How to Train Your Dragon 2

***How to Train Your Dragon 2*** is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated action fantasy film produced by Dreamworks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox loosely based on the British book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell.

DeBlois, who co-directed the first film, agreed to return to direct the second film on the condition that he would be allowed to turn it into a trilogy. He cited The Empire Strikes Back and My Neighbor Totoro as his main inspirations, with the expanded scope of The Empire Strikes Back being particularly influential. The entire voice cast from the first film returned, and Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou signed on to voice Valka and Drago, respectively. DeBlois and his creative team visited Norway and Svalbard to give them ideas for the setting. Composer John Powell returned to score the film. How to Train Your Dragon 2 benefited from advances in animation technology and was DreamWorks' first film to use scalable multicore processing and the studio's new animation and lighting software.

It is the sequel to the 2010 computer-animated film *How to Train Your Dragon* and the second installment in the trilogy. The film is written and directed by Dean DeBlois, and stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig, with the addition of Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou, and Kit Harington.

## Plot

Five years have passed since Hiccup and Toothless united the dragons and Vikings of Berk. Now, they spend their time charting the island's unmapped territories. During one of their adventures, the pair discover a secret cave that houses hundreds of wild dragons -- and a mysterious dragon rider who turns out to be Hiccup's long-lost mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett). Hiccup and Toothless then find themselves at the center of a battle to protect Berk from a power-hungry warrior named Drago.

## Why It Still Trains The Dragon

1. Great voice acting, especially the cast who reprised the iconic voice roles as well as new cast.
2. The movie has a lot more emotion than the first movie.
3. The flight and action scenes are awesome.
4. John Powell's score is still excellent and well fitting, just as from the first movie.
5. An awesome introduction to Hiccup's long-lost mother, Valka.
6. Emotional reunion between Stoick and Valka. Even their song number together is good, not even ruined by Gerald Butler's singing voice, considering what his singing voice did in Joel Schumacher's adaptation of *The Phantom of the Opera*.
7. Hiccup is still a great protagonist with a realistic arc on realizing not every single villain can be reasoned with and to accept his responsibilities as chief. He is arguably better here than in the first film and even increased character development.
8. Drago Bludvist is a intimidating bad-ass villain with a flesh out reason why he hated Dragons and seeks to conquer the world in the process.
9. Stoick's death was very touching. Made even better that it took the risk for having Toothless kill Stoick unwillingly, adding more to the stakes.
10. It sets up the third movie very well.
11. The friendship between Hiccup and Toothless is still there and developed more than first movie.
12. It doesn't manage to shy away from the more mature and serious topics including dealing with issues, war, animal cruelty, dictatorship, etc.
13. Beautiful animation as always for DreamWorks standards that still hold up nowadays, like the first movie.
14. Awesome ending where The Vikings and dragons celebrate their victory and Hiccup is made chieftain of Berk.

## Bad Qualities

1. Drago Bludvist, while cool, can be a generic villain for some viewers since he is the villain that wants to take over the world, making him the "generic doomsday villain" trope. Plus, his hatred of dragons nullifying his backstory isn't delved that deep into. And that backstory isn't that delved into also.
2. While there are so many great scenes, not all the scenes are connected that well with either not set up or payed off properly, or the set up or payoff is not their at all. One example is the awesome final battle, which sadly isn't set up that well since Toothless wasn't give as equal as a focus for Hiccup to warrant it until after he killed Stoick which happened in the end of the second act. It is still awesome, but the build up for the awesomeness is non-existent. The other is the touching funeral, which while emotional, still could've been better since we never hear Valka's last words to Stoick to feel the tragedy that they were separated for 20 years, only to be reunited for 20 minutes before being separated again, permanently.
3. Like the previous movie, some of the side characters can be annoying and one-note. Like Ruffnutt's side plot on her crush with Eret.

## Reception

Like its predecessor, *How to Train Your Dragon 2* received largely positive reviews by critics and audiences for its animation, voice acting, musical score, action sequences, emotional depth, and darker, more serious tone compared to its predecessor. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "certified fresh" score of 91% based on reviews from 182 critics, with an average rating of 7.74/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Exciting, emotionally resonant, and beautifully animated, *How to Train Your Dragon 2* builds on its predecessor's successes just the way a sequel should.". Metacritic gives the film a score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore during the opening weekend gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Audiences were a mix of 47% female and 53% male. Children and Young Adults responded most strongly, with those aged under 25 giving a grade A+.

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## External Links

* Template:IMDb
* Template:Rotten Tomatoes