How to Train Your Dragon…where do I begin.
It’s primarily the story of a boy and his dog…only the dog can fly, breath fire, and acts more similar to a cat. By all accounts it’s a story told dozens of times before, yet works as if told for the very first time. There’s a bunch of reasons for that: the pacing is great, the main character is enjoyably quirky, the supporting characters are entertaining, their facial expressions are full of life, the soundtrack is lovely, THE ANIMATION IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, and the film doesn't indulge younger viewers; becoming a family film that isn't afraid to have scenes without conversation (which are arguably its greatest scenes). It’s a wonderful film that tackles clichés and turns them into something fresh and delightful. How to Train Your Dragon 2 however, is better in every way; with rich animation, fantastic pacing, wonderful music, a beautifully animated world with a life of its own, and a new, mature story to back it all up!
It’s primarily the story of a boy and his dog…only the dog can fly, breath fire, and acts more similar to a cat. By all accounts it’s a story told dozens of times before, yet works as if told for the very first time. There’s a bunch of reasons for that: the pacing is great, the main character is enjoyably quirky, the supporting characters are entertaining, their facial expressions are full of life, the soundtrack is lovely, THE ANIMATION IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, and the film doesn't indulge younger viewers; becoming a family film that isn't afraid to have scenes without conversation (which are arguably its greatest scenes). It’s a wonderful film that tackles clichés and turns them into something fresh and delightful. How to Train Your Dragon 2 however, is better in every way; with rich animation, fantastic pacing, wonderful music, a beautifully animated world with a life of its own, and a new, mature story to back it all up!
The story takes place five years after the original with our teen cast now young adults (a very unique and fresh idea that few animated films have tried) and the village of Berk having fully accepted and incorporated dragons into their lives. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is now a respected member of the tribe, discovering new lands on the back of his winged best friend Toothless. Hiccup’s father, Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerald Butler), feels his son is finally ready to take over as head of the village despite Hiccup’s own uncertainly over such responsibility. His decision will have to wait however, as a threat to Berk soon presents itself in the form of an old enemy of Stoick; a vicious dragon tamer by the name of Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). Despite Stoick’s protests, Hiccup goes off to try and sway Drago from his cruel intentions (“He’s good at that”), but runs into someone completely unexpected…to him at least…because unless you somehow miraculously avoided all trailers, commercials, and advertisements you already knew it’s his long presumed dead mother (Cate Blanchett). How to Train Your Dragon 2 also contains a load of other colorful characters such as Hiccup’s girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera), fellow riders Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Ruffnut (Kristen Wigg), Tuffnut (T.J. Miller), and official dragon dentist Gobber (Craig Ferguson).
Right off the bat, the most noticeable aspect of How to Train Your Dragon 2 (which I’ll be abbreviating as Dragon 2 from now on) is its amazing combination of animation and soundtrack. The film’s reintroduction of Hiccup and Toothless consists of them soaring through the sky (sometimes riding on Toothless, sometimes flying by himself) over majestic blue oceans and vast seas of clouds, all while flying past all sorts of various species of dragons. For the first film, this was its main highlight; for the sequel, it’s only the first five minutes. There are dozens of gorgeous scenes throughout the film; one of my favorites includes Hiccup being introduced to his mother’s hidden dragon cavern with hundreds of dragons all around. Dragon 2 introduces many new dragon types that are all uniquely designed; such as the mother’s dragon which has a very owl-like design, complete with a 180 degree rotating head. Watching all these creatures flock is a lovely sight to behold; yet the true shiner is during the first battle scene; an epic display of dragons and humans fighting against Drago's forces that rivals the battle scenes from The Lord of the Rings.
All these scenes are made complete by the movie’s soundtrack, which is as beautiful as the first, but alters certain aspects in order to give a more mystical and wintery feel. It’s similar to how Batman Returns took the original film’s amazing soundtrack (all composed by Danny Elfman) and revamped it to fit the film’s Christmas theme; making it all the more bone-chillingly epic. Dragon 2 also deals with more winter themed aspects, and as such has music more fitting for the season; it’s hard to explain, but the music’s more of an echoing choir reminiscent to the past, which works beautifully with its carefully crafted atmosphere (leaving me with some goose bumps). Take for example when Stoick is first reunited with his presumed dead wife. The scene is wide angled in a beautiful, crystallized ice cave; the music given a cave-like echo, in sync with the characters’ emotions. Their facial expressions (as full of life as the first) tell more about them than words can convey...though their words do not harm the scene either. It’s a very beautiful scene, made all the more impacting with its music and atmosphere; yet to be quite frank, most scenes in Dragon 2 have their own kind of beauty.
