How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the 2014 3D animated action-adventure fantasy film directed by Dean DeBlois and is the sequel to the 2010 How to Train Your Dragon which is loosely adapted from the book series of the same name by Cressida Crowell. The original cast returns, including Jay Baruchel (Sorcerer's Apprentice, This is the End), Gerard Butler (The Ugly Truth, 300), Craig Ferguson (The Craig Ferguson Show, Brave), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants), Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street, Superbad), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, Kick-Ass), T.J. Miller (Cloverfield, Unstoppable), and Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Despicable Me), with new additions, Cate Blanchett (Lords of the Rings series, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, The Island), and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, Pompeii). In How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup (Baruchel) is considered an outsider in the Viking village where he lives, Berk, which suffers from constant dragon attacks. To make things even worse for Hiccup, his father, Stoick (Butler) is the chief and it seems that Hiccup doesn't live up to his father's expectations of what a true Viking is; a strong, courageous warrior who can simply kill a dragon with any given weapon. During one of the attacks, Hiccup strikes down a Night Fury, one of the more deadly dragons, and when he finds it, he can't bring himself to kill it even though it can't escape because of an injured tail. Hiccup is eventually able to win over the dragon and gain his trust as he cares for the young dragon, naming him 'Toothless' because he has retractable teeth. As they bond, Hiccup builds a harness for himself and a saddle and prosthetic tail piece for Toothless, they are able to fly together with Hiccup have some control over the tail piece. Meanwhile, Stoick places Hiccup in Dragon Training with Gobber (Ferguson) along with the other Viking teenagers while Stoick goes out with his fleet to find the dragon nest; with everything he learns from spending time with Toothless, Hiccup becomes the star pupil in Dragon Training, shocking his dad when he returns from his unsuccessful mission. Following a failed attempt at showing Berk that dragons aren't evil and can in fact benefit them, Stoick discovers Toothless and disowns his son before he ventures out again to find the dragon nest, using Toothless as a navigation system. Hiccup knows that this won't work out well as he knows what truly lives in the nest so with the help of his classmates, he goes to help his dad out and ensures that Toothless is safe. Following a heartfelt moment between Hiccup and Stoick as the latter admits that he was wrong about the dragons, that you can trust some, Hiccup and Toothless fly off together to defeat the Red Death dragon who reigns over the dragons in the nest by using the main weakness of a dragon against it, fire. While the Red Death dies and our heroes survive, albeit minus a leg on Hiccup's behalf.
Rating: 10
Recommended To: Anyone; everyone
Favourite Characters: Hiccup; Toothless
Favourite Part: What do you think? What should we name it?
[Toothless scratches under his arm with his snout]
Hiccup: Itchy Armpit it is.
Good Points: Animation; excellent sequel plot; the composition of the dragons; relationship between the characters
Bad Points: Cate Blanchett's accent
It's been five years since How to Train Your Dragon and dragons live peacefully alongside the villagers of Berk; the dragons are kept as pets and a way to get around as well as part of a new sport the younger generation of Berk take part in, Dragon Racing. Hiccup avoids his father who is pressuring him to take on more duties in the village, as he will be chief one day, by riding out with his dragon, Toothless, and exploring the land around them so they can build up a map of the new territories they find. Astrid (Ferrera) finds the pair while riding her dragon, Stormfly, and they go to investigate a fire that they can see in the distant; once arriving near the wildfire, they find the remains of a fort and encounter one of its former in habitants, Eret (Harington), a dragon trapper who works for Drago (Hounsou), who blames them for the destruction of his fort and reveals who he is. Before Eret can capture them and their dragons, Hiccup and Astrid return home and warn Stoick about the dragon army Drago is amassing and Stoick decides to ensure that Berk and its dragons are safe by preparing for battle, fortifying the village, and locking down all the dragons. However, Hiccup has another plan; to go to Drago and try and reason with him. This leads to a rollercoaster of emotional events for Hiccup and the citizens of Berk and leads into one of the best sequels I've seen for an animated film in years.
