How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Somehow, they managed to take everything that made the first movie so magical - and just throw it out of the window. The first movie is nothing short of a masterpiece. Sure, they could have picked a better title that would not give away from the very start that, well, they'll be training dragons. But that aside, the story of a village of vikings struggling against an onslaught of dragons, and, despite everything he's been taught, a boy and a dragon becoming best friends and changing the world together, sticking up for each other, is magical and simply grand. The sequel throws away the magic. Violence is abound. Toothless is portrayed as feeble-minded and dangerous. I have no idea what they were going for, and what kind of message they are trying to send.Harmless example: Hiccup is surrounded by dragons and the dragon rider leader. Toothless gets dropped in. The dragon rider waves, and all dragons threateningly open their mouths, revealing fire. Toothless immediately stands in front of Hiccup, and shields him with his tail - great. That's friendship right there. Now the dragon rider approaches, waves, and in the next moment Toothless rolls on the ground in glee, completely subdued. Is that supposed to tell me anything in particular about their relationship? Even if you stretch it reeeal far and claim that the dragon rider "spoke" to Toothless - it sure didn't take a lot to leave himself and Hiccup completely unprotected. Next example - yup, the death scene that everyone else complains about too. Within the blink of an eye Toothless becomes completely controlled by the Alpha (after Draco announces it, no less). Words aren't getting through, and in the next moment he fires at Stoick, killing him in an instant. Was that part of the plot really necessary? Should that show me a particularly deep friendship between Toothless and Hiccup, or a special bond that no one outside can touch? Never mind the fact that he did actually mean to kill Hiccup - essentially his best friend for many years. To me, it felt that this part was more of a "gotcha" from the writers, as if they were saying "Hah, did you think his words would be coming through? Well, gotcha!!"In return however, Hiccup gets a second chance to get through to Toothless - without any imminent danger, all while the villain is grinning and waiting for Hiccup to make his move. And boy, does he rejoice when he gets through ("Atta boyyy, that's iiit!"). The death of his father is forgotten, and he gets crowned chief by the elder, complete with painting his face akin to The Lion King.They throw you another curve-ball at the end - just when you think "okay, that's gotta be it" - nop. The big bad Alpha freezes Hiccup in ice. "Haha, did you think it was done? We gotcha again!" But whoops, turns out Toothless protected him, so he gets out without a scratch, and now, after aaaaall this talk about "peace and friendship" the Alpha gets walloped like there is no tomorrow until its tusks break off - and that's finally it then. What exactly is supposed to be magic about that again?The entire movie is basically about who's controlling the dragons. The Alpha controls most dragons. Everyone controls Toothless - except Hiccup. The dragon rider waves her hand to make Toothless flop on the floor like a good doggy while Hiccup's presumably still in peril, she presses Toothless' buttons to make him sprout extra fins, Draco barely needs to show effort to get Toothless on his side -- and that's the pair that's supposed to have the deepest and most special bond among all of the characters?! The magic from the first movie - that dragons are mysterious creatures with their own minds and notion of friendship is nothing but an empty shell here. The movie paints them as weak-minded, simply acting under whoever's the Alpha at the moment, and easily controlled by anyone who knows how to wave their hands in the right way.Contrast that to the first movie - yes, the dragons were bringing that huge dragon food - but it is made clear that they were tyrannized, and acted out of fear. Case in point, when they don't bring enough food, they get eaten. Nothing of that is necessary in this sequel - the Alpha just needs to make its eyes dance, and bamm, all the dragons follow its every command - not because of fear, but because of, you know, just because. Mind control, whee.On the plus side: good animation, good graphic effects, long. But that alone doesn't make a movie. Zootopia is animated better, with better graphic effects, and yet I'd say HTTYD 1 has a stronger message. I really don't want to bash sequels. I hope that the third part in 2019 brings back the magic from the first part. Judging by how much they aged, Toothless and Hiccup have been together for a decade, and they've been each others best friends for that long. Think of what that means. If I want pure action with a bunch of deaths I'd watch Aliens. This sequel tried to be everything - love, romance, action, drama, separation, loss, reunion - and diluted its core values with it. And that is a huge shame.I'd rate it a 4/10. It has its moments, but overall there is little to relive and to rewatch. Story-wise it's definitely a step down from the first part - which is also reflected on metareview sites. Please make part 3 good, at least.

This movie is amazing just like the first! In my opinion the first is better but this is still awesome! I loved this movie and I don't think I could made it better! Just like the first this movie has good comedy, action, character depth and an amazing main character. The thing I love most about this movie is hiccup and toothless! Hiccup is such a funny character in the first movie but in this one not so much however he manages to make for this by having an even stronger bond with toothless! If u guys see this movie anywhere please do urself a favor and watch this phenomenal movie!

What these two films have in common is that they are both DreamWorks Animation Sequels and both of them have darker content compared to the first installments and both have two plots, in which one is about family related and the other one is about stopping a central villain. The difference between those films however is that one of them managed to tell these plots right and that would be, Kung Fu Panda 2. This film starts with a short intro about the past of a character that becomes the main villain of the story, followed by a fight in a local village. From there Po gets a short vision about his past, with a vague image of his mother, by seeing a symbol carried by the evil leader, he asked his "father" about his past, but in the end Po learned nothing other that he is adopted. After that we see how Shen uses his secret weapon that can outmatch Kung Fu and both plots are settled in only 20 minutes of the film! Now in HTTYD 2 we have to wait 30 minutes before one of the plots comes in light(Hiccup's missing mother) and we have to wait another 15 minutes before they finally introduced the main villain. The only things we know before that is that Eret works for him and that this villain went once to Berk and killed plenty of Vikings there, because they didn't want to obey him, but why not intimidate those Berkians with his dragons like the way he intimidates them? Oh and apparently he also managed to control an alpha dragon. How he did this is beyond me, but most of all his motive to conquer other people. After one hour Drago explains why he needs to intimidate all these dragons by literally showing his lose, caused by dragons and his motive is therefore to force dragons to work for him? He does not kill them though(except for that alpha), he just uses them in his advantage to conquer other lands for no good reason actually, because his past is barely related to this. In short we got a villain with an illogical match between motive and past and that simply gives no satisfaction to Drago's character whatsoever.Now in KFP 2 the main villain is 'Shen' who is heir to the throne of Gongmen City. This makes it believable that this position makes him hungry for more power and his reason to destroy the Panda homelands(where also Po's parents lived), is that they were a thread to his plans to take over China, at least he heard this by a soothsayer. He also got banned. This is something I am willing to buy, I even have to say that this concept is pretty damn good! Not only we got a villain that is in every way understandable, they also managed to connect two plots in order to create a story that reaches far more deeper and more complex than HTTYD 2. Because yes, HTTYD 2 kept the two plots rather separate than connected, which is barely intriguing to watch. After 30 minutes Hiccup coincidentally found his mother Valka(really do love the voice of Cate Blanchett) and after they got to her hideout. She said that she only left in order to protect Hiccup, but against what? This is not even tied to Drago! Besides if she truly wanted to protect them then she would've taken every dragon away from Berk. She will safe therefore more villagers and more dragons, but that did not happen. The only reason why she left is because she disagrees about killing dragons, but that is nearly not good enough to disappear for good without even visiting the place. And another thing: Why is everyone okay with that Valka left for 20 years, if that is the only reason? Hiccup did not care at all, he was just surprised, Stoick sang together with Valka like nothing of that ever happened and the rest did not bother. Also why does Valka continuously act that she knows who Hiccup is after knowing him in about 2 days. Saying that being Chief is who Hiccup is, while the one thing that we know for sure in HTTYD is that Hiccup is an explorer rather than a leader. So why does Hiccup not name Astrid as Chief? She could've been a great leader, but in this film she is rather a tag-along than an independent character and that is not Astrid I knew from HTTYD. Speaking of characters, Stoick died during the battle and surprisingly Drago just left Hiccup and the rest unharmed after defeating them! Remember what Shen did after that battle scene on the boats when he defeated his foes? He would've finished the job, if it wasn't for 'inner peace'. Anyway after Stoick's funeral scene no one either speaks of him nor mentioned him again, they just got over it? Really emotional gripping, but it does not work. This is incredibly rushed and forced writing. In KFP 2 the story started very early with emotional investment with Po and his dad(Goose), that last through the entire film. So why didn't they start with a emotional gripping conversation between father and son that also last through the whole film? Ugh, so many questions, so few answers...In conclusion: What they did here in HTTYD 2 is telling both plots by a mysterious approach rather than a swift, dynamic approach which is typical in the KFP franchise. But therefore KFP 2 tells their both plots exactly right with a clear direction in where they are heading, along with improvement of certain characters especially Po, his father and Tigress. As for HTTYD 2 the beginning is far too slow in order to tell all there is with this approach and as a result we got a very rushed middle and end. Therefore both plots, which are barely connected, are told very poorly. A forgettable Sequel(5/10)

One must start with pointing out the two protagonists: Hiccup & Toothless. Among the several 'handicapped' protagonists I have come across over the years, Hiccup & Toothless are by far the only ones who do not garner even the tiniest bit of sympathy over their handicap, flaunting it all the way through. Elsewhere, with handicapped leads, their handicap mostly balances out their amazingness: either their intelligence, niceness, brilliance, or just to increase the attention. On the contrary, for Hiccup & Toothless, despite their matching missing leg & tail, the handicap, if anything, only adds to their amazingness and uniqueness, though you nearly forget about it at most times. Although the storyline for How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a bit 'grown-up' than its predecessor, it still is a pleasant couple of hours for every age group. A big thanks for such attention to detail, brilliant colors & above all, the voice cast. Also, very few movies manage to deliver it a second time through. However, this movie certainly delivers to it by improving on the smallest of details and all new add-ons that complement those present. A solid 8-8.5. Dreamworks does it again with the new mature & confident...err Hiccup!