Warning: This review contains spoilers.
The follow review was written by Kate Knight.
I had thoroughly enjoyed the first How to Train Your Dragon so I was excited to learn that Dreamworks had made a sequel. Having said that though, it was with a slight sense of trepidation that I went into the screening of the second instalment, I mean, I've been burned by sequels before and I wasn't quite sure where the writers were going to take the key characters.
As per the first movie, the plot centres around young Viking, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, Toothless.
Whilst exploring the world surrounding their home, they come across Hiccup's long lost, free spirit mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett) living in what can best be described as a refuge for dragons. She is fierce in her protection of the dragons and Hiccup now starts to understand where his adventerous spirit and affinity for dragons comes from.
Hiccup and Toothless' adventures exploring lead them to encounter an old foe of Hiccup's father, Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler), Drago (Djimon Hounsou) whose aim is to enslave dragons and control them.
The plot works well and the story flows nicely through the film. The ending could be seen as somewhat predictable but when it comes to animation that is primarily designed to please a younger audience, there aren't many places a writer can go.
Having said that though, there were a few moments where I was gripped to my seat, anxious about my personal favourite, Toothless the Dragon.
As with any animated film, it it hard to make any comment other than a neutral comment about performances as so much of the performance is in the animation itself. My only comment would therefore be that each character was matched well with his/her voice artist.
The set pieces where the audience follows various characters riding their dragons are impressively animated. I saw this film in 2D and I can imagine that in 3D these scenes were equally impressive.
As I have said before, at times the plot did feel somewhat formulaic and the ending became predictable about 30 minutes from the end, which, as an adult audience member, is always frustrating.
I enjoyed the film for what it is and can imagine younger audiences really enjoying it. I would be surprised if they brought another How to out though. As it's based on series of books and it will no doubt do very well at the box office, another instalment is no doubt in the works. But hopefully, they the next instalment will bring more to the table.
Director: Dean DeBlois
Writer: Dean Blois (screenplay) and Cressida Cowell (novels).
