Why I Saw It: Jersey Boys and Think Like a Man Too weren't getting me into a theater.
[Voice] Cast: This is my favorite voice cast of a Dreamworks movie because it feels the least stunty while still getting good people. It's not in the Dreamworks DNA to pull an Idina Menzel or Jonathan Groff out of their hat (as Disney does), but the likes of Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera certainly fit the characters better that whatever A-lister they could bring in. Baruchel in particular does a great job bringing Hiccup to life. Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson represent to older generation well and Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, TJ Miller, and Kristen Wiig keep things fun. Cate Blanchett is a fine addition, as is Dijmon Hounsou to play the villain, Drago.
Plot: As with most animation, it's not a complex story. Berk is now a dragon-friendly place. Everyone has a dragon and they live in harmony. Hiccup discovers a new threat in the form of a man named Drago who is building a dragon army. Dragon fights ensue. There's also some other stuff with Blanchett that moves into spoiler territory that I'll leave alone (but you've probably already figured it out). The trick to anything the animation studios do is telling a story with enough stakes to matter to an older audience without going over kids' heads. That's a challenge that Dreamworks normally isn't up to (hence, Turbo, Madagascar, Shrek). Occasionally though, they find a winning formula. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is their winningest. Thematically, this is a very busy movie without shortchanging any of those themes. I know they were doing things right when at certain moments in the end I was holding back from standing up or leaning forward in my seat. The end is pretty phenomenal, when it wouldn't take much to make it completely cheesy.
Animation: I don't remember being particularly impressed with the look of the first movie (it could be pretty, but I really don't recall). This one is gorgeous though. Anything with Hiccup riding Toothless looks great and all the assorted islands they go to are very detailed and nice to look at.Slightly regret not opting for XD or Imax.
Elephant in the Room: How does it stack up to Pixar? First of all, Pixar hasn't been at the top of its game lately. In fact, Toy Story 3, which went head-to-head with How to Train Your Dragon for the Oscar in 2010, is the last time Pixar did anything at this level. After watching this movie, it's hard to believe how much better it is than anything else Dreamworks has put out and it is every bit an equal with the Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, etc. highs that made Pixar the gold standard in animation for almost two decades.
To Sum Things Up:
This movie is so fucking good! It's funny. It's action-packed. It's sweet. It's perilous. It's everything I could hope it would be and balanced it all so perfectly. I cannot stress enough how surprised I was to be completely overtaken with emotion by the time it reached the climax. Part of my excitement is a result of never understanding what people loved about the first movie and coming into this expecting another The Croods. Here I was looking at The Lego Movie as the animated movie to beat and it has been usurped.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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