The summer of 2014 has been so solid, and HTTYD2 (which is what I'm calling it from now on as I'm too lazy to type it out fully) just proves it...
HTTYD2 is directed by Dean DeBlois and is the sequel to the surprise hit How To Train Your Dragon. The film again follows Hiccup and Toothless and follows the events 5 years after the first movie. In the film Hiccup now has to step up to the responsibility of being the leader of his people whilst at the same time he is dealing with a personal conflict and the threat of a villain gathering an army of dragons grows.
My experience with the first movie was a good one and I thought it was a good animated flick, if not a tiny bit overrated by some people. However, if people go on to say that HTTYD2 is one of the best animations of the last decade, I can't disagree with them. HTTYD2 does everything a sequel should do and it gave me a great film experience in which I was sucked in from scene 1 to the end credits.
One of the best things about this movie is the characters at the forefront of the film. The relationship between Hiccup and Toothless is incredibly cute and relatable for anybody who has ever owned a pet in their life. The dynamic between the 2 leads is excellent and on top of that the 2 characters themselves are given more depth and are more fleshed out, which is exactly what a sequel needs to do. Toothless is literally awesome in a way where he can be cute and badass at exactly the same time, and Hiccup goes through some really impactful situations in the movie, which help develop him more as a character. No longer is he Hiccup the boy, he is Hiccup the man who must step up to do what is required of him.
That is obviously a familiar theme but is an effective one if executed well. This is just one theme the movie has expertly woven into it; others including friendship, family and sacrifice. The movie also doesn't spoon feed children with obvious exposition and does not sugar-coat over some of the dark stuff which can happen to people, which gets 2 thumbs up from me as I am sick of animations doing that these days. The movie blends emotional and development scenes well.
Although action sequences are also blended brilliantly into the story and are awesome to watch. The movie's cinematography is so impressive and is at its best during these huge action sequences where the camera follows a dragon flying through the air. The musical score composed by John Powell is also breath taking at times, and like it's predecessor is one of the movies best strengths.
The character animation is beautiful and the voice cast is also very good. I will say what everyone else is saying but it is so true that Jay Baruchel is perfect as Hiccup. I honestly left HTTYD2 thinking about just how involved I was in it and I had so many positive things to say. But, it isn't perfect in my eyes...
My 2 issues with the film start with the villain. It wasn't that he was bad its just he was clichéd right down to his physical appearance. It's almost a rule of Hollywood animations these days that the villain must be physically huge and have long dark hair with an eye scar. Also the side characters in the movie don't really do much for me and in my opinion don't bring a lot to the table in terms of being comedic relief.
But HTTYD2 is a great kids movie and I really liked it, so its getting a high grade:
Rating - A-
1 sentence summary - A superior kids film with excellent characters, themes and emotions woven through it!
Question: Your favourite DreamWorks's animation of all time?
Thanks for reading,
Matt
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