Review: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2  (FAMILY-ANIMATED/FANTASY-ADVENTURE) 
3.5 out of 4 stars
Directed by Dean DeBlois
Featuring the Voices of: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Djimon Hounsou, America Ferrara, Kit Harington, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig
Rated PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor.
102 minutes
Verdict: More thrilling, darker and more interesting, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 improves on the original handily.
YOU MAY ENJOY HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 IF YOU LIKED:
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON  (2010)
KUNG FU PANDA 2  (2011)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON was a fine film, one that may have relied too heavily on a formulaic and overly familiar story where the wimpy misfit proves himself to his macho dad and the rest of his community just by being himself, but it got by with ingenuity and a sense of grand spectacle.  It's a really good movie, but probably not quite so good as its reputation would suggest.  It connected with audiences though, so now we get to delve further into the established world of HTTYD, and we can now see and even grander, more satisfying vision than before.
The title, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, is a misnomer; our viking heroes have pretty well finished training their dragons as we saw at the conclusion of the 2010 original.  Five years later, the viking inhabitants of Berk now co-exist in a symbiotic relationship with the dragons that used to be the scourge of their island village.  Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), son of the legendary chief Stoick the Vast (voiced by Gerard Butler), is now a young man at the age of 20, and while his peers, including his girlfriend/fiance Astrid (voiced by America Ferrara), spend their days dragon racing, he explores past the edges of the known map atop his dragon mount and best friend, Toothless.  Just beyond the edges of the map though lies a burgeoning conflict between a maniacal conqueror called Drago Bludvist (voiced by Djimon Hounsou) who is amassing a dragon army, and the mysterious dragon rider Valka (voiced Cate Blanchett), who is fighting to thwart Drago at every turn.  As Drago's malicious intentions regarding the dragons and vikings of Berk become clear, Hiccup and his fellow vikings, along with Valka, find themselves on the frontlines of a war with a ruthless madman who possesses a powerful influence over dragons.
What HTTYD2 does best is letting its characters grow and develop, and they've already come a ways from when we saw them last.  It's a pleasure to see this familiar characters return as adults, finding their places in an adult world with adult problems and adult feelings.  They are active players in their own stories, and far more interesting than the stereotypes in the first film.  The new characters add a whole new dynamic themselves; Valka, with an... interesting vocal performance by Cate Blanchett, is something of a radical environmental activist, Jane Goodall with martial arts training, and although his character and background are minimal, Drago, as voiced by Djimon Hounsou, is a startling creation with a very raw, unnerving energy, and a brutal nature that suggests genuine threat.
This sequel is not a tightly constructed as its predecessor, but it's more interesting and more fun.  This is an animated film that, while certainly different in nature from its summer action movie competition with its whimsy and diversified nature, embraces action and spectacle on a summer blockbuster level.  The visuals are truly astounding at times, and although it made a lot of sense once i saw his name in the credits, it was surprising to realize that eleven-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins was a visual consultant on the film (apparently he held that position on the first film as well).  The animation, while whimsically designed, has an air of physical presence throughout it, which is a weird and fascinating effect.
Summer 2014 got off to a rough start with the less-than-amazing THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and a disappointing GODZILLA, but we've been spoiled since then by three very good sequels (X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, and this weekend's HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 and 22 JUMP STREET), a not-as-bad-as-it-could-have-been MALEFICENT, and the excellent EDGE OF TOMORROW.  After this weekend, it's pretty dry until DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES in July, but with this weekend's offerings, it might be enough to tide us over until then.