Lou Lumenick

Lou Lumenick

Movies

Charming ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ sequel soars

A worthwhile if not-quite-as-delightful sequel to DreamWorks Animation’s finest animated film, “How to Train Your Dragon 2’’ offers some stunningly beautiful sequences and an engaging, if at times quite dark, story line.

For starters, it’s got Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as the voice of Valka, the ferociously protective operator of a dragon sanctuary, who has a surprising connection with the first film’s dragon-friendly teenage hero Hiccup (Jay Baruchel).

Among the new faces in “How to Train Your Dragon 2?” The majestic Bewilderbeast.DreamWorks Animation

They meet after Hiccup balks at training to succeed his Viking single dad Stoick (Gerard Butler) as the benevolent ruler of Berk, which has become a dragon-friendly place thanks to Hiccup’s earlier efforts.

Wandering off to see the world with his pet fire breather Toothless, Hiccup first encounters dragon trapper Eret (Kit Harington of “Game of Thrones’’).

Eret is working for the far more fearsome Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou), who is using the fantastically designed Bewilderbeast — “the king of all dragons’’ — to build an army of fire breathers.

It’s up to the more diplomatic Hiccup and the vigilante Valka to put aside their differences of approach to protect the dragons — as well as Berk. This builds to an epic battle that costs the life of a beloved character.

Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Toothless soar to new heights in the film.DreamWorks Animation

“Dragon 2’’ plays to a slightly older audience than its predecessor and may be too intense for some young children — my 4-year-old granddaughter wanted out after the deafening opening sequence.
There is some wonderful stuff here — where else are you going to hear a love-song duet between Gerard Butler and Cate Blanchett as Vikings with Scottish accents?

At the risk of being branded a heretic, I found their unpolished singing preferable to the Broadway belting in “Frozen’’ — and, as a coming-of-age story, “Dragon 2’’ is a lot fresher and more inventive than Pixar’s thematically similar “Brave.’’

Hiccup’ s girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera) is still the smartest girl on the fjord, with Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wiig returning as their teenage pals.

“Dragon 2’’ really soars when our hero is aloft, imparting some important lessons about family, ecology and war for young audiences. It should also do very healthy business for hit-starved DreamWorks Animation.