Recommended To: Anyone; everyone
Favourite Characters: Hiccup; Toothless
Favourite Part: What do you think? What should we name it?
[Toothless scratches under his arm with his snout]
Hiccup: Itchy Armpit it is.
Good Points: Animation; excellent sequel plot; the composition of the dragons; relationship between the characters
Bad Points: Cate Blanchett's accent
It's been five years since How to Train Your Dragon and dragons live peacefully alongside the villagers of Berk; the dragons are kept as pets and a way to get around as well as part of a new sport the younger generation of Berk take part in, Dragon Racing. Hiccup avoids his father who is pressuring him to take on more duties in the village, as he will be chief one day, by riding out with his dragon, Toothless, and exploring the land around them so they can build up a map of the new territories they find. Astrid (Ferrera) finds the pair while riding her dragon, Stormfly, and they go to investigate a fire that they can see in the distant; once arriving near the wildfire, they find the remains of a fort and encounter one of its former in habitants, Eret (Harington), a dragon trapper who works for Drago (Hounsou), who blames them for the destruction of his fort and reveals who he is. Before Eret can capture them and their dragons, Hiccup and Astrid return home and warn Stoick about the dragon army Drago is amassing and Stoick decides to ensure that Berk and its dragons are safe by preparing for battle, fortifying the village, and locking down all the dragons. However, Hiccup has another plan; to go to Drago and try and reason with him. This leads to a rollercoaster of emotional events for Hiccup and the citizens of Berk and leads into one of the best sequels I've seen for an animated film in years.
The animation
has outstanding this time around as it was even more detailed than its
predecessor; two examples that really stood out for me were Hiccup and
Toothless. The sheer amount of detail on
their faces alone was fantastic from Hiccup's freckles to Toothless's scales;
they even included the dirt on Toothless's skin which was impressive. They really had the time to go into so much detail,
making these characters even more realistic with a great amount of care and
attention that should be appreciated. As
well as the care and attention, this film also demonstrates how digital
animation has advanced in the past few years, let alone in the last few decades,
which I find amazing as a former media student and digital effects geek.
A lot of
the time, the sequel to any film, be it an animated film or live action, never
lives up to its predecessor for a number of reasons, it's repetitive or the
characters haven't developed since the last film. However, How
to Train Your Dragon 2 was a wonderful sequel, bringing back old characters
who have grown in some way since the last time we saw them and have a special
place in our hearts and adding new characters to further develop the main story
so to lead it somewhere that is relevant to the previous film but can still be
continued rather than a separate adventure where it's basically the same as
last time. DeBlois successfully expanded
the world so we got to know the characters better and it is clear he researched
other franchises to see how they were successful, the original Star Wars trilogy being one of
them. Bringing in darker elements made
it a great sequel I think because we got to see another side to Hiccup as he is
tested because we've already seen him as the underdog turned hero.
On top of
the story development and the animation quality, I thought the way the dragons
were formed was amazing because you could see different elements these
fantastic creatures. Prior to seeing
this film, I read an article in Empire
where the animator, Simon Otto, explained what made up six of the dragons. There were so many things that made up Toothless
but when you see him, you can see everything.
I find this fascinating because it shows this great level of imagination
that you rarely find in a kids' film and even rarer in a film aimed at an older
audience. This is what makes this film
so wonderful, the dragons and if they hadn't put so much thought into each one,
I don't think people would have enjoyed it so much.
There were
so many relationships that were established in How to Train Your Dragon that I loved, I was thrilled that they
were all brought back and weren't glossed over this time because they were integral
to the story and Hiccup's journey.
Hiccup's relationship with his father was interesting in this film because
now Stoick is proud of who his son is rather than being embarrassed by this
fact as he was in How to Train Your
Dragon. Stoick now wants his son to
embrace his future as his heir while Hiccup is now hiding from his father; what
was interesting about this was that it's a complete 180 degree turn and they've
switched nearly. Stoick is giving Hiccup
everything he wished for and Hiccup is scared by this. Hiccup's relationship with Astrid has changed
vastly from the first film as there was only a hint of an actual relationship
but Stoick is now calling her his future daughter-in-law; while there are no
grand gestures that suggest these two are madly in love, the small gestures as
they talk, such as her playing with his hair or the way they sit together in a particular
position suggests intimacy which I found great because it's important for us to
know that they are an item but it doesn't distract from the main story. The Hiccup and Toothless one is important too
but I will babble about that later.
