How To Train Your Dragon 2 Review

2014’s 6th animated feature film.

I know that I did not do Legend of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (the 5th animated film of this year), but so far, I honestly cannot find a link to watch it, and it has almost been 2 months. I heard the film is doing horribly, so that is why.

http://megashare.ca/watch-how-to-train-your-dragon-2-online/#.U6TzbfldWcY

My Opinion right after watching movie

My opinion right after watching the movie is that it is a good sequel. It gave me everything I needed in a film, it built on the world and the characters (which I said that I wanted to see in the review of its predecessor), a lot of action, a darkness and seriousness that are not in DreamWork’s films, but I have to admit that the movie can be a bit clunky at times. I still prefer the Kung Fu Panda franchise, but this is some good stuff.

Production

Dreamworks announced a sequel to the public and to start development literally a month after How To Train Your Dragon aired in theaters, and they even started drafting in February of 2010. They planned this sequel before it’s predecessor was even released.I think this was done because their first franchise Shrek was ending later that year.

There is not much else to really discuss about it, as all I know that they got a new animation program for this film, and all of the actors returned. I think there is not much info because the film was released a bit over a week ago.

Story

So everyone is in their early 20s and we are 5 years after the first film (they never give us a date in either film as to how old they are), and Astrid (America Fererra) and her crew are playing some dragon game, where a black sheep is a ball, and Stoick (Gerard Butlar) is cheering on his future daughter in law. While this is going on, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is flying his dragon Toothless as they are trying out a new flying trick, which gives us a great flying and motion sequence. They land back on a land, and Hiccup and Toothless play around with one another, which is how many boys interact with one another. He takes note of the new land that he is observing (as he has started to draw a map of what is around Berk).

His girlfriend Astrid finds him, and asks why he is by himself, where he reveals that his father told him that he is going to be a chief. He of course does not believe in himself, and she of course tells him that he is a great chief because of his heart; so everything that every movie and parent tells us. They then start flying and see a cross fire, which causes them to land, and they bump into Eret (Kit Harington), who is the leader of Drago (Djimon Hounson), and he tells them that Drago is planning on taking all of the dragons that Berk “took”, and the two rush off to Berk (after they tried to kidnap the couple`s dragons).

I really do not want to upload images of these poor quality videos, but I do want to give you readers some imagery as you are reading the review.

He tells his father about Drago and his crew ready to fight and to steal their dragon which causes the older man to get really nervous, and tells berk to get ready to fight. Hiccup does not want them to fight, and decides to go to Drago and Eret to try to make piece (with Stoick objecting). Astrid goes with him (I like how proactive she is in the film, without rubbing “Ooh, we are so feminist” in our faces). They go on the boat, and gives themselves up so they could leave Berk alone, but their sidekicks follow them, and Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) lusts over Eret when she sees his muscles, and sacrifices herself to him, only for Hiccup to save her. Long story short, Hiccup flies away, and Astrid kidnaps Eret.

As Toothless is flynig with Hiccup, the latter is taken by another dragon rider and is placed on their land. The dragon rider reveals herself to be Valka, his long lost mother. She said that she picked him up because “A mother never forgets”.

It is very smart for them to add her in the film. Not only does it give more depth to Hiccup, but also Stoick, and continue the plotlines in the series without rehashing constantly. But I am doubting her remembering him when she left him when he was months old. Did he look like young Stoick or a young her to recognize him?

So he is confused about the bomb she just dropped, and demands an explanation. She tells him that her marriage to his father became strained because he was too obsessed with hunting and killing dragons, and she  had the very unpopular opinion of dragons, which made things worse. One night, a dragon came, and was about to touch Hiccup, but she sacrificed herself and went with the dragon, causing the entire town to think that she was killed.  So she tells him that he does not know as much about dragons as she does, and they start to bond. You can definitely tell that she is a bit over eccentric and loony.

As Valka and Hiccup bond with flying dragons, Astrid and crew (along with a kidnapped Eret) goes to Drago`s boating area, and as they approach there, they are captured by Drago`s helpers, and the dragons have darts shot into them, as they are hypnotized by Drago to be under his control. Astrid and crew tells them that if they are not released, then Hiccup the ALMIGHTY Dragon master will take them down, which angers Drago.

I know that this picture is not a good representation, but Astrid`s newer design is a bit too soft and delicate for me. She just seems a bit unfamiliar, and it is weird how ALL the others are ugly but her and Hiccup, as they are dolled up to be overly attractive.

Stoick and his BFF Goober (Craig Ferguson) tracks his son down (after he finds his helmet) and he realizes that his ex wife is still alive. She is nervous to trust him, but he shows her that he has changed int he past 20 years. It is so nice to see these 2 couples reunite and interact so softly and genuinely. Their scenes together are so heartwearming, but it sucks that it is short lived because Drago and his crew set an attack right outside Valka`s living area, to bring out Valka`s Bewilderbeast (which can control all dragons), so it can be killed and Drago`s Bewilderbeast can be the one in control.

So Valka and Drago bring their dragons to duke it out, the two Bewilderbeasts (Alphas) battle it out, only for Valka`s Bewilderbeast to be killed by the other one. Drago fights Valka, as he says he has been waiting for years to kill him, but Stiock takes over and starts to fight him. Drago`s Bewilderbeast brainwashes all of the dragons (including Toothless) and Drago (who controls the Bewilderbeasts, who controls the dragons) tells Toothless to kill Hiccup, and as Stoick sees this happens, he runs to protect his son and……

NOOOO. You KILLED STOICK Toothless. Right as he was getting ready to blast Hiccup to death, Stoick gets shot. This actually made me pretty close to tears. For 2 whole movies, we have seen him grow and develop as a character, and we have gotten used to him, for us to only have him killed off. It is definitely sadder than Mufasa`s death to me…..only by a bit though. I do have to say that without this move, the movie would have been a bit sugar-y.

