Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Rating: PG
Director: Dean DeBlois
Quick Impressions:
How vividly I remember the day we took my then seven-year-old stepson to see How to Train Your Dragon back in the spring of 2010! His little sister was only one and had to wait at my parents’ house instead of coming with us to the theater. On the drive back to our place that night, my stepson sighed wistfully, “I wish there really were dragons!”
At that exact moment, my husband and I gasped in unison as an unexpected shooting star spontaneously whizzed across the night sky. It was all extremely exciting, particularly because its streaky descent coincided perfectly with my son’s wish.
After that, the three of us joked for the rest of the summer that the real dragons were almost certain to arrive any day.
Well, it’s been four years now, and no real-life dragons have shown up on our doorstep yet, but at least How to Train Your Dragon 2 is finally in theaters. (Given how long we had to wait for the sequel, its arrival feels like wish come true enough!)
On paper, this year’s summer movie line-up looks weaker (or at least thinner) than usual to me. This is a very frontloaded summer with all the most anticipated movies coming out before the solstice even hits. By the time spring is over, all the biggest movies will have already premiered.
Still if the movies that do come out are even half as good as this one, you won’t hear me complain.
Start to finish, How to Train Your Dragon 2 really is a fantastic film. It exceeded my expectations for sure. It’s even better than the first film, and, if you’ll recall, the original How to Train Your Dragon was itself excellent. Had Toy Story 3 come out any other year, the first How to Train Your Dragon would easily have won Best Animated Feature at the 2011 Oscars. There’s no doubt. This gorgeous, exhilarating, moving sequel will definitely be a serious Oscar contender, too.
Even better, it’s a hugely entertaining and emotionally rewarding film that the whole family can enjoy together.
The Good:
I’ve been looking forward to this movie, and I expected it to be good, but it honestly surprised me by being much more exciting than I ever imagined.
Some of the animation is just breath-taking. Combine that with a fast-paced, well-acted, emotionally resonant story, and you’re left with a film that is simply exhilarating.
Even better, the pacing never falters, and despite the insane volume of new characters introduced (among other things, there’s an entire dragon army), the story never becomes messy or unfocused. All major characters from the first film return, and they’re given a fair amount of screentime and (in some cases) development. And still the movie manages to introduce quite a few new characters (some incredibly central and prominent).
Though Kit Harington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) perfectly voices the cocky dragon trapper Eret, and Djimon Hounsou evocatively brings to life a villain who is sure to resurface hundreds of years later as Rasputin, the best new addition to the film is definitely Valka (voiced brilliantly by Cate Blanchett).
Blanchett’s performance is superb (obviously), but in any film, that’s basically a given, so what really impressed me was how thrillingly her character was drawn and animated. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more brilliant, chilling, gorgeous, creepy, lovely, suspenseful introduction of a character. Her costume is simply stunning, and her posture and stance not only fit her perfectly but also surely send shivers down every spine in the audience.
In perfect pairing with the visually arresting scenes, the movie also hits all the high notes musically. John Powell’s score is perfect, and there’s one song in particular that definitely deserves an Oscar nomination.
By now, everyone in the entire movie-watching world should know that Dreamworks only produces beautiful-looking animation. For as long as I can remember, Dreamworks has been the best at rendering realistic looking water and wind-tousled hair. Even back when Pixar was on its seemingly endless streak of captivating, well told stories on screen, Dreamworks still had the edge visually. Their art work has always been superior, in my opinion. (And that’s coming from someone who strongly preferred Pixar to Dreamworks until just a few years ago.) In recent years, Dreamworks has started carefully building stories compelling enough (either because of humor or heart) to match its gorgeous artwork. That’s good news for animation lovers. When I was a kid, if you loved animation or fantasy, you pretty much took what you could get and were glad for it, even if it wasn’t perfect. Today, we’re offered such a constant, fabulous buffet of gorgeous animation and well-presented fantasy stories on the big screen that we can afford to be more picky. But even the pickiest viewer should be thoroughly won over by the lovely and enchanting How to Train Your Dragon 2.
