Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2

(This belongs to DreamWorks Animation. Not me.)

I had heard that this movie was good, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Sequels of beloved movies rarely make me happy, and the original How to Train Your Dragon is one of my all-time favorite movies.

But now, I honestly think I might like this movie even better than the first HTTYD.

I had tears brimming in my eyes almost the entire time, whether from actual sad events or just from the overall epicness. There was a point in the movie where I had to unglue myself from the screen and literally remember to breathe.

Whoever was in charge of producing and marketing this movie is my new hero. Not only did he create this masterpiece, but he approved trailers that didn't spoil anything for me. I hate it when the trailers show all the best/funniest parts, and then the rest of the movie is bland. This guy put only the mildly-funny/epic stuff in the trailer, so that when I got to the movie I was genuinely surprised by the depth and craft of the humor, characters, and plot.

Since I appreciate that so much, I definitely won't spoil anything for you now. I'll just tell you to go see it ASAP so you, too, can have your life changed by a masterpiece of a movie.

All I will say is that all your favorite characters are back, but everyone has grown so much (in fact, five years have passed between the last movie and this one). The character designs are all matured, and with the older characters comes a somewhat edgier plot.

The conflict was genuinely scary on so many emotional levels. When I was watching the first HTTYD movie, I thought, "Yep, this is definitely gonna be turned into a video game." Everything about the ending screamed "Boss Level."

But HTTYD2 has a villain and plot that, while still in a fantastical setting, has very human, very realistic drive behind it. Everything that made dragons dangerous in the first movie is made that much worse when backed by evil, irrational human behavior.

That's as close to spoilers as I'll get in this. But one other observation that made me really enjoy this film: the animators must be experts on dog behavior. There were so many moments in this movie where I was watching Toothless play in the background and thinking, "Oh my gosh, he's just like Leo." And when little dragons are submissive to bigger dragons, they do exactly what dogs do--crouch low and avoid eye contact.

Once again the animation in general was breathtakingly beautiful. I loved the setting of the first movie, and this one just expanded on it further. It introduced new characters, all with unique designs and attributes that made them memorable, not just blank extras. And there were more girls shown this time, so yay!

The music was moving, just like the music from the first movie. It recycled some of the same tunes, but the music never felt recycled. All the arrangements were new enough to make me feel nostalgic for the first movie while simultaneously filling me up with new emotion connected to a new plot.

So in conclusion, I give this movie a perfect 5 out of 5. Brilliant work, everyone! Here's hoping that How to Train Your Dragon 3 is just as great! At this point, I will happily clamor for another sequel.