recreated the original animation, it gave me the opportunity to reevaluate the advantages of live-action adaptations: a more realistic visual environment, a more natural viewing experience, and a stronger sense of immersion.
Animation can adopt a realistic style, or it can be whimsical and surreal, incorporating fantastical elements and settings— How to Train Your Dragon” clearly leans toward the latter. While live-action films can’t match the exaggerated expressiveness of animation, they retain both the boldness of animation and the traditional realism of Western dragon lizard designs in dragon designs. The Flaming Fury and Grunkle look particularly good, and the sharp teeth occasionally revealed by the Night Fury also have a unique sense of oppression.
Additionally, the film is greatly enhanced by its stunningly beautiful live-action landscapes. The vast stretches of blue sea and sky, cliffs, forests, and caves both inside and outside Berk Island add a rugged yet elegant charm to the story—something the animated version simply couldn’t achieve (after all, humans are creatures of the three-dimensional world).
Within this setting, all the flying sequences in the film become even more visually stunning! I find it hard to describe this in words, but the visual impact, sense of speed, and immersion are all exceptional, truly befitting a production of this caliber.
The rest are all the hallmarks of Hollywood filmmaking.
For example, the pacing of scenes and camera angles, the support of costumes and props, the magic of realistic modeling combined with visual effects, and so on. The animation style and my overall impression are consistent, but the live-action version (especially in the latter half) offers a unique blend of genres, giving me the experience of watching a period drama (Viking legend), a fantasy film (Lord of the Rings), and a monster movie (Godzilla) all rolled into one.
In summary, if you’re not overly concerned with originality in storytelling, “How to Train Your Dragon” is definitely worth watching on the big screen—or rather, such films are inherently meant for the big screen.
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