I wonder if DreamWorks knew they had a hit on their hands when the first How to Train Your Dragon came out? I am guessing since it took four years to make a sequel, probably not, but after the success of How to Train Your Dragon 2 they are making up for that now with a weekly cartoon show, and sequels planned out until the end of time. Luckily for us at least the movies are pretty good.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 picks up a few years after the first, and life is just about prefect on Berk. The dragons love their new masters, and they help the people of Berk do just about everything. Think the dinosaurs from the Flintstones, or at least that is where my mind went to when I saw it. Though Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is still restless and wants to explore with his dragon Toothless, and to see what is beyond their little island. On his adventures he learns there are people that may want to do his people and his dragons harm.
The story was a good follow up to the first one, and it flowed well. However, even though the dragons were bigger and badder this time around, the stakes seemed to feel smaller. Like the threat wasn’t as real. They really pushed the family aspect of this film too, which was nice, but I think it kept the movie from feeling as epic as they wanted it to be.
The voice acting talent all returned for How to Train Your Dragon 2, so it continued to be good. No odd sounding Berkians here. The new additions, Kit Harington and Cate Blanchett, were great, and they will be good to have in the series from now on. Though honestly when is having Cate Blanchett in your movie not a good idea? Never. She should be in everything.
DreamWorks has been looking for a cartoon series to replace Shrek for quite some time now, and I think they finally have it with How to Train Your Dragon. Two just proved that the formula will continue to work for more sequels. I am not sure that I think How to Train Your Dragon 2 was better than the first one like by friend Daniel did, but it was a worthy follow up that has me feeling okay about this becoming a long term series.