‘Made with a lot of care and craft.’

The 2010s saw the release of the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy of animated adventure fantasy movies.

Hits upon release at the box office and with critics, it was inevitable that they would get the live-action treatment at some point, which has come to pass 15 years later.

Even if readers are cynical about remakes, we’d encourage people to give the new Northern Ireland-shot How to Train Your Dragon a chance, as it has been made with a lot of care and craft.

The original focuses on a young Viking boy named Hiccup (voiced by the great Jay Baruchel). He lives on the small island of Berk, which is frequently attacked by dragons.

These creatures often steal the villagers’ livestock and endanger the community.

Hiccup’s rugged and tough father, Stoick (voiced by a perfectly cast Gerard Butler), leads the people of Berk as they try to stave off and slay the dragons. Though Hiccup is deemed too weak to fight, he builds mechanical contraptions to try and help his dad in his quest, something Stoick looks down upon.

One day, Hiccup’s inventions result in him capturing a dragon. Unable to bring himself to kill it, the kid names the creature Toothless, and the pair become friends.

Though the people of Berk had been led to believe that dragons are inherently evil, Hiccup learns from Toothless that this isn’t the case.

That said, he struggles to convince his fellow villagers of this, particularly as he is forced to undergo dragon-fighting training alongside several of his peers.

One of these peers, the fearless budding warrior Astrid (voiced by America Ferrara), Hiccup has a crush on.

The new How to Train Your Dragon sees Mason Thames (The Black Phone) step into the role of Hiccup, the excellent Nico Parker (The Last of Us) play Astrid, while Butler reprises his role of Stoick.

The remake is a very faithful adaptation of the original animated film, but in live-action. In fact, some scenes were re-created shot-for-shot.

And while the live-action version might lack some of the artful and comic expressionism better suited to the animated medium, it makes up for it by being very immersive and visceral.

By having real humans interacting with a gorgeous but natural environment (courtesy of NI) and still-stylised but slightly more authentic-looking dragons, it enhances for the audience the sense of danger and thrills the main characters must be feeling.

For example, there is a lengthy flying sequence involving the main characters and the dragon Toothless at about the midway point that truly does manage to feel exciting, hair-raising and majestic all at once.

Having written and directed the original animated trilogy, the returning Dean DeBlois retains all the story elements that led to the original becoming a modern classic.

It’s very satisfying watching Hiccup use his knowledge garnered from treating Toothless with compassion and respect to outsmart his more jock-coded peers during their dragon-fighting training.

Also, at the heart of the tale is a lovely message about how important it is to be kind and empathetic to others, rather than letting fear and stereotypes divide.

Although, and slight spoilers, this message is slightly undercut in the third act by having the dragons and humans team up to take down a bigger, evil threat – something that also happens in the 2010 version.

All in all, the 2025 How to Train Your Dragon should appeal to fans of the original while introducing the story to an entirely new generation.

How to Train Your Dragon is in cinemas now.