How To Train Your Dragon (PG)

This new, live-action version of the much-loved 2010 animation is enormously faithful to the original, introducing a new generation of children to a beloved property.

Once again, we are regaled by the high-flying friendship between a Viking outcast named Hiccup (Mason Thames) and a so-called ferocious Night Fury named Toothless, who turns out to have the playfulness of a Bengal kitten and the loyalty of the Black Stallion. For decades, Hiccup’s village of Berk has been looted by sheep-stealing dragons — and the dragons in turn have been captured and used as training dummies for future dragon-killers.

Together, the young pariah-turned-lizard-rider and his spunky pet prove there’s strength in pacifism. Hiccup’s crush Astrid (Nico Parker) hails from somewhere else — she’s battled just to immigrate to Berk — causing her to cast an even deadlier side eye at this scrawny scion of privilege.

Naturally, Hiccup ends up challenging the dragon-hating attitudes of his people, including his giant-sized Viking father Stoick (a returning Gerard Butler). Exhilarating and wholehearted, it’s less a standalone achievement than a special edition of an old favourite.