How To Train Your Dragon 2

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

Director : Dean DuBlois

Year : 2014

Genre : Animation

Rating : ****

With beautiful animation, endearing characters, a surprisingly emotionally driven narrative and an almost startling attention to detail, 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' is a worthy successor to 2010's Academy Award nominated blockbuster 'How To Train Your Dragon'. Once again based on the popular childrens books of the same name by author Cressida Cowell, the film continues the story of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his adorable dragon Toothless as they try to prevent a massive war between dragons and the armies of the villainous Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou) who plans to rid the world of the fire-breathing monsters for good. Reunited in spirit with his wise and brave father (Gerard Butler) and with his home island of Berk behind him, Hiccup and his noble flying steed must try to convince the indignant and bloodthirsty warrior that dragons are not the destructive killing machines they are believed to be before a cataclysmic battle between man and reptile tears the world apart.

Much like its wonderful but sadly under-appreciated original, 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' has it's fair share of laughs and sight gags, with the idiosyncratic lizards providing the film with a lot of genuine moments of great physical comedy; comedy accentuated by the highly kinetic and beautifully flowing animation that really helps the many characters on screen to express a much more animalistic, almost pet-like behaviour that is quite endearing to watch. They are also brilliantly designed, with each species of dragon given its own specific look, temperament and sounds making them feel just as much a part of the story as the humans. However, while the many beasts on screen are individually gorgeous to look at, Toothless, Hiccups' immense but insanely cute Night Fury dragon once again steals the show with his puppy-like personality and hilariously quirky mannerisms. The human characters are also very well realised and intelligently written, with the hyper-realistic animation style matching perfectly with the various actors terrific voice work and multi-layered characterisations.

However, whereas 'How To Train Your Dragon' was a positively joyful and uplifting experience, it's sequel is notably darker and much more emotionally driven than many animated movies released this year. It deals with familial loss, death, conflict and betrayal in a rather frank way and while the tamer dragons are cute and friendly, some of the more fearsome kaiju-like creatures are actually quite colossal and intimidating. I can see very young children having problems with some of the more scarier and hard hitting elements of the picture so be sure to check the BBFC report or other online parental guides before taking little ones to see the film. For everyone else however, the notably edgier tone of 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' will be a welcome change of pace to the sub-par and frustratingly generic kiddy fare that Hollywood continues to spew out on a weekly basis.

Sure to enthral children and adults alike, 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' is a delightful and dazzling adventure that is sure to feature on every youngsters wish-list this Christmas. It may not be as consistent as its high-flying predecessor but it's pretty damn close and it does seem that after a number of years and many failed attempts, Dreamworks has finally found a series that can rival the success and longevity of the disparate 'Shrek' franchise.