A Soaring Sequel, or "How to Train Your Dragon 2"

I was given the fortunate treat to check out an early screening of Dreamworks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 2, the sequel to their 2010 hit. Now I loved the original How to Train Your Dragon! I absolutely loved the characters, the well and surprisingly original execution of what seemed like a familar and tired premise, the gorgeous animation, the designs and charaterisitcs of the different dragons, the flying scenes, it was just a beautifully great animated film! In this installment we follow the main lead Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and his dragon Toothless as they continue their adventures on the island of Berk. Now that the vikings and dragons have settled their differences, they now live harmoniously together on the island as each viking now has their own dragon companion. Hiccup and Toothless still venture out into the world, and now that vikings are riding on the backs of dragons, the world is a much bigger and wondrous place. But all is not peaceful yet as Hiccup comes across the blood hungry and tyrannical Drago Bludvist (voiced by Djimon Hounsou), who plans to capture dragons and use them as his own destructive army. With the help of Toothless and  another dragon expert, who may be connected to Hiccup's past somehow, the young rider must once again bring peace and balance to his world and the world of dragons. I love the original movie, and I love this movie EVEN MORE! My expectations for this film were far from disappointing and I was probably even offered more than I can ever want. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is an adventureous and highly entertaining film that evolves its characters, story, spectacle, and overall look which makes it trum its predecessor!



The main character Hiccup has changed a lot since the first film. He still has some of his quirky and socially awkward moments, but for the most part he has matured and has become wiser. I also find sometimes with characters, if they are created to be too smart for their appearance, it gets annoying and distracting. With Hiccup though, I don't get that. I cannot really explain the difference, but whatever he uses some of his gadgets that he invents on his own. you admire the creativity and use with them that you actually love how smart this character is and want to be just as smart. That new fire sword weapon he has now is a great example of that! On top of that, he has a wonderful and adorable chemistry with his dragon Toothless. Though Toothless sort of talks back to Hiccup in either grunts or gestures, you know what he's thinking and what he is saying whenever he responds to his master. It is just a wonderful chemistry to watch. Before we get into some of the familiar characters we already know from the other movie, let's get into some of the new characters this film introduces. Valka (voiced by Cate Blanchett) is the vigilante that rescues and hides dragons from the clutches of Drago Bludvist. And also she is Hiccup's longlost mother (NOT a spoiler because it has been said in the official trailers). When watching Valka, you can see how she is Hiccup's mother. She sort of the shares the same personality and mannerisms as him, especially when talking to Stoick, Hiccup's father. When it comes to villains, I would not say Drago Bludvist is one of the abosolute best there is as there really is not anything specatucalr or groundbreaking about him, but he's still fun to watch. What does make him unique and interesting though is his "secret weapon" that uses to outdo his opponents, and that weapon is not only a deadly but a heart wrenching weapon at that. Plus Djimon Hounsou gives a rather entertaining performance as the villain. I guess its rather than an interesting and complex backstory that made the villain, it was just the presence of him and how he was used. Another new character is introduced named Eret (voiced by Kit Harington) who on top of having his very likable and funny moments, is given a solidly important role that succeeds in giving good development throughout the film. And getting back to the old characters, Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler), the chief of the village of Berk and Hiccup's father, is a likable and solid father figure. Unlike from the first film where the relationship with his son started off bitter, here you can see how their relationship has gotten far better and that they can work together. And when they do argue, it is not about Stoick's own selfish needs and wants out of his own son, but now about his concern of his son's safety. One flaw of the first film was the "relationship" Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera) had with Hiccup as they started off as rivals, but after one ride on Toothless, she's suddenly his girlfriend. The romantic relationship was pretty forced and it distracted from the relationshiop between Hiccup and Toothless, which was were the real heart was. But here, you totally believe they are a couple just the way they interact off of one another. I am serious, the conversations and chemistry these two have  are adorable, and can arguably rival the teen romance of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy from The Amazing Spider-Man films. On top of that Astrid does not simply play the girlfriend role, she is also a dedicated supporter and partner to Hiccup. And she just does not tell Hiccup she supports him and lets him face all the battles alone, she faces the battles WITH Hiccup and does everything in her power help him reach his goal. She tags along with him, and even when he's not around she STILL finds a way to succeed his goals. There are other characters like Gobber (voiced by Craig Ferguson), Snotlout (voiced by Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (voiced by Christoper Mintz-Plasse), and Tuffnut and Ruffnut (voiced by T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig) that definitely have their shining as well as comedic moments. Another aspect in the character development that also needs to be talked about is how good the relationship is portrayed between the other riders and their dragons. You can sense the companionship and camaraderie between the viking characters and their dragons, even the ones in the background. It seems very genuine and well portrayed!



The comedy is one of the highlights of this film. The comedy was good in the first film, but it was also mainly cute and safe comedy. When the comedic writing wants to be funny and clever in this film, it REALLY is laugh out loud funny! There not very risque as most of the children audience will still laugh at them, but there are very good enough to be written for children as they are also written for the adults to enjoy. The animation is stellar and beautiful and it lends itself perfectly to the dragon flying scenes and action scenes like in the first film. Here though the animation is slightly cleaner and improved so they are much more enjoyable to watch, especially in 3D. If you ever have the chance to see this in 3D, even though it maybe a litte $3 extra on ticket price, TRUST ME, it's worth it! The music too, composed by John Powell, is very enjoyable and exciting to listen to, especially the piece played during the first time you watch Hiccup and Toothless fly together and during the end credits.  But like most great films it truly is the story that is the ultimate glue that makes this film entertaining and intriguing! The story is all about progression, facing the inevitable, and the unexpected. It is also all about collaboration and being open minded to ideas and ways of thinking, and to search for the route that will make all of our ideas and ways of thinking work together harmoniously. I maybe thinking about it a little more than I need to, but overall it serves as a nice progression and solid bridge to a proposed third film in a planned trilogy. And when that third How to Train Your Dragon film does come out, you can bet I will be in first in line! As for this film, check it out, it is definitely one of Dreamworks' best as it succeeds to top its original!

GRADE: AE