Dreamworks Animation
How to Train Your Dragon 2
How to Train Your Dragon was a high water mark in the Dreamworks Animation canon. A showcase for the studio’s strengths, the 2010 feature blended clean storytelling, stellar design, and a distinctly cinematic approach to composition. It also boasted the potent charms of Toothless, the strangely feline dragon companion of hapless Viking youth Hiccup (Jay Baruchel). Both man and beast return in Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2, and while the sequel perhaps necessarily lacks the freshness of its predecessor, the new film also exhibits the studio’s ongoing commitment to cutting-edge feature animation.
In four years, the village of Berk has evolved into a model for human and dragon coexistence, with the creatures servings as steeds, workers, and allies. The restless Hiccup spends his time exploring ever more distant islands with Toothless, despite his status as the heir apparent to Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler). The community’s peace is disturbed, however, by the appearance of dragon trappers in the employ of the cruel warmonger Drago (Djimon Hounsou). Complications ensue when Hiccup runs into a masked stranger who oversees a wild dragon sanctuary, and who also has a connection to the lad's past.
Dragon 2 has all of the elements that made its antecedent such a treat: cartoonish yet richly detailed design; luscious animation; appealing performances; breezy, warm humor; and wondrous use of space and light in its aerial action sequences. Where Dragon 1 functions foremost as an allegory about tribalism, diplomacy, and humankind’s relationship to animals, Dragon 2 is more focused on Hiccup’s internal drama and specifically on his need to reconcile his conservative and radical impulses. Even though its landscapes and narrative scope are more sweeping than those of Dragon 1, the sequel ultimately feels smaller and more intimate... yet still gratifying in its way.
Rating: A must. Opens Friday, June 13 in wide release. See showtimes here.
