This is how you do a sequel!
How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a fantastically animated and mostly well thought out summer
sequel to one of Dreamwork's best animated features. It takes places a few years after
the first film, and again follows Viking oddball Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless, and explores
the depth and power of the pair's bond, and how that will affect Hiccup's role in his
home village as he struggles to come to terms with his differing opinions on the world around him.
While the movie delivers tons of great jokes and some fantastic action sequences, the film's
biggest strength is it's ability to leverage it's cast to deliver some surprisingly potent
emotional moments. There are at least three scenes in the film that really struck a chord
with me, and that's even after I knew they were coming, since I saw that horribly spoiler-laden
trailer. Context alone made the scenes very powerful, and they ended up being the highlight
of the movie.
The only real off part of the film to me was how it handled the villain. While not terrible,
he seemed to be grounded in little of the film's logic, his abilities largely unexplained
and seemingly going against the rules of the world that the movie attempts to establish.
The way he's eventually taken care of in the third act also seems to contradict the overarching
theme of the film, even though multiple times it feels like his actions are being set up
to align with the film's platitudes perfectly.
Overall though, despite being a bit eyebrow raising, he doesn't ruin what is otherwise
a fantastic blend of action and emotion that anyone of any age can enjoy.