Teodora’s Movie Reviews: “How to Train Your Dragon 2” (2014)

Back in 2010, one of my favorite movies was “How to Train Your Dragon”. Being a young kid, I liked dragons very much! They seemed to be awesome animals, if you ask me. I remember the beginning of the first part:

“This is Berk. It’s twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It’s located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word? Sturdy. It’s been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have... dragons!”

Yes, dragons were a terrible threat to the Vikings. Hiccup, a 15-year-old boy, was the main character of the story. His father, Stoick (Gerard Butler), was the chief of the tribe. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) had one big wish: to kill a dragon and become a Viking. One evening he managed to capture a Night Fury, a very dangerous and rare dragon. The only problem was that Hiccup couldn’t kill the animal (“I wouldn’t kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him... and I saw myself.”). Toothless, the dragon, and the boy soon became best friends. They showed to the other Vikings that there was no need to fight with each other. Together they could live in peace and harmony. The last lines of the movie were:

“This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies or parrots, we have... dragons!”

It was so nice seeing the people of Berk and the dragons having fun together! :)
Let me just say that the first part of the movie was absolutely great! But this was only the beginning... The second part is better! The film was released this year, on the 13th of June. It is directed by Dean DeBlois.
Five years passed by. Hiccup and his other friends, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the two twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, have their own pet dragons. Hiccup and Toothless go on adventures most of the times.

They usually discover new and unexplored lands. They even have their own map of these territories. Hiccup wants to be free like a dragon and have fun, but unfortunately he has other things to worry about. He has to become the new chief of Berk as Stoick starts to get old. Hiccup is not sure if he’s ready for such a big responsibility...
One day Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and her dragon, Stormfly, find the remains of a fort, which is covered up in a huge ice formation. The four friends meet a few dragon trappers. Eret (Kit Harington), the leader of the hunters, blames Hiccup and the others for having destroyed his fort. The trappers have to capture as many dragons as they can for their crazy conqueror, Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). Hiccup and Astrid return to their village to warn Stoick about Drago’s dragon army. The chief orders the villagers to fortify Berk and prepare for the battle. Hiccup doesn’t want to start a new war. He just wants to talk to Drago about this problem. Stoick tells Hiccup the following words: “A man who kills without reason cannot be reasoned with.” The boy still doesn’t want to give up, so he and Astrid fly back to Eret and surrender themselves and their dragons so they can be taken to Drago. Of course, Stoick and his friend, Gobber (Craig Ferguson), want to take the four friends back to Berk.
Hiccup’s father says that he met Drago a long time ago. The insane man claimed to know how to control dragons. He could help the Vikings to be safe, only if they would obey him. The Vikings laughed when they heard such a nonsense. But that led them to their own death as some of Drago's dragons set the roof above the Vikings on fire... Stoick was the only survivor left... Hiccup still doesn’t listen to his father. He flies away with Toothless, hoping to find his new enemy somewhere.
After a while, the two friends are captured by a dragon rider named Valka (Cate Blanchett). She claims to be Hiccup’s lost mother. She recognizes her son by his scar on his chin. Hiccup got that scar when he was only a baby. One night a dragon entered his house. Valka wanted to kill the animal, but she realized she couldn’t do it. That dragon was very smart and good-hearted, even though he accidentally scratched Hiccup’s face. That was the night Valka was taken by the dragon and disappeared forever... For the past twenty years, Hiccup’s mother has been rescuing lots of these winged animals. She brought all of them in a safe place: an island made out of ice by an Alpha dragon called a Bewilderbeast. This huge creature is the master of all dragons. Everybody listens to him, except for the babies. They don’t listen to anyone actually...
Hiccup and Valka have a lot in common. The boy is really impressed with his mother’s skills. She can tame any kind of dragon and knows all their secrets.
Meanwhile Stoick tracks down his son. He is astonished when he finds Hiccup... and his wife. The family is reunited once again!

But unfortunately their happiness doesn’t last too long. Eret captures Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut’s dragons and brings them to Drago (but after a while, Eret forms an alliance with the five kids). The mad conqueror sets his ships on the sea and finds Valka’s hiding place. Drago has his own Bewilderbeast. The two huge dragons fight with each other, leading to the Alpha’s death. The Bewilderbeast takes control of all dragons, including Toothless. Drago says that it’s impossible for humans to dominate a dragon...
Toothless doesn’t recognize Hiccup anymore. He intends to kill the boy. He fires a plasma blast towards Hiccup. In the last moment, Stoick pushes his son away from Toothless’s target... getting himself killed instead! Drago leaves Hiccup and the others behind. His next destination is Berk. Having a larger army of dragons under his possession, Drago already tastes the sweet victory.
Like many other important and rich Vikings, Stoick is given a burial ship (these fierce warriors thought that the ship would take them safely to the land of dead). Hiccup is filled with sadness and regret. He wants to avenge his father and prove that he has what it takes to be a very good chief.
Hiccup, Valka and the others take the baby dragons from the ice island. They are their only chance to get back to Berk in time. When they find Drago, Hiccup tries to save Toothless, while the others distract the Bewilderbeast. Drago keeps telling him that humans shouldn’t spend time with such “monsters”. Dragons shouldn’t be friends with humans at all! But Hiccup ignores him. Drago orders Toothless to kill the boy. While the brainwashed dragon is getting his fire ready, Hiccup whispers to him: “I’m your friend. I’m your best friend!” In the end the boy manages to remind Toothless who his real buddy is. The long and tiring battle finishes with Hiccup and Toothless’s victory. The little dragon challenges the enormous beast and shoots lots and lots of plasma blasts towards him. The Bewilderbeast can’t concentrate on the other dragons anymore. All of them start to fire at him. Toothless gives a final powerful blast, breaking the Bewilderbeast’s left tusk.

Like many other animations, the movie finishes with a very happy ending: Toothless becomes the new Alpha dragon and Hiccup, the new chief of the Vikings.
My favorite part of the film is when Stoick, Valka and Hiccup get to spend some time with each other. :) But it’s so sad that they couldn’t be together in the end! Stoick’s death was completely unexpected! I’m not going to lie, my sister and I almost cried when we saw the chief dead... :(
My favorite character is Hiccup. He’s a very smart boy who won’t give up on anything! Just like his mother said during the movie, he has the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. I also love Toothless! He’s so adorable, funny and sweet! :) :3 He reminds me of my cat, Tommy. They kind of look like each other and they both enjoy having fun! Toothless also has a cat-like attitude. :)

In my opinion, this film has more breath-taking moments than "How to Train Your Dragon"! I really enjoyed it! I think many people out there will like it as well! I would recommend it to anyone, even to adults! It’s a perfect family movie about the importance of friendship and love!

P.S. I wish I could have Toothless as a toy! :)