It’s summer, school’s out and the theater marquees are packed with family films. If you’re a parent like me, you will probably see every kid-friendly movie between now and Labor Day. With that in mind, I am going to use this month’s columns to reflect on the themes in a few newly released family films, and hopefully enhance your rainy day trips to the theater.
The oldest and most tragic story in human history is “Us vs. Them.” Our enemies are handed down like family heirlooms: We grow up learning who we must fear, who we must fight or destroy to protect our way of life. The targets change, but the formula remains the same. Immigrants, trans people, other nations: They’re not like us, and as long as they’re around we’ll always live in fear. We learn, again and again, that it’s never that simple—that, more often than not, “Us vs. Them” is a lie used to divide people. But we keep falling for it.
Maybe that seems a little heavy for a family film. But “How to Train Your Dragon,” the 2010 animated hit that gets a live-action remake this month, is beloved precisely because it is unafraid to deal with those themes in a way that kids could grasp. You might think an Obama-era film made during the post-“Avatar” 3D fad would lose some relevance. But, tragically, “Us vs. Them” is evergreen.
The story takes place on the windswept island of Berk, where a diverse community of Vikings eke out a hardscrabble existence. But the rocky terrain and unforgiving sea are the least of their worries: Their village is regularly attacked by dragons, who steal their livestock and burn their homes. All Vikings grow up to be tough, relentless warriors…all except Hiccup (Mason Thames), the bumbling teenage son of Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), the village’s ferocious chief. In one of many botched attempts to win his father’s approval, Hiccup accidentally wounds a rare and dangerous dragon called a Night Fury. But when he has his chance to kill the beast, Hiccup instead decides to help it. A bond forms between boy and dragon—nicknamed Toothless—that could end the centuries-long conflict.
Needless to say, it’s not an easy task. Hatred of dragons is embedded in Viking culture, fueled by years of combat, bloodshed and loss; Hiccup’s own mother died in battle. Hiccup receives intense combat instruction at the hands (well, hand; the other is a hook with interchangeable heads) of Gobber (Nick Frost), where he’s constantly shown up by the tough, competent Astrid (Nico Parker). Speaking up for peace means alienating himself even further from his community, accused—as peacemakers have been across history—of being soft, naive, a traitor.
For this piece I spoke with Dean DeBlois, the writer and director of the original film trilogy who reprises those duties for this new version. “Hiccup is ahead of his time in a sense,” he said. “He has the bravery to embrace this empathy, this compassion that he has within him and [to] look beyond what he’s been taught to discover the truth of the perceived enemy.”
A curious thing about live-action remakes of animated films is how lifeless they can be, all of the color, fluidity and fun drained out and replaced by weightless C.G.I. and dull stabs at verisimilitude. What a relief, then, that this remake is remarkably tactile, featuring real locations, sets, props and costumes. Even the C.G.I. dragons were performed on-set by puppeteers, adding a believability to their interactions with the human cast. “To build a world with so much love and detail and pride in the work, for me that was a dream come true,” Mr. DeBlois said. That’s not just an aesthetic concern; it also lends weight to the story’s themes to see it performed by real people in real environments.
It helps that the film was made for IMAX. Bill Pope’s cinematography of roiling seas and sheer island cliffs looks particularly gorgeous on a massive screen, and the flying scenes are breathtaking. For DeBlois it was a chance to tell the story with an appropriately epic scope. “You can feel [the film] breathe,” Mr. DeBlois said. “Emotionally it will come down for an intimate scene and then blow wide open again for a really epic, wish-fulfilling flying scene.”
I’m sure my kids will be wowed by the spectacle, but I hope they take the message of the story to heart as well. In his homily on Pentecost Sunday, Pope Leo XIV spoke of a Spirit who “opens borders in our relationships with others.” “The Spirit breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred,” he said. “Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”
In times marked by conflict, violence and suspicion, the most courageous thing we can do is to risk compassion for those we have been told to demonize. “Us vs. Them” is the oldest story in human history. It’s time for a new one.
“How to Train Your Dragon” (2025) arrives in theaters on Friday, June 13.
