How to Train Your Dragon 2
Year: 2014
Rating: PG
Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours
Sequels can be a tough transition for a franchise. There’s always a struggle of keeping the magic of the first movie, but exploring the world in new directions. Lean too far in one direction, and the sequel feels stale; too far in the other direction and there’s nothing to connect it to the original. The best sequels are the ones that use the fact that the first movie dealt with the “origin story” and now they can use a confident main character to advance the franchise. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) is a better sequel than most, but it raises more questions.
While How to Train Your Dragon (2010) was a coming-of-age story, its sequel also carries a similar plot structure. Instead of figuring out who he is, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) needs to build enough confidence in who he is to take over being chief from his father, Stoick (Gerard Butler)—if he even wants to do so at all. Visually, this sequel shows how much advancement DreamWorks had made in their CGI in four years. The new characters of Valka (Cate Blanchett) and Eret (Kit Harrington) added depth to the world-building, even if their presence makes one wonder about how isolated Berk really was.
In the first movie, the plot made it seem like this dragon problem was only something these Vikings dealt with. But with trappers, guardians, and the big bad of Drago (Djimon Hounsou) being known entities in this world, why were they not mentioned before? I get the need to expand out and show the contrast of the dragon riders from their former roles as dragon killers, but the selective memory feels a little weird. Otherwise, there’s lots of great character growth for Hiccup and Toothless in this well-done sequel.
Great character growth, but with some bigger world-building questions, I give How to Train Your Dragon 2 4.0 stars out of 5.
