"How to Train Your Dragon 2" Review

How to Train Your Dragon 2

4 out of 5 stars

Family appropriateness rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rated PG
-Mild violence. Any potential gore is off-screen and left to the imagination.
-Some images may be frightening to some children.
-I think there might be a brief reference to prostitution, but I may have hear wrong.








Though not as good as the first one, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" carries the characters forward and uses impressive visuals to expand the universe.

It has been five years since the events of the first film, when the vikings of Berk decided that dragons are not evil creatures like they had thought. Now, the vikings use them to ride and play sports.

The hero from the first movie, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), is as adventurous as ever. Now that it is safe to openly ride his dragon without fear of the townspeople finding out, he uses the ability of flight to explore the world and see what more it has to offer than his little island. While doing this, he stumbles upon some dragon trappers who work for Drago (Djimon Hounsou), an evil man with the power to control dragons.

When Hiccup tells his father, Stoick (Gerard Butler) — the chief of Berk — about the encounter, the viking leader commands the townspeople to prepare for an attack. Hiccup and his father butt heads about what to do. Stoick just wants to defend the city, but Hiccup wants to try negotiating with Drago so there would not be an all-out war. Going against his father's demands, the hero runs away from Berk to talk with the leader of the dragon trappers.

In the first film, Hiccup learns a lot about tolerance towards other creatures. He learns that everything he had been taught about dragons is wrong, and they are actually gentle animals. In this film, his character grows even more. The writers were able to use some good moments of high conflict to illustrate that he needs to become more responsible. At first, his decisions seem irrational, but that is the intention of the writing. They are not very good decisions, and he learns from his mistakes.

The animation is just as breathtaking as the first film. It is still obviously animated, but the details make it look as real as possible. Not only that, it is aesthetically pleasing to watch. One of the best scenes is near the beginning when Hiccup is first shown riding his dragon, Toothless. It is very smooth, and the movie would have been fine had it just shown that for one and a half hours.

It is necessary for the animation to be as good as possible because this movie expands the universe very well. All of the characters in the first film are based in Berk. However, this one deals with characters from different lands. The writers and animators together do a great job making the world bigger.

The main problem with this film is it tries really hard to entertain young children with jokes that are pretty cliché for G and PG movies. There are some genuinely hilarious moments, but there are others — particularly when dealing with Hiccup's obnoxious friends — that seem forced and take me out of the movie.

While the villain is pretty cool, I was slightly disappointed with him. The movie really does all it can to make him as threatening as possible, and it succeeds for the most part. However, I was expecting something as iconic as Lord Voldemort from the amount of buildup he got. Characters constantly play him up to be this horrible, ruthless man. This is true, but I was personally expecting something more.

This film is not as good as the first "How to Train Your Dragon," but it would be incredibly difficult to top it. While the ending of that film leaves it open for a sequel, it was never absolutely necessary. However, for fans of the 2010 film, this movie is worth seeing.