Film Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2
It's a sign of the times that animated features such as often feature more nuanced characters and plots than live-action adventures.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
Voiced by: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett (English version)
Director: Dean DeBlois
Category: I (English and Cantonese versions)
It's a sign of the times that animated features such as often feature more nuanced characters and plots than live-action adventures.
This sequel to the 2010 hit, loosely based on Cressida Cowell's books, brings back many of the cheery and affable charmers from the original, with some exhilarating flying dragon sequences. Not only does director-writer Dean DeBlois cleverly extend the storyline into a true sequel but he does it in a manner that will appeal to older fantasy fans and younger children alike.
Although there's nothing in it to frighten the kids, DeBlois builds a looming sense of danger that brings to mind the impending sense of doom present in . Older viewers will enjoy immersing themselves in this world, while the youngsters will find the funny dragon creations a constant source of amusement.
The story takes place five years after the first film. The Viking village that once fought with dragons is full of them; the beasts have integrated themselves into daily life as friends, colleagues and workers. It's an idyllic setting which even features a dragon racing competition that is, like so many competitions in recent fantasy films, reminiscent of Harry Potter's quidditch.
Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), the slightly built son of chief Stoick (Gerard Butler), has become a dragon master, and busies himself flying around on the sleek dragon Toothless. On one such exploration, he discovers Eret (Kit Harington), a dragon trapper, who warns him that Drago (Djimon Hounsou), a crazed dragon master, is assembling an army of the beasts primed for conquest. Hiccup, aided by the trusty Toothless, has to convince his father to fight and then lead the Vikings to victory against the invading army.
Films like this stand or fall on the quality of their animation and here it's very good indeed. The facial expressions of the human characters — a marker of how good an animation is — show an array of emotions throughout, and never fall prey to stock expressions.
Creature design is good, too, ranging from the lithe Toothless to colourful peacock-like dragons and gigantic behemoths. Some of the aerial shots of the massing dragon armies and battles actually look like live-action scenes. DeBlois goes for panoramic shots rather than ultra-quick cuts during the action, and this brings some elegance to the mayhem. It may be a tough job convincing viewers that humans can coexist with mythical dragons, but DeBlois does a good job — the dragons here have a relationship with humans like that of pet dogs.
The message in this film may well resonate with Hongkongers: the villagers just want to exist in harmony with their powerful would-be ruler — but he is bent on bending them to his will at any cost.
opens on July 3