Jay Baruchel's
Hiccup is the main reason I love this series as he is just so dorky and useless
in the first film that it is endearing and as we see him bond with Toothless -
this loveable but potentially dangerous dragon - that you truly fall in love
with him because he cares and makes you care for these dragons. Quite frankly, I couldn't imagine anyone else
voicing this loveable Viking now. It's
even better now that he's confident in himself and is even more adventurous
than he used to be, going out of his way to find new lands so to grow his people's
knowledge base. He is a endearing hero
like no other who has the courage to be his own person no matter what his
father thinks.
For a
character that only expresses himself through facial expressions, actions, and
random sounds/growls, Toothless is a big adorable puppy-like dragon as his is
playful and childlike as well as incredibly intelligent and warm creature but
still formidable when he needs to be and is what draws everyone into this
franchise because he is cute but protective of his rider. This is why I wanted a Toothless anyway.
If it weren't for Cate Blanchett's attempt at a Scottish accent, I personally wouldn't have had anything to complain about. While convincing at moments, Blanchett's accent slipped occasionally which was irritating because it shattered the illusion. The casting directors could have picked any of the Scottish actresses out there like they did with the other adult characters, Gerard Butler as Stoick and Craig Ferguson as Gobber as two examples, rather than someone trying to do their best Scottish accent and failing. Yes, Cate Blanchett is a star but I think animated kids' films like this don't need big names behind the characters really because kids don't care; they just want to enjoy a film with a great story. Other than that, I can't complain, I adored this film.
If it weren't for Cate Blanchett's attempt at a Scottish accent, I personally wouldn't have had anything to complain about. While convincing at moments, Blanchett's accent slipped occasionally which was irritating because it shattered the illusion. The casting directors could have picked any of the Scottish actresses out there like they did with the other adult characters, Gerard Butler as Stoick and Craig Ferguson as Gobber as two examples, rather than someone trying to do their best Scottish accent and failing. Yes, Cate Blanchett is a star but I think animated kids' films like this don't need big names behind the characters really because kids don't care; they just want to enjoy a film with a great story. Other than that, I can't complain, I adored this film.
What do you think? What should we name it?
[Toothless scratches under his arm with his snout]
Hiccup: Itchy Armpit it is.
This little
one-sided conversation Hiccup has with Toothless was my favourite bit, along
with other conversations he has with Toothless and it's silly moments like this
that make a film memorable. This conversation
also re-establishes how close these two are and have been since the first film
and is why everyone loves this franchise, at least it's why I love it. While they were close by the end of How to Train Your Dragon, they seem even
closer as they've been on a number of adventures together, learning to work as
a team and developing an even greater bond than they had before and trust that is
shown in the first few minutes of their appearance in this film.
From the very beginning, I was prepared to love this film because I loved the characters and the story of the previous film and I wasn't disappointed for one second. Granted Blanchett's accent irritated me but I was able to look over that because this was such a fantastic film. It made me laugh and it made me cry; the animation was phenomenal, the dragons were well thought out, the plot was extremely well developed as a sequel, and the relationships that were established in the first film were developed even more this time as they were integral to Hiccup's journey which I enjoyed. I pray to God that the third film is just as good or me and millions of others will be disappointed.
From the very beginning, I was prepared to love this film because I loved the characters and the story of the previous film and I wasn't disappointed for one second. Granted Blanchett's accent irritated me but I was able to look over that because this was such a fantastic film. It made me laugh and it made me cry; the animation was phenomenal, the dragons were well thought out, the plot was extremely well developed as a sequel, and the relationships that were established in the first film were developed even more this time as they were integral to Hiccup's journey which I enjoyed. I pray to God that the third film is just as good or me and millions of others will be disappointed.
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