Until this point, live action remakes of animated films have been confined to Disney, a symbol of their hubristic greed to wring every last possible dollar out of their classic catalog. How to Train Your Dragon, one of the most respected of DreamWorks Animation’s library, has an admittedly dated aesthetic by today’s standards, but this alone isn’t reason enough to make the jump to live action. But writer-director Dean DeBlois (who co-directed the original with Chris Sanders and went solo for the rest of the trilogy) stays true to the heart of the film, making the best remake of its kind so far.

If this was the only version of Cressida Cowell’s children’s book, it would be a great triumph. Instead, as with every live action adaptation, viewers will inevitably draw comparisons between what came before. Indeed, most of How to Train Your Dragon remains unchanged, with some scenes going line-for-line from animation to in-person. We still have our hero, Hiccup (Mason Thames), the son of the village chief Stoick (Gerard Butler, reprising the same role he voiced). We still have the same zero to hero structure, as Hiccup goes from the village dunce to its savior by learning to understand, rather than fear, the invading dragons.

Besides the obvious financial incentive, most live action remakes exist in order to tout some impressive visual effects, which were unavailable for the first iteration. Whereas recent remakes like Snow White or The Little Mermaid take shortcuts by filming virtually everything inside a vacuum-sealed studio, the adaptation contains an impressive amount of verisimilitude with its production design and costuming. Real locations – a novel concept!

How to Train Your Dragon contains some of the best visual effects of the year, seamlessly blending the interactions between Hiccup and Toothless, the wayward dragon he bonds with and nurses back to health. Most of the second half of the film sees Hiccup applying his knowledge of dragons, not to harm them, but to adapt to them and show they can live together. The elastic designs of the dragon variations translate nicely from animation, and each has its own unique personality and weight as they interact with the humans.

Underneath the fantasy adventure trappings of How to Train Your Dragon is, in part, a story of how the younger generation can be crushed by the weight of parental expectations. Thames and Butler carry the emotions of the film well together, with the former a brooding teen willing to do anything to appease his fastidious father. Nick Frost lends some decent comic relief as Gobber, Stoick’s right hand man and Hiccup’s ersatz uncle, who presents as more emotionally available. Meanwhile, Hiccup tries for the affections of Astrid (Nico Parker), a badass warrior with something to prove, and Hiccup’s chief competitor in their dragon training.

Does a film need to be remade via live action after only existing for 15 years? Probably not, especially when the original is still so highly regarded. Most of the Disney adaptations’ fatal flaw is in updating previous material for current times, either with an out-of-touch character or storyline. How to Train Your Dragon, because of its recency, never really had this issue, so the remake has more runway to deliver visceral thrills like action scenes and flying. DeBlois does not add any substantial scenes or expand any subplots (yet somehow this version is almost 30 minutes longer than the animated film), which causes further confusion about why How to Train Your Dragon needed to exist in this format. Even John Powell’s Oscar-nominated score remains unchanged. Perhaps this is just how low Disney has set the bar for this genre, but the film still manages to be an enjoyable, breezy ride, in spite of its inessential nature.

How to Train Your Dragon will be in theaters nationwide on June 13.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• I could see the film easily making the Visual Effects shortlist. A nomination is possible, though there are at least two guaranteed locks coming with the new Avatar sequel and Superman and/or one of the MCU films.