Seeing all the characters once more on the big screen was quite exciting; they've all grown since the time skip (some physically, some mentally, some both) and developed even further into more complex characters. Hiccup’s become more assertive and takes the initiative (trying to find Drago before he attacks them), but still has insecurities over who he wants to be; making his development feel understandable and not forced. Hiccup has many different relationships between characters, yet the film balances the showcasing of them fairly well while never feeling rushed or dragged on. Astrid and Hiccup are now officially a couple, but more importantly they’re good friends. Their relationship is great because the film focuses as much on their bond as they do on romance. They tease each other (the scene where she imitates his voice is really funny), discuss insecurities in a well-developed manner, and generally feel quite natural together. Hiccup’s relationship with Stoick is also better developed, with Stoick having significantly changed since the first; having become fully supportive of the Viking-dragon co-existence and even riding a dragon himself. There’s still disagreements between father and son however, such as how to deal with the threat of Drago. The primary difference this time around is that it’s Stoick who may have the wiser idea, which I appreciate since it shows that stubborn adults aren’t always in the wrong...and then of course there’s Toothless.
Along with its soundtrack and animation, the best aspect of the original was the bond between Toothless and Hiccup; How to Train Your Dragon took time and effort in developing them from enemies to true companions willing to risk their lives for each other. Dragon 2 has only further developed such friendship, giving time for small scenes such as when the two wrestle and Toothless comically lifts Hiccup over a cliff to get him to surrender. Toothless himself is a wonderfully designed character full of life, movement and many expressions that relay to the viewers his full personality without having to use dialogue (he even gets the spotlight with an awesome “Godzilla” moment). Yes, the bond between Hiccup and Toothless is one of my favorite aspects of the series…which ultimately serves to make a later scene particularly disturbing, but I’ll get to that later. One of my few gripes against Dragon 2 however, is the unnecessary addition of Eret the dragon trapper (Kit Harington); a new character that serves no other purpose than to steal scenes from the other supporting characters. Seriously, all his early scenes could have been given to standard enemies while all his later scenes could have been used to further develop the other dragon riders (such as Snoutlot, FIshlegs, and Astrid) who, while not lacking in scenes, would have been awesome to see developed more. Oddly enough, the one dragon rider who does get plenty of screen time is Ruffnut, who gets an entire love triangle subplot (not that I’m complaining though, since it provides plenty of laughs).
Another gripe I initially had with Dragon 2 was its main villain Drago. Seemed to me your run-of-the-mill, all too generic bad guy; and you know what, he is…but god does he create enough disturbing moments to leave an impact! Which leads to the mature aspects of the film, which make me question if kids really should see this film. You know how I earlier stated what a wonderful bond Hiccup and Toothless have; enough to rival the bond between Mr. Miyagi and Daniel in the Karate Kid series. Well imagine if Mr. Miyagi suddenly tried to beat the crap out of Daniel! Yeah, sounds pretty dark; only it gets a lot worse in Dragon 2. Let me be clear: I've seen Pinocchio, Bambi, The Land Before Time, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Coraline, yet Dragon 2 takes the cake as having one of the most twisted, depressing scenes in an animated film apparently appropriate for younger audiences; which has to do not only because someone is killed, but how their death occurs, in addition to the aftereffects. Children in the theater were bawling their eyes out all around me, I was getting fairly upset by the on-screen occurrence. The entire film itself is rather mature: it doesn't sugarcoat death (multiple deaths are made clear to have occurred) nor does it back away from the darker aspects of reality (sometimes there are bad people who can’t be changed and fighting may become the only answer). If you’re going to watch Dragon 2 with children make sure they’re old enough (or mature enough) to handle such themes; otherwise you may want to wait till they’re older.
To be clear the darker themes are not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind for the younger viewers. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the Empire Strikes Back of the series; it’s darker, more entertaining, just as visually/musically appealing, and expands its universe (along with the characters) to new levels. It’s a superior sequel to an already wonderful film and (along with The Lego Movie and The Wind Rises) is both one of the best animated features to come out since 2011, and one of the best films of 2014.
