Review of How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) by Thequietgamer — 19 Dec 2014

The sequel to one of DreamWorks' best animated movies provides yet another top-notch family experience. There's enough humor, action, and emotion to ensure everyone is entertained. It does loose some of the original's magic, but it expands upon the universe in interesting ways.

The attention to detail here is incredible, and I'm not just talking about the phenomenal animation. The world truly feels alive. While we watch our characters progress through the plot it's amazing to see the things that go on around them. In the background you can see dragons interacting one another in a life-like way or people just going about their day. It shows that there's a world out there where things and people are living on their own, not just elements of the plot. It's something amazing to watch.

As far as the story itself goes it is very well-written. Real character growth takes place and emotion is found throughout, although the characters in the film seem oblivious to this. When something devastating happens they only stay sad for a little bit before moving back on to the optimism and humor. It kind of sucked me out of the experience as I was still reeling from what just happened. You think they would have just taken a little bit more time to mourn.

The conflict at hand is very well done. A great villain sets things in motion, however the battles against him seem to lack a sense of urgency. Key powerful and emotional moments pop up in these battles, but they are gone in an instant.

It seems odd to criticize a kid-oriented family movie for lacking some emotional depth. However it's just not hard to notice it's missing. Despite that though the film hardly suffers from it at all. It's still an excellent adventure and one that is sure to please. It just didn't hit every note in the same near-flawless ways the first one did. My total score for the movie is a 7.8/10.