First of all, I LOVED the first How to Train Your Dragon movie. It was one of the best movies that year, animated or not and definitely one of the most visually stunning. I knew immediately how amazing that movie was and I also knew immediately that it would not get the recognition it deserved, because it came out the same year as Toy Story 3...and that broke my heart. With this second installment (of 3, yes, this was imagined as a fully realized trilogy!), I'm pleasantly surprised to see the first movie actually receiving a lot of retroactive praise, once separated by the (equally good) Toy Story competition.
Loving the first one as I did, I was simultaneously looking forward to seeing the second one and worried that it would let me down. I. was. not. let. down. Dragon 2 is full of just as many gorgeous flying sequences and rolling oceans as the first movie, but this time, they've amped up the CGI with a new technique that allows the designers to actually draw on top of it as well for an added realism and it worked. Most reviewers are recommending we spend the extra $ for the 3D version, but I'm here to say although I did see it in 3D, this movie would be beautiful either way.
What really works in these movies are the themes. The first movie had several unique and positive threads for kids and they worked because the Dragon movies don't treat children like children. Most kid's movies have the same simple good vs. evil style themes over and over but these movies strive for more. In Dragon 2, the lead character has matured and even has a love interest, but thankfully even that typical trope is set aside in favor of more important themes.
Now to mention my favorite part - Toothless. I love Toothless, the main character's personal dragon. It was modeled on a black panther, a wombat and your everyday house cat. Toothless is loveable, loyal and as well rounded as any human character in the movies, and all this with no dialog. I want a Toothless myself...
4 out of 5 stars
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