Best Scene Visually:
As far as I’m concerned, the best element of the entire movie is the way the character of Valka looked and moved. Seriously, the moment when she was first introduced was so exciting (even to me, a jaded movie buff of 35). The way she looked, the way she moved—I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. It was horrifying and captivating all at once. In a way, her first interactions with Hiccup reminded me of something out of a Star Wars movie. Her mannerisms also made me call to mind that creepy guy in the movie Pan’s Labyrinth who keeps his eyeballs in his hands. She was so spooky and awesome, like her every gesture was a part of some sinister, spooky ballet featuring eerie music that she alone could hear.
And her superbly singular mannerisms and posture continued for the duration of the movie. The character definitely distinguished herself through movement and carriage, not something you always get in an animated feature.
The movie looks amazing enough as Hiccup’s flying along just before he meets her. Then she shows up in what has to be one of the most spectacularly, chillingly cool movie entrances ever. And then once Hiccup meets Valka, she goes on to show him the rest of her beautiful home. Good grief is the place where she lives a visual feast! It’s hard to blame her for lingering. I’d have stayed there for twenty years myself!
And the visuals only get better and better as the story continues. Just a bit later in the “fishing scene,” the stunning visuals and the epic music pair perfectly. The resulting product lights up the screen and electrifies the audience.
Most Touching/Gross Scene:
My daughter liked the reunion between two characters a lot. As she teared up watching, she sighed, “Ooh, Mom! This is sad. It’s sweet, but it’s sad. It’s what I’d call sweet sad.” Then came a kiss, and her tone dramatically changed as she cried in five-year-old disgust, “Ewww, Mommy!”
I enjoyed the “sweet sad” moment very much myself. It’s such a powerful scene, unexpectedly touching and beautiful. I’d say it works so well because of excellent performances by Gerard Butler and Cate Blanchett, but he isn’t really even talking much, so I’ve got to give some credit to the animators. I’m not sure how much the actors’ line readings influenced the movement of the animated characters. Did Butler and Blanchett contribute mannerisms to this moving scene as well as their voices? I’m not sure.
At one point, my daughter asked me, “How did they make all those little dragons? Did they put puppies in dragon suits?”
I replied, “Well, the people just tamed the dragons, but the big dragons gave birth to the little ones.”
Exasperated, she replied with a groan, “No I mean the people making the movie! You know how they brought lions in to help them draw the characters in Lion King. Well where could they possibly get dragons to watch? Did they dress up puppies in dragon suits or what?”
I had to admit that I had no idea the methods the animators used to create the characters’ looks and mannerisms in this film.
Best Scene/Funniest Scene:
I absolutely love the song performed by Valka and Stoick. Watching them sing it together was by far my favorite part of the movie. I sense a Best Song nomination in this lovely ditty’s future. I had no idea I would be so into this love story. When I went to the movie, I was expecting dragons, father/son bonding, and jokes, but I never anticipated a romance with this intensity. I’m not always a big fan of love stories told on screen, but this one felt strangely believable to me.
I also loved the way Gobber (hilariously voiced by Craig Ferguson) found himself unable to help bursting into song, too. (Ferguson has another great moment as he tries to follow Stoick around on the battlefield.) The subplot involving the tangled and disappointing love life of Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) is consistently amusing, as well. But I think some of the funniest bits belong to Gobber.
While I’m on the subject of love stories, I also particularly enjoyed the dynamic of Hiccup and Astrid in this film. It felt like a very realistic, growing romance. America Ferrera also has a great part in this movie and gives an excellent supporting performance.
Best Action Sequence:
When asked, my stepson revealed that his favorite part of the movie was the showdown between the film’s two largest (in size) characters. I agree with him that the visual design of these creatures was absolutely captivating.
My daughter liked watching Valka fight Drago. At one point she burst out (in a whisper), “Wouldn’t it be so funny if she ripped all his clothes off and chopped him up into potatoes, then squished him back together? And he would be like, ‘Hey! You give me back my clothes!’”
The moment just after this was probably the most distressing in the entire film for my daughter. She became completely emotionally unglued and dissolved into tears. I tried to comfort her, but finally she went to sit on her father’s lap where she continued to mutter about how disappointed she was with this turn of events and how she had wanted things to work out so differently.
As action sequences go, I was also really pleased to see everyone rally around Hiccup (voiced again by Jay Baruchel) late in the film. They’re certainly lucky they have him.
The Negatives:
I’d be happy to watch this film again. Start to finish, it was strong and is probably the best movie I’ve seen all summer to this point. (It had the captivating characters and fast pacing of X-Men and the emotional resonance and satisfying family drama of Chef. And plus it had cool looking dragons.)
