Movie: How to Train Your Dragon – 2
Krishna
Sequels are harder to make. The novelty of the characters and the novelty of the theme has now worn off, and even if you make the sequel as good as the original, critics and many fussy viewers are apt to turn down the corners of their mouth and say ‘Been there, seen that’. The sequel has to strive to be a cut above the original to make an impact – except with diehard fans who love the story so much that they will see it anyway.
An example of an excellent sequel, which is a Gold Standard for sequels, is Terminator. Terminator 2 surpassed the first one in so many aspects that it was a fabulous sequel to see. In the same way, I think that the Aliens (the second installment of the Alien Series by the man with the Midas touch, James Cameron) was far superior to the first one and was really enjoyable.
More often the sequel is so bad – in absolute terms, let alone by comparison with the previous installment – that your general belief that sequels are worse than the original gets firmly reinforced in your mind. Again, Terminator 3 was one such movie.
This? This is as good as the original with a few nice twists, but does not quite make it up to the level set by Terminator or Aliens in improvement. So, while the corners of your mouth may droop a bit in disappointment, you may still conclude that the movie ‘ain’t bad’.
We visit the Viking village Berk about five years later (from the end of the first story). Life is glorious and dragons have become part of it. There is a kind of a Quiddich-like dragon race that is held every year, with those hilarious lambs (which incidentally do nothing but manage to look funny every time) being a kind of basket balls.
Hiccup and Astrid, the young couple in the first series, stumble into a den of dragon trappers whose leader is Eret, inside a huge castle of ice (cannot help remembering Superman’s home for the formation shown or the ice palace of Frozen for the size of it). They are for the evil Lord Drago Bludvist.
Hiccup decides to “explain” to Drago how misguided that policy is, and surrenders himself and his dragon to Eret, but before he could meet Eret, is rescued by his dad Stoik.
Realizing that war will result from passivity, Hiccup decided to sneak out to speak to Drago against his father’s will and stumbles into a huge den of dragons, managed by Valka (Cate Blanchett). She also has a (good) giant dragon called Bewilderbeast (Cute name). He, and his dad, who comes after him again, realize that Valka is alive and Hiccup realizes that she is his long lost mother. A neat explanation on why Hiccup is naturally so good with the dragons.
Meanwhile we learn that Drago can control and subdue the mind of any dragon and he comes with his own Bewilderbeast (evil) and captures and controls Toothless. As Toothless tries to kill Hiccup, his dad pushes him aside and saves him, but dies instead.
The story continues. The ending is a bit flat, considering all the hype they gave for the dragons etc. But they have tried to bring in a variety of things that keep your interest up.
Is it a great sequel? No. But a really watchable movie and is entertaining.
I will give it a 6/10
– – Krishna