How to Train your Dragon (2025) Movie Review

How to Train Your Dragon (2025) – A Brave New Flight or a Franchise Crash-Landing?

The skies are no longer silent. In 2025, DreamWorks Animation returns with one of its most treasured properties—How to Train Your Dragon—revived, reinvented, and reimagined for a new generation. The fourth film in the acclaimed franchise, simply titled How to Train Your Dragon (2025), is more than a sequel; it is a thematic and visual evolution that attempts to reorient the heart of the series toward legacy, responsibility, and co-existence in a more complicated world.

But while it seeks to rekindle the magic, does it actually soar? Or is it a nostalgic echo of a franchise that should’ve remained at peace?

🎬 Overview and Premise

Directed again by Dean DeBlois, this 2025 entry resumes the story nearly 20 years after the dramatic farewell in The Hidden World. We’re introduced to Zephyr Haddock, the teenage daughter of Hiccup and Astrid, as she stumbles upon a hidden relic that awakens long-dormant dragon activity—and a dangerous ancient ideology that views dragons as a divine threat.

The film’s central tension is no longer whether humans and dragons can co-exist—but whether they should re-unite at all after decades of separation. When an old enemy’s ideology resurfaces, and a new warlord threatens to enslave dragonkind, Zephyr must decide whether to uphold her father’s peaceful legacy or forge her own path.

🧑‍🎤 Character Evolution: Legacy Passed or Fumbled?

🔥 Zephyr Haddock – A New Protagonist, An Old Struggle

Voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, Zephyr is a spirited, headstrong heroine thrust into a world of myths and half-truths. Her internal conflict is well-drawn—caught between the warrior code of her mother and the idealism of her father. She inherits Hiccup’s empathy and curiosity, but with the sharper edge of modern pragmatism.

Yet, her character arc feels rushed. The film sets her up as the emotional successor to Hiccup, but doesn’t give her enough personal relationships—especially with her dragon partner, Skara, a mysterious new species from the Hidden World. Their bond, so central to the story, lacks the layered development that Hiccup and Toothless shared over three films.

🛡️ Hiccup and Astrid – Reverence or Regression?

Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera return as older, wearier versions of their original characters. Hiccup has aged into a reluctant chieftain-turned-historian, while Astrid plays the wise, tough mother-figure. Their screen presence tugs at long-time fans’ heartstrings, but the writing sidelines them in favor of the next generation.

There are touching scenes—particularly Hiccup reflecting on what it meant to “let go” of Toothless—but the script avoids showing us the emotional cost of that decision. These characters deserved a deeper, more layered return than just being passive guides.

🐲 Villainy and Conflict: Promising Setup, Underwhelming Payoff

The antagonist, Vidar Skorne, is played with chilling gravitas by Mads Mikkelsen. A radical tribalist who sees dragons as “divine beasts to be conquered,” Vidar’s philosophy taps into darker, more grounded real-world themes: the exploitation of nature, the fear of the unknown, and the weaponization of ideology.

Yet, despite this promising setup, his screen time is limited, his motivations underdeveloped, and his eventual downfall anticlimactic. The final confrontation lacks the grandeur and emotional complexity of Drago from HTTYD 2 or Grimmel from HTTYD 3.

🎨 Visual Mastery: DreamWorks Still Reigns in the Skies

Let’s be clear: visually, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is a masterpiece.

From glistening fjords to the surreal, pulsating glow of the reawakened Hidden World, the animation soars. Flight scenes remain the franchise’s strongest asset—blending cinematic aerial choreography with emotional symbolism. Zephyr’s first solo flight mirrors Hiccup’s own from the first film, and it’s breathtaking in its poetry.

New dragon designs—especially Skara, with shimmering feathers and elemental wind abilities—are inventive and grounded in mythology. DreamWorks continues to show that animation can be as artful and resonant as live-action epics.

🎼 Score and Sound: Emotional Memory Rekindled

John Powell returns with a score that’s both nostalgic and newly haunting. Familiar motifs—like “Test Drive” and “Forbidden Friendship”—are subtly reinterpreted, woven into new compositions that mirror Zephyr’s more uncertain, fragmented world.

The soundtrack is arguably the most consistent thread linking the original trilogy to this sequel. Where the story wavers, the music grounds the film in emotional clarity.

💬 Themes Explored: Heritage, Separation, and Climate Parallels

Thematically, How to Train Your Dragon (2025) aims high.

🧭 Legacy vs. Autonomy: Can Zephyr truly inherit Hiccup’s dream, or must she redefine it?
🌍 Environmentalism: The world has changed; dragons now symbolize natural forces misunderstood by industrial society.
⚔️ Fear vs. Curiosity: The film critiques how societies often respond to difference—with fear, violence, or myths that justify control.

The film asks relevant, bold questions, but too often backs away from deep engagement. A few philosophical monologues are thrown in, but the real-world parallels (climate crisis, generational tension, historical guilt) are only brushed over.

🧩 What Worked

✅ Incredible animation and cinematography
✅ A score that elevates every key moment
✅ Zephyr as a promising next-gen lead
✅ Expansion of the dragon mythos and ecosystem

❌ What Fell Short

❌ Villain with potential but poor execution
❌ Underdeveloped new dragon-rider bond
❌ Rushed character development
❌ Heavy reliance on nostalgia instead of story innovation

🎟️ Audience Reception and Cultural Impact

Early reviews from fans are largely split. Long-time viewers praise the return to Berk, the visual upgrades, and the chance to revisit Toothless. But critics and older fans have noted the lack of narrative focus and the surface-level emotional beats, especially compared to the layered storytelling of the original trilogy.

It’s a film that seems caught between being a send-off and a soft reboot—and in trying to serve both masters, loses some of its identity.

🧠 Final Verdict: 7.4/10

How to Train Your Dragon (2025) is visually stunning and thematically ambitious, but it doesn’t quite earn its wings narratively. It introduces a new protagonist and a revitalized world but doesn’t allow either enough room to grow. While it offers enough spectacle and nostalgia to satisfy fans, it lacks the emotional depth and cohesion that made the original trilogy legendary.

For new audiences, it’s a thrilling ride.
For old fans, it’s a bittersweet glide through familiar skies.
For the franchise, it’s a sign that while the story may not be over, its soul must evolve if it wants to truly fly again.