Still I suppose it did have a few weaknesses. To me, the most glaring issue was the film’s failure to explain how Drago gained his powers over the dragons. He certainly comes across as villainous, bitter, formidable, and larger than life. He’s kind of like Rasputin, Captain Ahab, The Pied Piper, Andre the Giant as the Dread Pirate Roberts, and some lesser known Sith Lord all rolled into one. He’s one creepy dude, made even creepier by the embarrassing fact that he thinks he’s Batman (as reimagined by Christopher Nolan, of course). Listen carefully to his little spiel about his need to overcome dragons, and you’ll quickly see that he’s clearly watched Batman Begins one time too many and thinks he can overcome dragons by becoming a dragon.
Like most people who think they’re Batman, Drago is completely nuts. But I totally understand why he’d want to use a dragon army to take over the world. Isn’t that what evil people always want? I mean, who wouldn’t want a dragon army? And if you’re evil, surely abusing the dragons to achieve world domination is the obvious course to take.
But how exactly does he control the dragons? Unless I’m very much mistaken, the movie never really explains that. He’s very swarthy with dark, greasy hair, so I’m kind of doubting he’s a long lost Targaryen prince. I’m not sure this aspect of the film is explained as clearly as it could be. It doesn’t matter much, anyway, because Drago is the most boring of the new characters and most useful as a catalyst/plot device leading more interesting characters to come together/split apart/reimagine themselves. But still.
I also think this movie has kind of an odd moral for kids to take home. The moral seems to be, “You must always strive for peace—unless some lunatic attacks you. Then you should blow him to hell as violently as possible.” In other words, it presents the idea that one of the most effective methods for sustaining peace is making war on all those who disturb it.
I guess you could just call that pragmatism. It’s true that we can all control only our own actions, and I agree that if somebody attacks someone vulnerable in your charge, you must protect the vulnerable person, through violence if necessary. But this seems like a strange message for a children’s movie, and I wonder where it’s coming from.
Obviously the material about good dragons doing bad things when they’re controlled by bad people is a thinly veiled exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder and the struggle of those who have served in the military to reconcile “evil” deeds they may have been forced to do while following orders. I don’t think it’s bad to point out that while it’s evil to form and control a dragon army to achieve world domination, it’s not evil to serve in a dragon army. I do, however, think it’s curious that the film is so interested in this concept. Its meditation on war and peace is right at the story’s center, and watching, I kept thinking, Why is the movie so interested in this? Why now? I’m still not sure.
My daughter, meanwhile, developed a strange fixation of her own. During the movie’s opening scenes, she whispered to me wisely, “They’re Vikings. What if I’m really Egyptian? Wouldn’t it be crazy if I’ve really been Egyptian all this time, but somehow I ended up being born in America and believing in God, when really this whole time all my organs are in a jar some place?”
Hearing all this, I realized that I need to have a talk with my daughter about what Egypt is like today, and how it’s changed since the reign of King Tut. That is one thing to be cautious about when taking young children to How to Train Your Dragon 2. After the movie, you’ll want to explain that although Vikings are real, they didn’t actually ride around on flying dragons like in the movie—unless you believe that they did. (And if that’s the case, may I please see the proof, because I’d love to be convinced that as recently as Viking times, humans rode around on flying dragons. That just sounds so awesome.)
Overall:
As of this moment, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is at the top of my short list for best movie of the summer. My husband and both our kids loved it as much as I did. It’s full of meaningful action, fantastic characters, moments that are “sad sweet” as my daughter would say, and some of the most exhilarating animation I think I’ve ever seen.
Also the Father’s Day weekend release date is definitely no accident. If you love your dad, and you want to spend half an hour weeping about all the ways he’s touched your life, then you should definitely buy him a ticket to How to Train Your Dragon 2 and celebrate Father’s Day together with a couple of hours of shared animated catharsis in the dark.
Best of all, the movie really does deliver on the promise of its title by giving the audience even more helpful tips on how to train a dragon. If you have a dragon, and you’ve been wondering how to train it, then this movie is probably a very good place to begin. Start with the PG movie suitable for children, and don’t even attempt to copy anything Emilia Clarke does on Game of Thrones until you’re much more advanced (and the kids are in bed for the night).