HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 Review

By Darin Skaggs

     Some sequels are carbon copies of the original, saying nothing new, others take on the first one and bring whole new themes and others just sit put not knowing what to do with itself.  Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed How To Train Your Dragon has now written and directed a part two to the series and sadly is guilty of writing a film that does not know where to take the characters and story.

     The film takes place a few years after the first film.  The Viking community has become a custom to riding dragons.  They make saddles instead in place of weapons.  It is now peaceful, until Hiccup the smart inventor that brought the Vikings and Dragons from the first film, runs into Dragon hunters who work for the big bad guy Drago who has been off training a Dragon army to take over the world.

     It is clear that DeBlois did not know where to take these characters.  Hiccup does go through more than one life changing event but the script just seems to be filling holes from the first film.  Drago is the polar opposite of Hiccup which is an interesting touch but just seems like an add-on.

     The film story wise is mediocre but the action scenes are amazing.  The film opens with a new sport of Dragon racing.  It is a blast to watch.  The action scenes are thrilling, not a dull one in the bunch.  There is a fight between two giant Dragons, a whole mess of Dragons fighting and a few escape scenes that all leave you breathless.

     The film is in no way bad, but is not the kind that will leave much of an impression on you.  The action scenes are a ton of fun but not enough to let you fall in love with this film.  There is one choice the film makes that all other franchises seem to be afraid to do.  That being said How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a decent film that you could probably skip and not be missing out on anything.