Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon

Hello movie fellas, I hope we had a great week. Please come and sit because I'm about to give you the hottest gist about an amazing movie. I just finished watching the 2025 release of How to Train Your Dragon, this is a bold and emotional return to the magical world of Vikings and dragons that many fans have loved for years. I found this movie to be a beautiful mix of adventure, ambition, embrace of change, friendship, family and personal growth. This film manages to breathe fresh air into the story while still respecting its roots.

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PLOT

Let me tell you the story of a skinny Viking boy who changed the world — not by fighting, but by doing the unthinkable: he befriended a dragon.

The movie started with the story of the land of Berk, life was war not against humans but against dragons. These creatures fly in from somewhere in the sky, burning houses and stealing livestock so for generations the Vikings of Berk have raised their children to kill dragons, it was their way of life.

However, in that same village was a boy named Hiccup, the son of Stoick the powerful village chief but Hiccup was not like the other boys. He was a small, skinny, awkward and more of a thinker than a fighter. He works in the village as an apprentice with Gobber the blacksmith, he always tries to invent new machines to catch dragons. Hiccup was so determined to prove himself to everyone especially his father because he was known as a troublesome child. Then, one night during a dragon attack he uses one of his inventions which is a machine that can throw weapons to the sky to kill dragons and surprisingly he managed to shoot down the most feared dragon of all which is the mysterious and legendary Night Fury which was the dragon no one has ever seen or up close to and lived to tell the story.

The next day, Hiccup sneaks into the forest to find the dragon he shot and there it was wounded, trapped and helpless but when Hiccup tries to kill it he couldn't, he saw fear in the dragon’s eyes and not rage as he thought, so instead of ending its life he sets it free not knowing this his act of kindness will change everything. Hiccup begins visiting the dragon secretly and slowly he began to gain the Night Fury's trust, Hiccup started offering it food and studied it behavior. He named it "Toothless" after realizing it doesn't have tooth but have teeths which appears whenever it's about to eat. Gradually , they became used to each other, he also noticed that Toothless's tail was injured when he shot him and it could no longer fly properly so Hiccup made a special tail with leather and iron strings so he starts to ride it, learning how dragons really behave knowing they were not wild beasts as many had thought but they are intelligent and emotional creatures.

Meanwhile, Hiccup is enrolled in dragon training with the other Viking teens known as Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut but while others use brute strength, Hiccup uses what he learns from Toothless to quietly rise as the best student in the class. He discovers that dragons dislikes eels, they love grass and can be calmed with a gentle touch, these were the secrets no one else knows except him. However, his success causes tension. Astrid a tough and talented girl is especially suspicious so one day she followed Hiccup into the forest and discovered Toothless. At first, she wanted to report him but then Toothless takes them on a thrilling flight across the sky. They end up discovering something shocking which is a hidden dragon nest filled with hundreds of dragons, ruled by a very big terrifying dragon queen. The dragons have been attacking villages not because they are evil but because they’re being forced to feed their monstrous leader.

Back in Berk, Hiccup is chosen to kill a dragon in front of the whole village as part of his final training. He refuses and instead he tries to show everyone that dragons are not enemies but Toothless flies in to save Hiccup. Unfortunately Stoick who was Hiccup's father and also the village became furious and betrayed because he had earlier bragged about his son to be like him, so out of anger he disowned his son and uses Toothless to lead the Viking warriors to the dragon’s nest. At the nest, the Queen awakens, It was many times the size of any dragon. It begins to attack both dragons and the Vikings. However, Hiccup with Astrid and his friends, arrives just in time riding dragons they have learnt to trust. Hiccup was able to free Toothless by the miraculous help of his father who changed his mind about dragons at the battle field so Hiccup rode Toothless and together they soared into battle using skills, strategy, and courage they trick the Queen into flying too high where it can’t support its weight, the beast crashes and explodes in flames but in the process Hiccup was badly injured.

He wakes up days later to find that he lost his left leg but he is alive and so is Toothless who stayed by his side till he regained consciousness. Hiccup now wears a mechanical leg just like Toothless has a new tail fin, they are both wounded but they both rewrote history.
In the final scenes, we see a new Berk. The people have changed, dragons now live among them as friends not enemies. The boy they once mocked has become a hero, not by killing but by understanding.

REVIEWS AND RATTINGS

This movie is so interesting and well acted out, I highly celebrate the producer and actors of this movie for a great job well done. This movie teaches that we shouldn't always follow the crowd blindly, just because something has been done for generations (like killing dragons) doesn’t mean it’s right and doesn't mean there is no other way of solving a particular problem. I also learnt that true strength is in understanding and not violence, violence is not always the best answer.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone and I will be rating it at 7 out of 10.
Here is the link to the thriller of the movie: