REVIEW: “How to Train Your Dragon 2”

After watching this movie… I don’t know what to do with my life.

Don’t get me wrong; it was an excellent movie! It really was! The animation was flawless, the story was coherent and amusing and easy to follow, characterization was good, and it pretty much covered the entire spectrum of human emotion.

But…

I can’t even.

THIS bitch.

Kristin Wiig steals the show as Ruffnut, one of Hiccup’s uncouth and, well, stupid young friends. Ruffnut spends much of the beginning of the movie expressing her distaste at the advances of fellow dragon-riders Fishlegs and Snotlout, but she falls hard for ruggedly handsome, budding villain, and dragon-catcher Eret (son of Eret), played by Kit Harrington.

Hey, girl, hey.

But more on that casting choice in a moment.

Ruffnut is openly and aggressively attracted to Eret, and it gets… Kind of creepy.

Which was awesome.

It was nice to see the continuation of the gender role reversal that is fairly evident in the Dragon movies, what with them being vikings and all. All of the characters, regardless of their age, sex, or size can be stupid or smart or macho or shy, and it’s great!

And to see the big, tough buy squirming at the advances of the creepy chick who’s affections are both unwanted and a bit too forward was fantastic.

Because I was stuck on one particular moment of Ruffnut’s advances for almost the whole movie…

Until a character died.

And I blame the inclusion of Kit Harrington in the cast for that! (GoT seeps into everything, you guys.)

Harrington is best known for his work on the hit HBO show Game of Thrones, where everybody is either dying or actively killing another person, or sometimes managing to do both at the same time. He plays Jon Snow, who knows nothing.

Science.

So, naturally, a beloved character had to go.

Actually, shit was pretty serious in this movie. Some people were surprised, but having the main character lose a limb in the first movie should have clued people in that, in this next installment with the characters having aged five years and being fully fledged adults, shit wasn’t going to get unserious any time soon.

Also, they’re vikings.

And vikings aren’t know for their cuddly wuddly sides.

Case in point, the main villain.

This picture doesn’t do the dragon justice. It’s a LEVIATHAN.

Drago Bludvist is a mangled maniac who hates dragons, but he controls army of them. And he does it with his big friend there, an ancient alpha-dragon witht he ability to control all other dragons.

And during this whole movie, we have the subplot of finding Hiccup’s mother, alive and well, the Jane Goodall of dragons, living among them as one of their own.

FEELINGS.

 

She’s a little bit eccentric at first, and it’s disconcerting, but, I mean, she’s had no human company for two decades, so you let it slide. Then Stoick comes in and they have this beautiful little family reunion, complete with spontaneous musical number, and it’s so sweet that you just know it isn’t going to last.

Again, I blame Kit Harrington.

Hiccup has to stand up to a guy who, by all rights, should be unstoppable, and he has to win his dragon back.

The theme of loyalty and friendship is heavy in this movie, but it works very well. And, in Drago, we see a character who is the sort of man that Hiccup could have become had his life been darker. They share many similarities, and both claim to be dragon masters, even as Hiccup is humble enough to never say it outright. Rather, his friends are boasting on his behalf.

And it comes right back to friendship.

Group hug!

All in all, this movie was tremendously entertaining, and not just for small children. In fact, given some of the subject matter, I would actually argue against little ones seeing this movie. Really. Teens and adults will have a better time of it.

But really, if nothing else, get ready to laugh and clap your hands like a toddler at all of the adorable dragon antics in the background.

So, I highly recommend this movie, and I can’t wait until there’s a third installment.

I mean, there’s gotta be, right?

Later, nerds!