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Rating: PG
Director: Dean DeBlois
Writers: Dean DeBlois (screenplay), Cressida Cowell (based on book by)
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Kit Harington
Release Date: June 13, 2014
Run time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
THE PLOT:
via wiki:
Five years after the Viking villagers of Berk and the dragons have made peace, Hiccup and his Night Fury, Toothless, map out unexplored lands. His father, Stoick the Vast, wants him to succeed as chieftain, although Hiccup is uncertain as to if he is ready.
While investigating a burnt forest, Hiccup and Astrid discover the remains of a fort encased in ice and meet a group of dragon trappers. Their leader Eret attempts to capture their dragons for their employer, Drago Bludvist, who plots to capture and enslave all dragons into becoming his soldiers. Hiccup and Astrid escape and warn Stoick about Drago. As Stoick fortifies Berk to prepare for battle, he explains that he once met Drago at a gathering of chieftains, where Drago had offered them protection from dragons if they pledged to serve him; they refused him, so he had his dragons attack them, with Stoick the sole survivor.
Hiccup, however, refuses to believe war is inevitable and flies off to talk to Drago with Toothless in search of Drago. They instead meet a mysterious dragon rider, who is revealed to be Hiccup's long-lost mother, Valka, who was assumed to have been killed by a dragon after being carried off during a dragon raid. She explains that, like her son, she could not bring herself to slay dragons; she instead rescues them from Drago to bring them to an island nest created out of ice by a gigantic, ice-spewing alpha dragon called a Bewilderbeast, which can control smaller dragons by emitting hypnotic sound waves. Stoick and his lieutenant Gobber track Hiccup to the nest, where Stoick discovers his wife is alive. Meanwhile, Astrid and the other riders force Eret to lead them to Drago, who captures them and their dragons and, learning of Berk's dragons, sends his armada to attack the dragon nest. He also attempts to execute Eret, but Astrid's dragon, Stormfly, saves him. A grateful Eret later helps her and the others escape.
At the nest, a battle ensues between the dragon riders, Valka's dragons, and Drago's armada, during which Drago reveals his own Bewilderbeast to challenge the alpha. The two colossal dragons fight, ending with Drago's Bewilderbeast killing its rival, becoming the new alpha, and seizing control of all the dragons. Hiccup tries to persuade Drago to end the violence, but Drago orders his Bewilderbeast to have Toothless kill him. The hypnotized Toothless fires a plasma bolt toward Hiccup, but Stoick sacrifices himself to save him. The Bewilderbeast momentarily relinquishes control of Toothless, but Hiccup drives Toothless away in a fit of despair and anger over his father's death. Drago maroons Hiccup and the others on the island and rides Toothless, again under the control of the Bewilderbeast, to lead his army to conquer Berk. The group holds a Viking funeral for Stoick, and Hiccup, having lost both his father and dragon, is unsure what to do. Valka encouragingly tells him he alone can unite humans and dragons. Inspired by her words and his father's, Hiccup and his allies return to Berk to stop Drago by riding on baby dragons, which are immune to the Bewilderbeast's control.
Back at Berk, they find that Drago has attacked the village and taken control of the dragons. Hiccup frees Toothless from the Bewilderbeast's control and confronts Drago, but the Bewilderbeast encases them in ice. However, Toothless blasts away the ice and enters a glowing, super-powered state, making him immune to the Bewilderbeast's control. Toothless then challenges the Bewilderbeast to protect his rider, repeatedly shooting at it, which breaks its control over the other dragons, who side with Toothless. The dragons fire at the Bewilderbeast until Toothless fires a final massive blast, breaking its left tusk. Defeated, the Bewilderbeast retreats with Drago on its back.
The Vikings and dragons celebrate their victory, and Hiccup is made chieftain of Berk, while the dragons from both Berk and Valka's sanctuary accept Toothless as their new alpha. Berk undergoes repairs, with Hiccup feeling confident that they will defend their peace with their dragons.
My Review:
A sequel that lives up to the original! I enjoyed this movie a lot. The original is a kid-friendly coming-of-age tale about a boy becoming a man in the eyes of his father. The sequel is a much less kid-friendly yet equally well-told, deep and dark tale about replacing one's father, making peace with the past, and becoming a leader. If How to Train Your Dragon is about stepping into adulthood, then sequel is about facing down the trials you might face in adulthood.
I would caution any parents who enjoyed the original with their children to be careful about watching the sequel with them, if they are still young. Things largely work out in the original. Characters are injured, but they survive. Here we see multiple deaths, including both Hiccup's father Stoick and the good guys' alpha dragon. This story also deals with the heavy topic of child abandonment and parental and spousal reconciliation. The violence and the emotional punch of this story is probably too much for most younger kids (for context, I am a firm believer that movies like The Lion King should be 10+ viewing.) As for other common parent concerns, the movie doesn't have any bad language other than mild insults or inappropriate innuendo or jokes, beyond very mild flirting.
Assuming one is old enough to watch, Gerard Butler is awesome as Stoick here, completely selling me on the positive emotional reunion he had with his long lost, and believed-to-be-dead wife. His self-sacrifice to save Hiccup, and the funeral that followed, were both very moving. The only thing that might have topped it was the grief and confusion from the animated dragon Toothless, after he kills Stoick.
Cate Blanchett was a new addition to the cast for this film, voicing Hiccup's mother Valka. She did a really effective job of conveying a woman who was well-meaning, but a little bit weird, such that you understood her past actions without holding them against her. This is a genuine achievement in voice acting, given that this part of the story had to be told relatively quickly, and largely by the performances of the actors rather than by a lot of in-depth dialogue.
The animation was once again excellent, as was the musical score, though I did not get caught up in the score for the sequel as much as for the original. I believe that was just a function of the plot not giving the score a reason to give me a soaring triumphant moment like one might feel when riding on a dragon for the first time. In any case, just like the original, you can see the brilliant artistry come through in this film, which indicated to me that directed Dean DeBlois had a real passion for bringing author Cressida Cowell's book to life in a worthy way.
Assuming you're old enough for a deeper and more adult story, with a lot of emotional punch, I definitely recommend How to Train Your Dragon 2. I look forward to watching the other installments from this franchise.
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