“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is a sequel that wants to grow the story without losing its heart. It succeeds more often than it fails, even when the pacing drags in the middle. The film picks up years after the first movie, with Hiccup and Astrid leading Berk into a new era while a mysterious warrior named Drago threatens everything they’ve built. The result is a bigger, louder adventure that still knows why audiences fell for these characters in the first place.
Trailer, via DreamWorks Dragons.
Hiccup’s Return Home
The movie opens with Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruchel) and Astrid (America Ferrera) celebrating a peaceful decade of dragon training. Their village is thriving, but the peace is fragile. A stranger arrives with a warning about Drago (Kristofer Hivju), a warlord who seeks to control dragons through fear and cruelty. Hiccup’s father Stoick (Gerard Butler) is still grieving the loss of his wife, Valka (Cate Blanchett), whom he believes is dead. The plot threads weave together slowly, giving the film room to breathe before the action kicks in.
The animation is sharp and expressive, with dragons that look more alive than ever. Toothless, Hiccup’s Night Fury companion, remains the emotional anchor of the film. His scenes with Hiccup carry the film’s quieter moments, showing a bond that feels genuine rather than forced. The character design across the Viking cast is strong, with Valka’s return giving the story a personal stakes that the villain’s threat alone couldn’t provide.
Valka’s Long Road Home
The discovery of Valka is the film’s best addition. Cate Blanchett plays her with warmth and quiet strength, a mother who has spent years trapped in a remote ice cave while everyone believed she was dead. Her reunion with Stoick is the emotional peak of the film, and it lands because the writers took the time to establish what she’s lost and what she’s gained during her isolation. It’s a rare moment where a sequel’s new character improves the existing mythology rather than overwriting it.
Blanchett’s performance is the standout of the voice cast. She brings a grounded humanity to a character who could have been a simple plot device. Her scenes with Gerard Butler are tender and restrained, avoiding the maudlin trap that other animated sequels fall into. The film trusts the audience to feel the weight of their separation, and it pays off.
The Villain’s Weakness
Drago is the film’s biggest problem. Kristofer Hivju’s performance is competent, but the character is written as a one-note villain who exists solely to push the plot forward. His methods of controlling dragons through fear are effective, but they’re also repetitive and underdeveloped. The film spends too much time showing him bullying his own army than building a credible threat. That imbalance means the climax, which features a final battle between Hiccup and Drago, feels rushed rather than earned.
The film’s supporting villains fare better. Snotlout (Jay Paul), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Tuffnut (T.J. Miller) all get moments to shine, though their arcs are shorter than those of the main characters. The film’s humor leans on their antics, which can feel uneven. Some jokes land; others miss entirely.
Music and Flight
The score, composed by John Powell, is a highlight. It builds on the themes established in the first film while adding new motifs for the expanded setting. The music swells during the aerial sequences, which remain the film’s strongest visual element. Dragons soar through clouds, race alongside ships, and perform acrobatic stunts that dazzle the eye.
The film’s action set pieces are ambitious, but they occasionally sacrifice clarity for spectacle. The middle section, which involves a chase across a frozen landscape, is beautiful but confusing in its staging. It’s a minor complaint, but it’s one that will likely frustrate viewers who want to follow every beat of the fight.
What Works Best
- Valka’s discovery and her relationship with Stoick
- The animation quality, especially in flight scenes
- The score and its thematic depth
- Toothless and Hiccup’s bond, which remains the film’s emotional core
What doesn’t work as well:
- Drago’s character, which feels thin and underwritten
- The pacing in the middle, which slows down the story
- Some of the humor, which misses its mark
The film’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor. It’s a worthy addition to the series, and a solid entry in its own right, even if it doesn’t fully live up to the promise of its premise. The film earns its place as a beloved sequel, but it’s not the definitive statement some fans were hoping for.
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is a well-made, emotionally resonant sequel that stumbles in its villainy but triumphs in its family drama. It’s a film worth seeing, especially for fans of the first movie, but it doesn’t rewrite the rules of its world the way some sequels try to do. It simply expands it, and mostly does so with care.
Score: 7.7 out of 10.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
