When Summer Movies Are Good, THEY ARE REALLY GOOD !!!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (22 March 2015)

God, I love Summer Blockbusters! How to Train Your Dragon 2 is not just better than it's sequel but it is the best film by DreamWorks Animation to date.
To start off with, the animation was superb, the use of the new software shows because this is probably the best animation I have ever seen. I imagine seeing the film in 3D would be unbelievable. I was also impressed how far the animators took the animation, in the sense of the violence in some scenes, particularly the Drago's stumpy arm.
The character development was another huge selling point in this film for me. I don't know what it is about DreamWorks animation but they just have this way of developing characters that you can almost feel that the years have past, and you don't see that with other animation studios. First in terms of physical development as the characters actually seem to have developed but do not appear to be adults. Also in terms of personalities, for example Hiccup is much more confident in this film as opposed to the first film while other characters such as Astrid and Stoick are much more relaxed.
There is also the introduction of new characters such as Eret (Kit Harrington) who provides a bit of comic relief as well as Valka, one o the best characters DreamWorks has brought to the big screen as (partly through the brilliant voice acting of Cate Blanchett) as she hits the right balance between funny, kind and vulnerable. If I had a problem with the film, its that the villain was a bit weak. He does not do a lot and is not even that developed. His backstory is mentioned but it is glanced over and I would have liked it to have been explored more. I'm a big fan of Djimon Honsou and he's given his all. The film is ambiguous as to weather the character will come back but if he does, I hope he's more developed. However, he did still serve as a threat and has a few cool lines.
Honestly, I would say that this film is the modern day equivalent to The Lion King and will have the same impact on kids as The Lion King. There is just so much beneath the surface and life lessons that apply to adults as well as children.