Hiccup lashes out at Toothless (after he comes out of his trance) and tells him to leave the area, which after realizing what he did, the dragon does, as he is filled up with guilt. Drago controlls Toothless again, and uses him as his ride to invade Berk. After the crew has a scandinavian funeral for Stoick, Hiccup finally learns that you cannot always make peace with someone and to avoid war. While I do not like his father`s death, it finally got him to learn that you cannot always create a peace treaty, and that sometimes war is inevitable.

So we get a final battle, and Drago has Toothless brainwashed into shooting Hiccup, but he tells Toothless that it is him, and to break out of his trance (which he tried to do right before Stoick was killed), but succeeded this time, and puts a blindfold around Toothless so he could not be controlled again. Drago has the dragons shoot them up, and the duo are stuck in the ice for a moment, before they break out and completes the trick that they were trying to work out in the beginning of the film to cause the dragons to break control from the Beast. The Beast and Drago end up getting injured and fleeing off.

So Hiccup becomes Alpha, they all celebrate, he kisses Astrid passionately, and we get a closing sequence of  Hiccup again narrating how the village of Berk is like, as the young Dragon Riders play the game they were in the beginning of the movie.

This film is very good and enjoyable (though it would have been better if I watched it on a better copy). Hiccup learns a different lesson, almost everyone contributed to the plot, the humor was more adult and funny, the plot was eventful and all tied together well, and from what I can tell, it has glorious animation. I heard that there is a good chance of there being a fourth film in this franchise, but I think they should stop soon, or else it will be as disastrous as another franchise. This has a good chance of being Best Animated film this year.

 

Characters

The characters in this film are pretty likable, though not all of them are developed. The ones from the first film have the same personalities as they did beforehand, but they do have a sense of maturity to them, while the new characters are decent, though do not stand out much, except for a few of them.

I remember when everyone saw the first peek of grown up Hiccup last summer, and the women went crazy. Despite that, I am glad that they did not make him a Superman-type hero, and he is still the smart, quirky individualist that we have all grown to care for in the first film. in that film, he needed to learn confidence, and in this film, he learns that he cannot always avoid war and make peace with others who don’t want peace (especially with Stoick kind of being the villain in the last film).

NOOOOO. I CAN’T BELIEVE HE DIED. Anyways, he is still shown to be his tough side, but he is a lot more vulnerable and fun in this film, especially when he has his short lived reunion with his wife. R.I.P Stoick The Vast.

Toothless………is a bit forgettable to me in this film. He does not really get a whole lot of focus in the film outside of killing Stoick, but I honestly do not really remember much about him in this film. He has the same personality, but he was a bit underwhelming in this film.

I am also going to discuss Astrid’s friends under her. Outside of Astrid, we do not get to see them interact with Hiccup in this film, but I like how they always have his back, and it amazes me how wherever Hiccup went, Astrid was getting ready to join him. Not ONCE did she sit around and let him go do something (like many other girls that are either Damsels or Amazons do). I like how Tuffnuff had her lust for Eret, and it was the funniest thing to me in the film. The side characters were good comic relief.

Valka is a good character. Though she came around in the middle of the film, we find out that she is a lot like her son. I do think it is ridiculous how she never even once tried to see her son in 20 years. She is decent.

I know a bunch of people are praising him online, but he is honestly one of the most forgettable DreamWorks villains. He really does not get much screentime, and he is just a bit boring to me. He was not really too threatening where I wanted to love to hate him, but I just felt nothing. He is just bland to me.

He is alright. He was a worker of Dago, but soon started to side with Astrid and co. He has some funny lines, and the gags with his muscles were funny. He could really be a good character if they built on him a bit in the third film.

Animation

Though I watched the film through a bad copy link, I could tell that the animation is pretty good. I like how the humans look a bit more realistic, but they still have the origins of their younger designs. They atmosphere and backgrounds are amazing, and they did really well with the textures. They definitely improved over the first film with their animation.

Music

The music is the same as the first movie. I literally remember hearing some of the same scores, which is not a bad thing. I would not say they improved the music in this film, but it is the same, and the music in the first one is good, so overall, the music in this film is pretty good.

Reception at Release

When the film was released on June 11th, 2014, it has (by June 25th, 2014), made $97,719,301 domestically, and it made $80,188,371 overseas, causing a worldwide amount of  $177,907,672. It opened on #2, and dropped to #3 on its second week (last weekend), and I am a bit surprised that it did not open as strongly as expected. With how things are going, I think the film is going to make around $500 million (around the amount the first film made).

Critically, it is received critical acclaim and praise. I have to agree with DeBruge, when he says “Braver than Brave, more fun than Frozen, and more emotionally satisfying than so many of its live-action counterparts, Dragon delivers.” Many praised it for not rehashing the story of the original, having a bit of an edge, and not playing it completely safe. Many are impressed with this film, and that they have another hit franchise on them.

Final Score

Story = 8/10

Characters = 7.5/10

Music = 8/10

Animation = 9.5/10

=33/40=  83% 

 

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