How to Train Your Dragon 2
Composite Score: 83.79
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Djimon Hounsou, and Kit Harrington
Director: Dean DeBlois
Writer: Dean DeBlois
Genres: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor
Box Office: $621.54 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the sequel to 2010’s animated film How to Train Your Dragon, based on the books by Cressida Cowell. The film takes place some time after the events of the first, following the continuing adventures of Hiccup the Viking and Toothless the dragon and their collection of friends and family, all of whom are now dragon riders as well. This film pits the citizens of Berk against the new threat of Drago Bludvist, a warlord who seeks to dominate all dragons and use them to then take over the world. The film, like its predecessor, was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, losing out to Big Hero 6. As animated sequels go, How to Train Your Dragon 2 might be the most original and well-crafted of any outside of the Toy Story films, thriving off of character growth and not merely attempting to mine IP for all it’s worth.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
How to Train Your Dragon 2 works really well as a standalone film (aside from its name), giving the audience all the backstory that they need in fairly quick expository conversations throughout the film and then allowing the rest of the story to simply unfold on its own with very little baggage from the first carrying over to this one and no shoehorning of a connection to some anticipated sequel at the end. (I say this as someone who has seen this film multiple times now still without having watched either of the other two films – no it’s not a point of pride, I know that I’m missing out.) The one place where watching the film as a standalone falls a little bit short is in its second act emotional moment. A fairly prominent character dies as part of a pivotal scene in the climactic moment of the film’s second act, eliciting an emotional response from the audience. For me, this scene doesn’t carry the emotional weight that it otherwise could if I had all of the connection to that character carrying over from the first film. I think that makes this film a great sequel but less of a standalone film for that slight shortcoming (also a slight overreliance on the lower forms of humor). It's definitely a small thing, but if you want the biggest bang for your buck, watching the first one first is still your best bet.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Technically and in terms of story, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is excellent. The animation still looks really good nine years removed, the character and creature designs are delightful, and the film’s score is iconic. Part of what has made the How to Train Your Dragon films so successful has been the filmmakers’ ability to create characters that are immediately recognizable and seemingly familiar. The slight changes to Hiccup and company to indicate the passage of time from the first film to this one exhibit a care for the world of the film and not just its potential for product-creation. While I can think of plenty of songs and soundtracks from animated films that I love, there are few (Soul, Spirited Away, and Up being the first that come to mind) that have truly iconic scores to go along with it. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is one of those films, carrying over some themes from the first and introducing new elements and themes to elevate it to an even higher point. Its score helps the film feel like more than your average children’s animated film. It gives it the feeling of a fantasy action film, made for all members of the family, not just the kids – it’s a great and memorable score.
The story and themes of How to Train Your Dragon 2 also go above and beyond the regular children’s movie fare. It features instances of death and loss, impossible choices between family and society, characters willing to change and irredeemably evil characters – all of these pieces give the film a much more grounded feel than any film about Vikings riding dragons has any right to have. The jokes and action pieces are still there to keep the kids happy, but by engaging with these heavier themes and conversations, it allows the adults in the room (and those watching with no kids) to feel truly engaged by the film’s content, potentially opening up deeper conversation beyond the film between parents and children or between friends. It’s one of those increasingly rare films that feels like it was made for audiences of any age to watch together or on their own.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 does a great job of standing on its own thanks to a unique story designed for any audience and increasingly creative and iconic technical aspects, all of which combine to make it one of the Greatest Films of All Time. Its sometimes-simple sense of humor and brief reliance on connections from the first film can barely be called knocks against it with all of the greatness contained in the remainder of the film. It is currently streaming on Hulu and Peacock+ if you’d like to give it a watch in the next few days.
