Hiccup and Toothless are back on the big screen after a hugely successful outing a few years back (to the tune of nearly half billion bucks worldwide) in How To Train Your Dragon 2.
With the dragons fully “trained” our hapless heroes discover an ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and a mysterious dragon rider. Of course we have a bad guy, complete with some excellent minions, who will stop at nothing for total dragon domination. Our two heroes find themselves in the middle of all of this and must battle it out to keep the peace.
A visually stunning and frantic opening sequence re-introduces our very likeable characters and before you know it you’re back in familiar surroundings. However this time, things just seem that bit more vibrant and detailed, complete with some lovely little touches. However once our opening sequence has flown off, the movie unfortunately bogs itself down in far too much exposition and it feels like an eternity has passed before things get going again. While it’s not the end of the world, I did wonder why things took so long, and surely the set up could have been achieved in a far shorter time. And the younger kids may well get bored at this point.
But when things do get going again, they are just sublime. The original movie had plenty of heart and this has even more, with a couple of scenes that are more than able to knock you on your ass as they tug at the heart strings. One scene in particular seems a bit reserved given the impact it has. I’d hazard this was to ensure the kids in the audience wouldn’t explode into sugary, popcorn induced messes. Even the adults will be thankful this one scene was a bit reserved and constrained. As bright and wonderful as things are at times, this goes very dark in places, and while it might be tolerable for the older kids, the very young ones may possibly have a few issues with it. My four year old was fine and enjoyed the movie, but every kid is different.
Visually, as mentioned, this is stunning. The 3D looks fantastic and while it doesn’t deliver any gimmicks it does provide a surreal viewing experience into this fantastically realised world. The dragons are as per usual bursting with personality and details. Toothless has so many wonderful expressions that you never tire of watching him frolic around in the background, let alone when he is front and center. On the vocal side of things Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler and a whole cast of celebs all lend their voices with ample effect. For whatever reason, they all just fit their characters very well and there's plenty of influence for their digital on screen counterparts, especially Hiccup.
How To Train Your Dragon 2 is more of the same, and thats a good thing. It’s got a solid heart at its core and while it takes a bit too much time to get going, it still is a delight to watch and is most definitely worth a watch!
