by Daniela
Studio: DreamWorks Animation
Year: 2014
Year: 2014
SPOILER FREE!
Sequels. Mentioning that word to any animation fan can bring
utter chaos. Some look forward to them, and some have flashbacks to Pocahontas
2: Journey to a New World. There are few cases where the sequels are actually
good and it is even rarer for a sequel to be better than the original. How to
Train Your Dragon 2 is one of those rarities. Yes people, we have got an EXCELLENT sequel in our hands!
It’s been five years since the events of the first movie and
things in Berk have never looked better. Everyone has a dragon of their own and
Stoick (Gerard Butler) is ready to pass on chieftainship to a 20 year old
Hiccup. But Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) has other plans. He wants to continue being a
dragon rider and discover new lands with Toothless, his dragon. He comes across
a fleet of dragon trappers, led by Eret (Kit Harington) who is working for
Drago Bludvist (Djimon Honsou). They then find out that Drago is creating an
entire army of dragons in order to conquer the world. Once Drago learns about
the dragons at Berk, he prepares his takeover. Along with Valka (Cate
Blanchett), a mysterious dragon master, and the other dragon riders we know and
love, Hiccup must stop Drago’s attack and save Berk from the destruction of his
dragons.
Guess who's back... back again...
The storyline is a great continuation of first movie yet it won’t confuse anybody who hasn’t seen the first. Although
it’s quite long for an animated movie, it’s paced perfectly. There are no slow patches
whatsoever which makes it easy to follow and captures your attention for the
entire 109 minutes. The big battle
scenes have you on the edge of your seat and the conversations between the
characters have you hanging on every word.
Everyone knows how much I LOVE Hiccup and Toothless but I
have to say that a lot of the secondary characters were big scene stealers. Every
scene that involved Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) had me and everyone else in the
theatre laughing! I’m going to be honest, I thought Astrid (America Ferrera) was
just… alright in the first movie, but this time around I think I’ve grown to
like her a lot. And who can resist any Hiccup and Astrid interactions? Drago is
also a great villain. He’s a no muss, no fuss kind of Viking and won’t let
anything get in his way. We also learn about Valka’s past and understand why
she has become what she is today. Eret, Son of Eret, is tough and cocky but
also brings great comic relief when things get a bit heavy. Let's also not forget how DreamWorks pulled a Neville Longbottom on us with Hiccup. I mean really...
The animation is STUNNING. Yes, the trend of amazing facial
hair has continued and even the young dragon riders have noticeable beards
starting to grow. The alpha dragons are amazingly detailed and so realistic. I
couldn’t help but take a moment to stare at the different textures on all the
dragons. Also, I’m a huge fan of Hiccups new inventions. Where can a girl get
one of those flaming sword things?
How to Train Your Dragon 2 exceeded all my expectations and
is definitely one that you can rewatch an infinite amount of times and never
tire of. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with a VERY MAJOR plot twist that will
leave your mouth hanging open and you may need tissues for this! It’s the perfect balance of action, humour with
a healthy amount of Hiccup and Astrid cuteness that makes it one of the best
releases this year. Hey DreamWorks, I think you're onto something!
KEEP
10/10
Note: I used the teaser instead of the trailers because they do have big spoilers. But I'm sure you can appreciate Hiccup at the end of the clip...
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