Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2

Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2
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 *Mild Spoilers Alert

Official 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' Poster.

      Without a doubt the best animated movie of the year, 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' actually manages to better the incredibly amazing first installment in every conceivable way.

'Hiccup' and 'Toothless'.

'Stoick', 'Valka' and 'Hiccup'.

      Five years after the events of 'How To Train Your Dragon', 'Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III'(Jay Baruchel) and his best friend Nigh Fury dragon aka 'Toothless' is spending the majority of their days mapping new territory and going beyond the world that they already know. While in Berk, after successfully brokering peace between the Vikings and the dragons, harmony has set onto the village. Viking-Dragon relationships have been formed and together they are achieving their work while also enjoying their time together. However, 'Hiccup''s day of venturing into the unknown are ending with his father chieftain 'Stoick the Vast'(Gerrard Butler) preparing to retire and picking his son as his successor. But while traveling into new territory, 'Hiccup' realizes that not all Vikings are embracing Dragons and that a huge threat lead by dragon hunter 'Drago Bludvist'(Djimon Hounsou) who is building a dragon army to take over the world, threatening not only dragons but also humans. Other major characters include the vigilante from the arctic 'Valka'(Cate Blanchett), 'Stoick''s closest friend 'Gobber the Belch'(Craig Ferguson), 'Hiccup''s girlfriend 'Astrid Hofferson'(America Ferrera), 'Snotlout'(Jonah Hill), 'Fishlegs Ingerman'(Christopher Mintz-Plasse), twins 'Tuffnut'(T.J. Miller) and 'Rufnutt'(Kristen Wiig), and dragon capturer 'Eret'(Kit Harington).

'Astrid'.

'Toothless', 'Alpha Male', 'Hiccup'
and 'Valka'.

      Back in 2010 'How To Train Your Dragon' became an instant and amazing movie hit. Suddenly 'HTTYD' became the talk of the industry. And suddenly many started seeing this movie as one of their favorite animated and/or live-action movies ever. The first installment was a revolutionary animated movie in terms of freshness in story-telling, character development and even the amazing visual effect. What this second movie does is re-emulate the previously announced elements in a successful manner but surely in a bigger scale. 'HTTYD 2' brought back these elements expanding the world that the movie created in the first one, while still being able to bring to large extent freshness. Moreover, each movie is a movie on its own, meaning they can be their own thing, telling their own story. At the same time all have this thread that links them in a very cohesive manner. Producers and production companies aiming to create a successful franchise will surely have to watch this movie and take notes to learn how to make seriously successful movie franchise. The return of the entire cast that made the first movie and clever casting choices is another factor to why this movie was able to improve on its predecessor.

'Eret'.

'Drago Bludvist' and 'Astrid'.

      The main person, who must be given the credit for the success of 'HTTYD' franchise, is the director-writer "Dean DeBlois". As a director "Dean" main success are these movies, which surely increase his stakes and demand in the future. "Dean" maintained the foundations that he established the first time around and added layers of creativity and ingenuity to further improve. Also credits must be given to his writing efforts, where he challenged everybody and brought actually a fresh, deeper and slightly darker story. This allowed him to go in paths that made him delve even deeper into the characters and expand upon the world, while still preserving the core premise and the narrative style of the story that relied on heavily(and successfully) on the boy-dragon strong relationship. Of course, this sequel improved very much with the stunning visual effects that enhance the experience. One fact is that DreamWorks used a new and unique technology for the first time in this movie, which further helped creating a stunning visual movie. Composer "John Powell", whose main credits include 'Hancock', 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'Rio', provided us with an amazing score that delved with the different feelings that audiences might feel in every scene, which immensely enhanced the actual experience.

'Hiccup' and 'Toothless'.

'Cloudjumper', 'Valka',
'Toothless' and 'Hiccup'.

      First of all, I would like to commend the movie for bringing us a fresh and non-cliché animated sequel, a rare event nowadays. Beginning the movie was less about showing us what previously happened and rehash the status quo, which was the right move. The installments of this franchise feel like a natural continuity from one another, whilst still being able to stand on their own and tell their own respective stories. The opening sequence of this second installment was an entertaining, while still being able in an indirect manner to update newcomers on what is happening. What came after was a pure one hour and forty minutes of visual delight filled with amazing action sequences, that paused at times to allow to develop its characters more, bringing forward the message(s) of the movie and successful expansion of the secrets that this universe was keeping from us and could uncover. From 'Hiccup' and 'Toothless' beginning ride over the ocean, to the middle battle scene and even the final confrontations, the film was filled with baffling scenes that were rich in terms of visuals and narrative. The slow-paced/conversation scenes were actually was also achievement. The ending as its predecessor was rewarding and set up as usual the sequel, which will be the final chapter of this amazing trilogy.

'Tuffnut', 'Fishlegs',
'Astrid' and 'Rufnutt'

'Toothless' and 'Hiccup'.

      The utilization of the cast was one of the many positives that this movie managed to do. "Jay Baruchel" once again succeeds in bringing us a mature 'Hiccup', while still managing to portray the young mind that the character had, allowing him to lead this franchise. The relationship development between 'Hiccup' and 'Toothless' once again shine above all else, paralleling the amazing relationship that a human possesses with his/her pet. "Gerrard Butler" returns as the strict yet more open minded Chief of the Vikings, who triumphantly achieves a full circle. Addition of "Cate Blanchett" was a major plus for the movie, effortlessly winning on viewers and adding emotional layers to her fully realized character. And the relationship and chemistry that she was able to form with "Jay"'s and "Gerrard"'s character was an offhand matter. "America Ferrera"'s character ('Astrid') was given less this time around yet still felt essential to the story's content and provided an excellent job. Same could be said about "Craig Ferguson"'s character 'Gobber', who instead provided many of the dialogue that was intended for comic relief. "Djimon Hounsou" voiced a very interesting and to a certain extent a realized evil character, who actually drove the story something that many movies are missing these days. "Kit Harrington"'s character was the tricky addition, who very fortunately did not fall on the cliché side of an animated evil-sidekick-turned-good character. Even though "Jonah Hill", "Christopher Mintz-Plasse", "T.J. Miller", and "Kristen Wiig" played secondary characters, the director and writer made sure to give them an adequate amount of story (mainly comedic relief) to do. Still thanks to the incredibly talented actors voicing them, their story was better and they managed to give a certain flare to their story.

      'How To Train Your Dragon' franchise has officially become one of the best franchises and animated movies of our time. And with the Third installment in June 2017, it will further cement itself.

Official 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' Poster.

-'How To Train Your Dragon 2' Info:
-Based on: 'How To Train Your Dragon' by Cressida Cowell.
-Starring: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerrard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harrington and Djimon Hounsou.
-Studio(s): DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox.
-Directed by: Dean DeBlois.
-Screenplay by: Dean DeBlois.
-Music by: John Powell.
-Running Time: 102 minutes.
-Budget: $ 145,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 177,002,924.
                    -Foreign: $ 441,907,011.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 8.1/10.
               -Rotten Tomatoes: 92%.
               -Metacritic: 76%.

               -PERSONAL RATING: 9.4/10.

-'How To Train Your Dragon 2' Trailer: