How To Train Your Dragon 2 - Review

With the School holidays here, what better way to kill some much beloved time during this freezing period, than to settle into a cosy Theatre with some Popcorn, soda and some silver screen entertainment. It is blockbuster season, after all.

Picking itself up 5 years after the original, ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ is back casting it’s magic over both the younger and older generations of our population. However, this time the themes that are carried along the film are aimed at the Audience it once captivated, leading a story that true fans of the film were hoping for. The characters are older, taller, wiser and far more mature with the growth of the last few years, resembling its previous audience, creating a sense of relationship and relativity. Although the film dawns on darker themes it is still fun for the whole family, just with a few rougher edges to complement its striking visuals.

Change is ubiquitous, right form the opening shot. With voice-overs tantamount to that of the original, we now see the cliff top village of Berk, settled as a safe-haven for dragons, which live and work with the Vikings in harmony. However that soon changes when Hiccup (Jay Barushel) and his dragon Toothless learn of an imminent threat posed by Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou) and his growing dragon army. Still young, naïve and idealistic, Hiccup endeavours to talk things out with the maniac that is Drago, but whereas most films would prove their hero right – ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ teaches harsher lessons to its audience, throughout it’s story.

Although the film is artistically beauteous, and proves to finally berth a plot more sophisticated than your usual animation, the final act is still a little bewildered in its pacing with a sprinkling of scenes where the supporting cast are robbed of just the few extra seconds, that are needed to allow its bounty of gags to insufflate. Don’t be alarmed by an abridgement of ending within this film, as you are sure to see a ‘How to Train your Dragon 3’ on the horizon within the next few years. So if you are looking for some excitement for the Holiday period, head along and check out this film.

I give it a 6.5/10 and a ‘Dragon 5’

Reviewed by Mase Shaw - Follow Mase on Twitter @MaseShaw