Movie Review - How To Train Your Dragon 2

How To Train Your Dragon 2  $$$ 1/2

 

PG

102 Minutes

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, and America Ferrera.  

Director: Dean DeBlois. 

 

            Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), Toothless, and the rest of the inhabitants of Berk are back. This time Hiccup has to deal with the twin problems of being nominated as Stoick’s (Gerard Butler) successor and the threat of invasion by an evil dragon lord, Drago (Djimon Hounsou).

            As far as sequels go, I feel that this film succeeded, but liked the original better. However, my children thought that this was the better of the two movies.

            This is how I rated it.  

1. Fun – If you liked the first movie then I expect you’re going to like this one. It is more of the same, but with a different storyline. Drago and his army do introduce a darker element into the story than what we saw in the first one. Still, I felt it deserved a full MB for fun.  

2. Story – I really applaud the storyline. The writers have nicely woven the twin plots together into a single cohesive tale. While I prefer the father and son story I appreciated how they deftly contrasted the two dragon lords, leaving us with a powerful message. It earned a full MB for story.            

3. Technical – Without having gone back and watched the first movie again, I felt that the animation for this film was even better. I found myself being distracted by the rich detail of the terrain through which the characters traveled. The rest of the technical elements were quite good as well. I gave this film a full MB for Technical aspects.  

4. Acting – This is good cast and they did a fine job with the voice acting. However, I didn’t feel the sincerity of their performances as strongly as I did with the first film. I didn’t love the characters as much as I did the first time. I don’t know if this is a problem with the direction the actors received or a matter of some of them just wanting to collect a paycheck and go home. In either case, I give the film only half a MB for acting.       

 

            Add them up and How To Train Your Dragon 2 gets a total rating of 3 ½ Movie Bucks. If you’re anxious to see it then don’t wait for a matinee. Catch it first run at whatever time works best for you. Just go see it.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.