How To Train Your Dragon 2

Details: By Loron Hays; 13 June 2014

{jatabs type="content" position="top" height="auto" skipAnim="true" mouseType="click" animType="animFade"}

[tab title="Movie Review"]

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Movie Review

{googleAds}

Darker. Bolder. DreamWorks Animation corrects their sequel mistakes of the past and produces a heartwarming masterpiece of animation that holds up (and then some) to its predecessor. Mounting a second installment to a commercial and a critical darling must have been daunting. They certainly didn’t rush their effort considering the original debuted in 2010. They story – which is central to any movie – was allowed to gestate and feels natural to the world of Hiccup (voiced again by Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, Toothless.

Occurring five years after the original, Hiccup has helped dragons become a part of everyday life in Berk. Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), brought about by his age and the proudness he feels toward his son, starts pressuring Hiccup to take over the reigns of the now dragon-dependent city and become its proper Chieftain. But a new threat discovered by Hiccup and his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera) opens old wounds (as it is a threat to dragons everywhere) and makes it impossible.

The dragon-trapping threat of Drago Bludvist (Djimon Honsou) also is the bridge that reintroduces him to his long lost mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett), and her dragon, Stormjumper. But can they all live in peace with the entire Northern Hemisphere open to them as their newfound dragon cohabitation is threatened? Dragon Diehards will eat this material up.

While it mirrors the tone and spirit of the original, How to Train Your Dragon 2 still feels fresh and original as new territories are explored in the land and exciting details are mined in both scenery and script. The film was written, directed, and executive produced by Dean DeBlois, the co-writer/co-director of the first film, and he certainly loves the to explore the terrain of the North. He pushes the human and dragon drama and rewards fans of the original (and newcomers to the series, too) with a charged script that dares to push the audience into complex emotional responses.

The darkness in the script is not easily dismissed and some parents may find themselves uncomfortable with where it goes for an animated drama. But the characters have aged. No longer do they look the same. This might be the first animated film to allow the passing of time to actually resonate on screen. And it works to add depth and reality to the picture; suggesting that this world – as being a part of fantasy – is also very much alive with a real sense of the passing of time.

The sequel is a first for DreamWorks Animation as it uses scalable multi-core processing and allows for the filmmakers to see their results in a day’s time instead of two months. It also uses new animation and lighting software that looks – thanks to Roger Deakins’ input – looks remarkable in 3D. Featuring voices from Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, TJ Miller, Kristen Wiig and Kit Harington, the film is an incredible piece of cinema that will please every age in the audience...and even make some cry.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is more like a crash course lesson in How To Make a Sequel.

[/tab]

[tab title="Film Details"]

MPAA Rating: PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor.
Runtime: 102 mins
Director: Dean DeBlois
Writer: Dean DeBlois, Cressida Cowell
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler
Genre: Animation | Action | Adventure
Tagline: How to train Your Dragon 2.
Memorable Movie Quote: "This is Berk. Life here is amazing. Dragons used to be a bit of a problem. But now they've all moved in.."
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Official Site: https://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/
Release Date: June 13, 2014
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: November 11, 2014
Synopsis: The thrilling second chapter of the epic How to Train Your Dragon 2 trilogy brings us back to the fantastical world of Hiccup and Toothless five years after the two have successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snoutlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

[/tab]

[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - November 11, 2014
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Vietnamese
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: DTS 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1; Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1; Urdu: Dolby Digital 5.1; Tamil: Dolby Digital 5.1; Telugu: Dolby Digital 5.1; Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1; Vietnamese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); UV digital copy; iTunes digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: A

With a 1080p transfer that is as bright and vibrant as expected, one might not expect there to be so much texture to its creatures, but there is. The dragons are fantastic looking and rendered in a stylized lens that suggests a little Tim Burton influence. Heck, even the Vikings clothes move with detailed precision. In fact, it might be the best handling of texture I’ve seen, more so than in a Pixar movie – and that’s saying something. The audio is bass-heavy in this TrueHD mix and some of the dialogue gets lost in the soundscape, requiring a little adjustment for the main audio to be heard clearly – or you could simply turn the stereo up LOUD and shake the walls with that massive encoded volume of the disc.

Supplements:

Commentary:

The commentary from Simon Otto, Bonnie Arnold, Dean DeBlois and Pierre-Olivier Vincent is filled with information about the movie. Any fan of animation will want to listen to this at least once.

Special Features:

There are a load of extras on this Blu-ray/DVD/Digital set, the first being a cute short film called “Dawn of the Dragon Racers” in which the gang use their dragon riding skills to catch some feisty runaway sheep. In “Fishleg’s Dragon Stats” you can explore the classes, skills and details on every dragon in the entire line up. I had no idea there were that many of them. It’s a fun education. “Drago’s War Machines” is a similar exploration of the anti-dragon devices used by the warlord against our good guy dragons. Cool illustrations. “Berk’s Dragon World” focuses on the changes made in the land of Berk since dragons are now housed there. You see some great illustrations of their living, feeding and grooming stations, totem pole perches etc. “Hiccup’s Inventions in Flight” takes apart his makeshift tail fin for Toothless, his special saddle, dragon blade and especially his multi-faceted peg leg. We see detailed sketches. “Deleted Scenes” are in various stages of animation from almost complete to mere sketched storyboards. Most notable is a beautiful deleted sequence in which Hiccup and his mom go on an adventure together with some amazing flying included. “Where No One Goes: The Making of How to Train Your Dragon 2” is very complete, covering the origin of the story, development of the script, decisions to take big emotional risks, etc. A location scouting trip to Norway inspired the icy worlds in the movie. A “Gallery” of artwork is always welcomed.