Five years after the events of the original How To Train Your Dragon, the Vikings of the island nation of Berk have grown accustomed to having dragons in their lives. Gone from a perpetual state of conflict, dragons are...co-citizens, in that they are not pets, but share the labor of the citizens, as well as extracurricular activities. Dragon racing has become a popular pasttime for Berkians, with dragons and riders engaging in this circuit sport that involves races around an arial obstacle track, with points scored by tossing sheep into baskets. Hiccup's (Jay Baruchel) friends participate in this, such as Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and his girlfriend, Astrid Hofferson (America Ferrara). Hiccup's father, Chief Stoic (Gerrard Butler), notes the absence of Hiccup and Astrid goes out looking for him. It turns out he is out engaging in long reconnaissance flights with Toothless, his black dragon friend. He is mapping various regions of their world. He reveals to Astrid that Stoic has been trying to groom him to be the Chief of Berk, but he's not sure if he wants the job. He is having something of an identity crisis, not sure of who he is or what he wants to do.
Eventually, as Hiccup and Astrid wander, they stumble across Eret (Kit Harrington) a dragon hunter in the hired service of Drago Bludvist and begin to find a bit more about the dragons of their world and their social structure. Also, Hiccup's personal quest to find himself will take some surprising turns as he becomes more aware of a threat brewing against the hearty people of Berk.
How To Train Your Dragon 2 does what a good sequel really should, especially when the original film has introduced a wonderful new world. It should open up more of this world to the audience, reveal more of the terrain and the conceptual gears that keep it working. That is done here, as we find much, much more about the dragons, what motivates them and how they organize themselves. Also, we get a bit of a look at more of the other humans of Berk, not a lot, but a bit, with hints of more. The biggest hint being is that the close relations the humans of Berk enjoy with the dragons is something of an uncommon state.
Hiccup's own quest as well as that of Toothless, his dragon, takes several leaps forward, with the two of them making discoveries about themselves and who they are and realizing they both have more choice in who they are, despite what they may have previously believed.
Just enough depth to render these characters as "people", rather than just animated sketches.
Good flick. Check it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment