My Movie Review on How to Train Your Dragon 2

Greetings, my good lads and lasses.

This is your jolly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my 230th film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "How to Train Your Dragon 2".

Here's the rundown of this tale:

Five years since the Vikings of Berk and the dragons made peace, the residents of the island have thrived in harmony with one another. Stoick the Vast has decided that it's time he prepares Hiccup more for being chief of Berk, but Hiccup himself isn't sure he's ready or if he's leader material.

However, while Hiccup and Toothless are away charting new lands, the two friends discover that a ruthless warlord and dragon hunter named Drago Bludvist is building an all-dragon army in order to conquer the world! After warning his Dad about this, Hiccup decides to search for Drago in the hopes that he could be reasoned with, much to Stoick's annoyance since he encountered Drago before and got to see firsthand what sort of person he is.

Along the way, Hiccup and Stoick encounter an element from their past they never thought they'd see again: Valka, who is Stoick's wife and Hiccup's mother.

Following my review of the first film, analyzing its two sequels became a very big priority of mine. I was open to seeing them again at any opportunity given, as well as to post them in the 10s place like I did with the Kung Fu Panda series.

In regards to "How to Train Your Dragon 2", I remember seeing it a couple times before and enjoying it, although for some reason my family and I often watched the first movie more. It's been years since I last saw this film, so I had a nostalgia rush running through me for quite a while.

So, what do I think of this sequel after all these years?

I really can't lie, I found "How to Train Your Dragon 2" to be a gem every step of the way! Coming from a guy who didn't watch it as much as its predecessor, I thought this movie was a worthy successor.

For instance, the direction and story by Dean DeBlois were amazing!

If DeBlois's mission was to go bigger and deeper than he did in the previous movie, then I'm proud to say he did a wonderful job doing just that. The story as a whole provided a great expansion of the franchise's world and characters, and it contained a depth that helped it be far from lifeless. In addition to this, the film was perhaps the most emotionally-invested member of the franchise by far; the overall humor and comedic-timings were also not only fun to watch but great enough to balance the movie's tone. Another impressive aspect of DeBlois being the sole writer and director was that he managed to help everything tie together, giving the most important aspects a build-up and making sure nothing is left unconnected.

The animation was astonishing, if I may add.

As the very first Dreamworks film to use a complete upgrade in technology, I thought DeBlois and the animators did a terrific job at capturing the first film's visual style while taking it to new heights for this sequel. They made the film's animation groundbreaking in the best way, and it was fun to see them experiment and try new things in the process. A prime example of this comes from the textures of skin and hair, which vastly improved from the last film.

The music by John Powell was magnificent as well.

From the very first melody I heard in this film, I could tell that Powell shared DeBlois's goal to go bigger and deeper than he did in the previous movie while also giving a sense of faithfulness. The crescendo he incorporated helped his score feel powerful beyond compare, and there was an emotionality that was strong enough to tug at one's soul. The best part was that the melodies had the feeling of something incredibly personal.

Finally, the voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were spectacular.

Like so many other people, I loved that all the cast members from the previous movie reprised their roles. What really astounded me about their performances, though, was that they all sounded like they invested themselves into their characters even more so than before. There was a greater sense of personality, emotion, power, and humor in everyone's portrayals, and that's something I openly admire. A definite example comes from Kristen Wiig's performance as Ruffnut, who managed to steal the show any chance she had; other examples come from Gerard Butler's performance as Stoick, who was clearly putting his heart and soul into the character, and Jay Baruchel's performance as Hiccup, who was obviously not afraid of taking things to the next level and showing that the role was one that he was born for.

Along with the returning cast members turning in phenomenal portrayals, the additions of Cate Blanchett as Valka, Djimon Hounsou as Drago Bludvist, and Kit Harrington as Eret, were awesome with a capital 'A'! Not only did the three performers fit their parts like a glove, but they portrayed their characters with extraordinary personality, emotion, humor, and commitment.

The characters themselves also developed in more ways than anyone could expect. The ones who grew the most were Hiccup, Toothless, Valka, Stoick, Eret, and Drago. I would also like to point out that Drago is definitely one of Dreamworks's best villains.

In conclusion, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" is one of the best sequels ever made. It manages to honor its predecessor while also taking itself into newer and larger territory, and the amount of passion everyone involved put into this sequel makes it all-the-more phenomenal.

So, I rate "How to Train Your Dragon 2" five out of five stars.