HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (2014)
Just like almost everyone else, i am also going to start by praising the first
How to Train Your Dragon (2010). The relationship between
Hiccup and
Toothless was developed so beautifully, that it had the power to mingle with your emotions deeply, with a great sense of excitement filling every inch of your body. I still remember the very first flight of
Toothless &
Hiccup with tailor made rear wing, and the mesmerizing feeling I experienced with it. And just to remind me of that, i downloaded and watched the first part all over again, before moving to the sequel. And Deep down, i am extremely happy that they made a Sequel because no matter how absurd, i'd still want to see more of
Toothless, making cute faces, doing innocent and crazily awesome stuff.
There are so many things i actually love about
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014). Some characters are funnier now, like
Ruffnut (
Kristen WiIg) drooling over sweaty muscles, or
Fishlegs &
Snotlout who grew facial hair for her. lol. Toothless and Hiccup are now wiser, and more mature. There are even more dragons. Child dragons messing with
Toothless, and
Toothless bonding with
Valka's
Cloud Jumper, which btw would be the loveliest of the sights.
Valka's intro was powerful.
Not just the characters, there are so many memorable scenes, some of them are downright
adorable. Like,
- See 'Cloud Jumper giving Toothless the remains of his fish', 'dropping snow on him', or 'showing him questionable eyes while Hiccup jumps to fly, to show his mother' ... funny stuff.
- The priceless moment where Valka enables a Toothless secret, those rear wing thingies ... notice the happiness of Toothless. Thats brilliant animation at best.
BUT, IMO, there are some problems. The thing is, if you watch the first movie again, you'll observe its sheer simplicity, with a straight forward story and extremely satisfying character development (plus, the close relationship between Toothless and Hiccup was another deciding factor which gave the movie a tremendous boost). It was a mixture of
mild emotions, discreetly gorgeous animations ... yet creators didn't go batshit crazy with insane amount of 'Rio-2-esque' creatures ... i.e.
over doing it. Basically, This sequel is
a bit too heavy on the emotional side. Like
Stoick ...
breaking the barrier of love for Valka (Understandable given the 'long lost nature' but ... ). Don't get me wrong, it was ... touchy. Had me on the verge of tears. But it wasn't needed. And they had to kill Stoick to gain the sympathy for Hiccup.
That "
Man who kills without reason, can’t be reasoned with" entered too late. But i like the fact that his 'war' had some authenticity, with a real sense of threat behind it. Plus, i kinda like his screaming to his
Challanger. -.- He is also a key character for Toothless ...
to rise as the new 'alpha' for all the dragons. Oh and Breathing atomic fire? That’s some Godzilla shit right there.
I also dislike the fact that the movie spends more time dealing with Hiccup's family issues. That, and the choice of name, "How to Train your Dragon
2" makes me tick. Learn a thing or two from Nolan's naming scheme ... morons!
It’s all a spectacle, which not only tingles with your emotions, but also dazzles you with its jaw dropping animation. As much i want to dislike it for its rather dark nature, the fun factor is still the same. Toothless is still cute, and badass this time ... in all final war scenes. I loved watching this Night Fury, and would not mind for another sequel.
8/10. Full Fledge Entertainment, nonetheless. I had a great time watching it. Its obviously a step down from the first one, but I just hope that creators take it down a notch, and don't try to overdo it, like it happened with
Rio 2. Wait for the next movie has begun.