The original How to Train Your Dragon in 2010 was a great surprise and Dreamworks Animation continues to put out better and better movies. Part 2 picks up five years from the original. Viking Hiccup and his dragon pal Toothless changed the village island of Berk for the better. Man and dragon now living in harmony, life is pretty great. With the gift of dragon flight giving the Vikings a much broader reach of the world, Hiccup enjoys going out and mapping the world with Toothless over the chieftain responsibilities that his father wants him to take over. On one of his expeditions with his girlfriend Astrid, they come across a group of dragon trappers who work for a man named Drago. It becomes clear that this man is a threat to the peace they enjoy and something must be done to stop him.
The most obvious improvement in this sequel is the animation. The first is no slouch but this movie is down right gorgeous. The lighting in particular is a huge improvement and everything animates much better. Dragons are cool to begin with and the new designs they came up with are fantastic.
The new characters are really great with Valka being a real stand out. This is a huge story of growth for the hero Hiccup, I really liked his story arc. A young man who is struggling to define himself discovers a lot about his past, deals with life changing tragedy and comes out on top not on his own, but with the help of those he loves. He figures out what he’s really good and uses it to try and better himself and those around him. Hiccup is a character that’s easy to admire.
Dragon 2 shows the importance of friends and family, no matter what they look like, where they are from or how many legs (and wings) they have. This is rated PG for good reason, there’s some heavy stuff real young children could get upset by. Life can be difficult and scary, but having the support of others and conviction to stay strong and persevere is an important message for everyone. I look forward to the series conclusion, I can’t wait to see what happens with Toothless and Hiccup next.