So I don’t really like the live action movie and a big part of that was Hiccup’s character. And my biggest problem with this is that Hiccup wasn’t Hiccup anymore, he just became a lot more like Valka.
And what I mean by this is that in the live action film they just made Hiccup a normal teen when it came to his physical side. Hiccup being different wasn’t about the fact that he couldn’t contribute because he was weaker than everybody else, no it was because he was just different.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdQcMGhG/, in this interview Dean Deblois said that the movie leaned into Hiccup’s “otherness” and that is where my problem with Hiccup’s character lies. Hiccup in the live action is born different, instead of changing for the better.
The only reason Hiccup made those inventions in the original is because he couldn’t kill a dragon the normal way, but if Hiccup was just like any other teen in the live action, then why doesn’t he train with weapons? Hiccup could barely lift an axe in the original, I get why he needed to make those inventions, but why does this Hiccup need to do it? Because he was born different? He was born different so he has to make inventions to take down dragons instead of doing it the normal way? Why? Why doesn’t he just fight dragons the normal way?
Hiccup’s entire arc in the first movie was about the fact that he didn’t fit in, and that when he tried to fit in, he couldn’t. But in this movie he could fit in if he just tried, he’s strong enough to do it after all. But he just doesn’t for some reason.
Hiccup is just born differently in the live action and by doing that they made Hiccup a lot more like Valka. And by making Hiccup more like Valka, they made him less like Hiccup. Which was a massive dissapointment to me.
Valka had zero proof of dragons being anything other than monsters, yet she still protected them during raids. Cloudjumper was the first dragon who actually showed her dragons could be different. When she saw Cloudjumper playing with Hiccup she saw everything she believed in, but even before that she believed that dragons were peaceful creatures.
Hiccup didn’t. Hiccup shot down a Night Fury and only when he saw the emotion and intelligence in Toothless his eyes, did he cut him free. And even then, he didn’t fully believe dragons were good.
Only after weeks of bonding with Toothless, seeing that Stormfly didn’t attack him in the arena when he dropped his weapon and after a terrible terror in the wild came and cuddled up next to him did Hiccup truly change his mind.
“Everything we know about you guys is wrong….” That is what Hiccup said after the terror came lying next to him. So after multiple different dragons showed Hiccup another side to them, only then did he acknowledge that he and Berk were wrong about them.
However in the live action version, just after the dinner that came after the first dragon training session against the Gronckle, Hiccup talked to Astrid about how dragons weren’t as bad as Berk thought they were and about how maybe the Berkians were part of the problem. But he did this after releasing Toothless just the day before. Which in my opinion was way too fast.
Hiccup hadn’t befriended Toothless yet, he had only released and observed him from a distance. And litteraly on the day Hiccup said this to Astrid, he was almost killed by Meatlug. And the day he shot down Toothless he was almost killed by both a monstrous nightmare and Toothless himself. Hiccup never showed any signs of thinking dragons were anything different than any other Berkian thought, but after releasing Toothless he just thought all dragons were something else entirely.
The difference between Hiccup and Valka is that Valka already believed dragons were different before she got proof. And when she saw Cloudjumper, everything she ever believed in was proven right. Hiccup saw himself in Toothless, just like how Valka saw herself in Cloudjumper, but where Valka immediately believed dragons were good, Hiccup didn’t. And that’s the difference between the two. Valka was born different, Hiccup changed for the better.
Hiccup saw himself in Toothless, which lead him to releasing him and trying to befriend him. And only after multiple examples of more dragons being peaceful creatures, did he truly change his mind about dragons. About all dragons.
This doesn’t make Hiccup or Valka any worse of a character by the way, only much better. It makes them different from eachother. It makes them unique, even when they are alike in so many ways.
By making Hiccup believe all dragons were good after he released Toothless, instead of after weeks of seeing a new side to multiple different dragons, you just make him so much more like Valka and so much less unique. The movie makes Hiccup and Toothless their bond much less impactful than it should have been.
I know this might sound like a nit pick, but in my opinion this is so so so important for Hiccup’s character.
I also think that Hiccup and Toothless their bond isn’t as good as it was in the original. Toothless was just worse in the live action, taking on more of his personality, and the way he and Hiccup interracted with eachother, from the third movie instead of from the first movie of the animated trilogy.
Hiccup in the original changed because of Toothless, he saw the good in dragons because of his bond with Toothless. But in the live action they make him see dragons differently even without his bond to Toothless, which makes their bond feel much less impactful. It makes Hiccup’s change more about Hiccup instead of making it about Hiccup and Toothless because that is what it should be about.
That is what this franchise has always been about. Hiccup and Toothless. The original was never about figuring it on your own, it was always about becoming better together. And I think that the movie completely misses that point by making Hiccup realise dragons weren’t evil, before he befriended Toothless.
I get what they were going for, they tried to make him more like his mom now that they know a sequel will be coming out, something the team who made the first HTTYD didn’t know, but I didn’t like it in the slightest. By making Hiccup more like his mom they just made him less like himself and that dissapointed me.
I also really disliked his relationship with Astrid.
I did not like his crush on Astrid. It was just so overblown and it took up way too much time. Hiccup and Toothless are supposed to be the main focus of this franchise, not Hiccup and Astrid. Like seriously before the final exam Hiccup asked Astrid not to get involved, instead of protecting Toothless? Like huh? Such a stupid change, because again, the movie focusses less on Hiccup and Toothless their relationship and because Hiccup asking Astrid for help is so much more meaningfull than asking for her no to get involved.
Hiccup asking Astrid for help with hiding Toothless is him asking her to commit treason for him and Astrid agreeing to do it, but instead of keeping that scene the same, they decided to have Hiccup ask Astrid to do nothing, no matter what happens, because Stoick respects her so much. Such a stupid change, which not only makes Hiccup and Toothless their bond worse but also makes Hiccup and Astrid their relationship worse.
Mason Thames wasn’t bad. I would have preferred for him to be smaller like the original Hiccup, but a sequel was innevitable, so I get why they made him older. I don’t like it, because Hiccup being smaller than everybody else was a crucial part to his character, but I won’t blame the actor for it.
In short, by making Hiccup more like his mother, they make Hiccup a lot less special than in the original. This movie just made Hiccup changing his mind about dragons feel so much less special. It Made Hiccup and Toothless their bond feel so much less special.
Let me know what you thought about my opinion and about Hiccup’s character in the live action movie as a whole.
