Summary:
After Hiccup and Toothless discover a mysterious new Dragon Rider, they find themselves at the center of a battle.
My Thoughts:
Sequels are rarely as good as the originals, and that’s why when a sequel surpasses the original it’s always a huge surprise. We rarely get sequels that are of “The Godfather Part II” or “The Dark Knight” caliber, instead we get movies like “Pacific Rim: Uprising” or “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace”. I only bring this up because I’ve heard people complain about this sequel before, saying, “It’s not nearly as good as the original.”
That’s true. This movie isn’t as good as the original “How to Train Your Dragon”, but you know what? It is far better than 75% of the other sequels I’ve seen. While this movie doesn’t boast the same amount of fun and excitement as the first one, what it does have is expansive world building, great character development, some pretty cool action sequences, and a surprisingly emotional climax. No, it’s not as good as the original, but it is an incredibly worthy sequel, and that right there is enough for me to sing praises for it.
“Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.”
It has been five years since the events of the original “How to Train Your Dragon” changed the Viking town of Berk forever. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, “Million Dollar Baby”) and his dragon Toothless are now next in line for the chief position in the village, and Hiccup’s father Stoick (Gerard Butler, “300”) is eager to pass the torch, while Hiccup is not quite ready. One day while Hiccup and his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera, “End of Watch”) are exploring, they encounter a dragon trapper named Eret (Kit Harrington, “Silent Hill: Revelation”) who tells them that a dragon master named Drago (Djimon Hounsou, “Shazam!”) whom intends to enslave dragons and use them as weapons. Meanwhile, a mysterious dragon rider named Valka (Cate Blanchett, “Oceans 8”) might hold a key to unlocking the truth about an incident in Hiccup’s past.
Let’s get the not so great bits out of the way first, shall we? Some of the more minor characters from the first movie make a return in this film, and they have a bigger part to play. The minor Vikings, Snotlout (Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, “Superbad”), Tuffnut (T.J. Miller, “Ready Player One”), and Ruffnut (Kristin Wiig, “The Skeleton Twins”) are there for comic relief and to get themselves into trouble. Honestly, their reasoning for doing some of the more dangerous things they do makes very little logical sense, and the real reason they ado stupid things is just to drive the plot forward. The comic relief they provide is a touch one note; most of the jokes revolve around Ruffnut falling head over heels in love with Eret, while Snoutlout and Fishlegs are both in love with her. Sometimes those jokes land pretty hard, and I found myself laughing like I was supposed to; other times the joke felt pretty played out.
I think the thing that I like most about this movie is that it is incredibly different than the original, while it still manages to maintains much of the magic that made the first movie so great. As the first movie ended with dragons being accepted into Berk, this movie starts when dragons have more or less been worked into every day life. The village of Berk feels new, while many of the things there are still the same. Similarly, Hiccup has changed; he’s older, more mature. He’s no longer dealing with feelings of isolation, now he’s wrestling with a question of responsibility; he doesn’t feel he’s ready to become chief, despite what his father says. I really like this growth of the location as well as our protagonists. It feels as if the world has actually evolved, as if the events of the first film had forever changed Berk and the world around it, and that kind of gravity given to consequence makes all of the events in this film feel more important.
Another thing I really loved about this film was the fact that, while dragons and dragon riding were intricate to the plot, this film’s main storyline was more about familial relationships than anything else. The writers chose to opt for story and character development over spectacle, and I always prefer story to spectacle (*cough* Game of Thrones Season Eight *cough*). The relationship between Stoick, Hiccup and Valka is given more screen time than many of the dragon fights, and that helps us to care more about our characters, and it makes it so much more emotional when tragedy strikes. I was actually surprised at the weight of the consequences of our character’s actions in this movie. I mean, this is a kid’s movie, but a main character dies in a pretty dark way, and that death packs a real hard punch. I won’t lie; I was close to tearing up.
I also wanted to mention that while the animation in the first film isn’t bad, it doesn’t look nearly as polished as the animation in this movie. There are far more details on everything; from skin imperfections and hair follicles, to the textures of the water or earth; the animation here is just absolutely gorgeous.
The final battle in this film isn’t as epic as in the first film, but it does use many of the rules established about the world (IE. Alpha dragons control other dragons) to create an ending that is satisfying and it makes sense in terms of story. I don’t think the flying sequences in this movie are as spellbinding as some of the roller-coaster-esque rides we were taken on in the first, but there are plenty of great moments, like, for instance, when the duo test Hiccup’s flight suit. Also, the dragon fight scenes here still blow many live action dragon movies out of the water (it still beats “Reign of Fire” by a yard stick).
Verdict:
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” might not be filled with as much fun as the original, but our characters have evolved and I honestly think the growth that our characters show almost completely makes up for the parts that didn’t work for me.
Is this a perfect sequel? No. Is it a good sequel? Absolutely.
If you liked the original “How to Train Your Dragon” and this film, then be sure to check out our review for “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”!
Review Written By: