Review of How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) by Subhodeep G — 13 May 2015

I'm rather perplexed by the rave reviews this film received. I enjoyed the first film immensely - very imaginative and fun. The sequel *looks* very impressive - there have obviously been major strides forward in computer animation technology between the two - but as a *film* I found it rather lacking. There are not just one but several stretches where nothing very much happens for several minutes at a time. The plot meanders irritatingly. Characters behave in ways that make no sense whatever once you know who they are and what their agenda is. Some of the "rules" about dragons and the way the world works that were established in the first film are ignored; other rules are established early in this film and then suddenly ignored again later on when it suits the demands of the script.

The most troubling aspect is the theme of peace vs violence. Earlier in the film, the hero, Hiccup, is determined, despite most people telling him he is wrong, to try to make peace with the villain. He sticks to his convictions, in the same way as he did in the first film, but there's a crucial difference: in the first film, he is ultimately proved right - dragons indeed turn out to be essentially friendly creatures rather than vicious killers, and it becomes obvious that both sides (humans and dragons) have been driven by fear rather than malice. In the end the village is almost wiped out because people don't listen to Hiccup's message, but eventually everything works out happily. It's a very positive message: overcome fear and distrust and things will work out well.

But this time round Hiccup is shown to be entirely wrong, and lives are lost because he is trying to make peace. The message is very clear: if you try to appease foreign aggression, people will die; instead you need to defend yourself as vigorously as possible and attack your enemy pre-emptively.

What makes all this excruciatingly uncomfortable is that villain is the only character in the whole film who isn't white. He's voiced by Djimon Honsou, a black actor, and given an accent very different from all the others; and his appearance strongly suggests someone of african or arab origin. By the end of the film I felt as if I had been watching a propaganda piece made by neo-conservatives to justify the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. I really don't want to be told that pre-emptive violence is the best solution, and that attempts to settle things peacefully just get people killed; doubly not in a movie aimed at children.