How to Train Your Dragon (PG)
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This is a 2025 live-action/CGI remake of the 2010 all-CGI movie of the same name. I thought it was pretty good, if kind of unnecessary. I can't help wondering if I would have liked this movie more or less than I did if I'd never seen the animated version, but I couldn't help comparing the two movies. And I liked the animated one better. (No, I loved the animated movie, this one I just reallly liked a lot.) I'm not sure if that's mostly because I have such a fondness for animated movies in general, or because, as I said, this one felt unnecessary, or if the animated one really was a higher quality of storytelling, visuals, acting, and everything. I really don't want to undersell the live-action movie by comparing it to the original (and I know there are people who will like both movies but prefer the live-action one). I will say that for the most part, I liked the casting in the live-action movie, especially for Hiccup and Astrid. And it was kind of fun seeing Nick Frost as Gobber. Gerard Butler reprised his role as Stoick from the animated movie, though somehow I felt like his performance was a bit more "cartoony" here than in the original, at least some of the time. I also liked that the cast was at least a bit more diverse than the original, though actually it could have done with even more diversity, or at least more prominent roles for some of the non-white cast members who were in the film. Of course, the visuals were pretty good, but as I've said, I preferred them in the animated movie. The music was still great. And I liked that the designs of the CGI dragons still looked like their counterparts in the animated film, but a bit more realistic.

I don't want to bother recapping the plot, because it was almost identical to that of the animated film, to the point that there were moments I knew exactly what a character was going to say next. There were a few differences, such as an explanation for why the cast was more diverse, which I appreciated. On the whole, I thought the retelling was done quite well. So anyway, if you want to know the plot, you can read my review of the original movie, or of course you could read Wikipedia or something. And I guess I don't know what else to say. But there's going to be a sequel, which I assume will be a remake of the second animated film in the franchise, rather than going in some new direction. I do look forward to seeing that, even though I'm fairly sure I'll still prefer the original animated sequel.