As much as I loved How to Train Your Dragon, It had its flaws, particularly in the screenplay which could have used some work. How to Train Your Dragon 2, however, is almost entirely free of all of the flaws the original film had. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a heartwarming, but also heartbreaking film with a wonderful story, and great characters.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes place 5 years after the events of the original film and dragons are kept as pets and now get along with humans. Hiccup, who is now 20 years old, discovers that dragons are being captured for a villain named Drago to make an army out of them and Hiccup needs to keep this from happening.
The story in the film is excellent. It has a much more epic scale than the original one did and many scenes left me on the edge of my seat. Clichéd as that may sound, that's really how I felt. There are also some scenes that had a Godzilla feel to it which I thought was awesome. Also, there is a lot that happens in the film but not for a second does it feel like a jumbled up mess. This film does what every sequel should do. It expands upon the world the original film took place in.
One of the things that stuck out to me the most is how sensitively the film handles the idea of amputation. There are many characters who have missing limbs, including Hiccup himself after losing his leg at the end of the original film, and this idea is handled with such care and it is a theme that is expanded upon and explored in greater depth in this film. Is it a key theme to the story? No, but the fact that they are handling this theme with this great amount of sensitivity despite it being such a minor theme is what makes it all the more amazing.
The characters are amazing. They are likable and very well developed. I also liked many of the very complex relationships between the characters, particularly between Hiccup and his long lost mother, Valka, and the relationship between Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless. Hiccup and Valka's relationship is interesting throughout the entire film, but what makes the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless just as amazing is something that happens in one particular scene, which you will definitely notice when you see the film. In this scene, their relationship gets really interesting and becomes so much more complex and meaningful than just a boy and his pet dragon kind of thing. The voice acting for each of the characters is also very well done.
The screenplay, while still not perfect, is still better than the original film. In fact, the only problems with the screenplay, or anything for that matter, occur only within the first 10 minutes. As the story progresses after those 10 minutes, the film is pretty much perfect from that point until the end.
The animation in the film is, of course, gorgeous. The set design is beautiful and the designs of the characters, including the dragons, are really complex. The animation does a great job at creating this vast and epic world. The film is also very well directed with amazing cinematography and excellent camera work to go along with the wonderful visuals.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is one of the best DreamWorks films to date. The story is epic and the characters are interesting with complex relationships and a very menacing villain. It improves upon the original film and expands upon it. It's a lot of fun while, at times, being incredibly tragic as well.
Film Grade: A
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