'How To Train Your Dragon 2' Puts 'Frozen' To Shame

When I first saw the trailer for Dreamworks' 'How To Train Your Dragon 2', I was honestly a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved 'How To Train Your Dragon' and the announcement of the sequel made me happier than Toothless getting a belly rub, but after seeing the first trailer I felt as if I had already watched the entire movie. If it's one thing that annoys me, it's when a movie trailer reveals the entire plot in the first released trailer. At that point I don't even feel the need to fork up money to even go and watch it. Why spend money watching something for 2 hours if I can get the whole gist of it in 3 minutes on Youtube? So I put off seeing 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' after it was released, thinking that I wasn't missing anything important.


And boy was I wrong.


'How To Train Your Dragon 2' follows the adventures of Hiccup (now with one leg), voiced by Jay Baruchel, and his best friend and dragon, Toothless as they explore the world outside of their home island of Berk, which is now home to both dragons and vikings. This film takes place five years after the events of 'How To Train Your Dragon' and this film makes sure you remember that. Not only does everyone look older but there is a more mature feeling about the movie. From the relationships to the epic battle scenes, the film successfully communicates that time has passed and everyone in this movie has grown and matured since you last saw them. There's also way more to the story than what was revealed in the trailer (thankfully) so I got way more than I expected from this movie, which is always a plus.

If it's one thing that made my jaw drop during this movie, it was the sheer amount of detail that went into everything. Everything. I thought I had died and gone to high-definition-detailed heaven when I saw Disney's 'Frozen' last year with the intricate snowflakes and realistic human-like animation, but 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' takes it to a whole new level and Dreamworks isn't afraid to show it off. From the film's first 15 seconds you get a taste of how much effort went into this movie. From the wind through everyone's hair and the smooth, fast-paced epic dragon flying you're breath is taken away by how vibrant everything is and how...natural everything flows on screen. There's a scene where Hiccup has to rescue Astrid's dragon from a dragon trapper named Eret ("You know nothing Jon Snow!" Kit Harington) and he pulls out a flaming sword that he made. Let me tell you, I've never seen such gorgeous looking animated fire in my life. From the color of the flames to the way it reflected off of each characters skin, and even the ground, was so well done. It was an amazing experience.

Before I went to see 'How To Train Your Dragon 2', I spent a lot of time reading up on various reviews and thoughts about it. There were two things said about this movie in particular that piqued my interest. One was that is was better than the original and the second was it was better than 'Frozen'.


Breathe in. Breathe out.


I couldn't believe it. Not only are sequels these days risky business, but to claim that this was better than wanting to build a snowman? Someone has to be either on drugs or have no soul. So I went into this movie arms crossed and ready to defend the icy throne of Queen Elsa and her comedic snowman genius Olaf. About halfway in I was about ready to kick Elsa off of the iron ice throne and let her know that she'd have to share the spotlight with King Hiccup. Although there are areas where 'Frozen outplays 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' (Nothing can compare to Olaf. Nothing.), I must say that this film lives up to those two claims. The animation is cleaner, the character development is superb, and the plot unfolded to be nothing short of epic proportions. I thoroughly enjoyed this more than the first installment to the series and I would gladly sit this on the same shelf of my blu-ray 2-disc Collector's Edition of 'Frozen' and not complain. There were a lot more dynamics going on, it looks better (way better) and it ventured into places that animated films would not dare to tread. It pushed the boundaries of animated filmmaking.
So do yourself a favor and enjoy the goodness that is 'How To Train Your Dragon 2'. Fans of the original are going to love this and newcomers may be surprised at what a "kids movie" can really do when taken seriously.