How to Train Your Dragon 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

How to craft a sequel.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 9, 2014

DreamWorks Animation SKG may be the Rodney Dangerfield of contemporary domestic animation houses. Try as it might, the studio responsible for such outsized hits as Shrek: The Whole Story and Kung Fu Panda can’t ever seem to “get no respect” (to quote the inimitable if grammatically challenged stand up comedian), seemingly consigned to forever reside within Disney-Pixar’s formidable shadow. Frankly some of this situation is due to DreamWorks’ propensity toward mimicry, with some of their efforts like Antz, Monsters vs. Aliens and Megamind feeling decidedly derivative, albeit almost always resolutely entertaining. Even recent efforts like Mr. Peabody & Sherman have been lambasted for being both too derivative (as in formulaic) and not derivative enough (as in not fully capturing the insouciant flair of Jay Ward’s original creation). One undeniable exception to this perhaps unfortunate “rule” has been How to Train Your Dragon, a film which seemed on its face to be yet another retread of sorts, but which turned out to be a surprisingly well rendered (in every sense of that term) entertainment that had unexpected emotional depth and an often rousing story. That original film raked in huge piles of cash at the box office and was also a critical darling of sorts, and so the handwriting was quickly on the wall that a new “franchise” had been born in the afterglow of one of Toothless’ fiery eruptions. Wisely DreamWorks and writer-director Dean DeBlois didn’t rush things, and the result is a rather well developed sequel that continues to mine Dragon’s enjoyable mythology while also adding even more depth to the character of sometimes hapless dragon rider Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel). While How to Train Your Dragon 2 may have another shadow to escape—namely that of its forebearer—it’s an overall very effective follow up that continues to provide heart and action in about equal measures.

Five years after the events depicted in How to Train Your Dragon, the villagers of Berk have settled into an enjoyable routine with their dragon friends, including the Quidditch-like Dragon Races where a now young adult Hiccup and his friends battle to make “baskets” with some hapless sheep. The gang, including Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), twins Tuffnut (T.J. Miller) and Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig), and of course Astrid (America Ferrera) are older but perhaps not significantly wiser, as evidenced by their shenanigans during the opening race sequence. Astrid is still a force to be reckoned with, much to the delight of the Vikings’ chief, Stoick (Gerard Butler).

Hiccup is having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Stoick feels it’s high time for Hiccup to assume the reins of leadership around the village. Hiccup is much more interested in taking Toothless out on jaunts to explore surrounding areas, treks that often include Hiccup himself “flying” off of the dragon in what looks like a kind of unwitting homage to Iron Man. Astrid joins him one day on an outlying crag, and when they discover a weird looking assemblage of strange ice and rocks, their investigation brings them into near conflict with a dragon trapper named Eret (Kit Harrington). Hiccup and Astrid manage to get themselves—and their dragons—out of the predicament, but not before Eret warns them about a more sinister threat, an evil dragon collector named Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). Back in the supposed safety of Berk, Hiccup mentions his encounter to Stoick, and when Stoick hears the name Drago, all hell breaks loose, and the village is put on lockdown.

Hiccup of course isn’t about to be confined, and furthermore he’s not so sure Stoick’s almost reflexive propensity toward battle is the best way forward. Instead, he’s decided that a kind of Neville Chamberlain-esque approach toward Drago might be the way to go, and he sets off with Toothless to find the supposed enemy in an attempt to see if he’ll listen to reason. That soon brings Hiccup into contact with another dragon rider named Valka (Cate Blanchett), who turns out to have a somewhat surprising connection to Hiccup. Valka is a dragon protectress, one who has created a kind of Avatar-esque haven for the beasts in the hopes of keeping them safe from hunters like Drago. (Is there a People For the Ethical Treatment of Dragons?)

The rest of How to Train Your Dragon 2 consists of the various forces trying to come to terms with Drago’s inexorable push forward in the villain’s pursuit of global domination, with the help of a dragon army. Both Valka and Drago turn out to have dragon commanders known as Bewilderbeasts (another thing that sounds like it should have come out of a Harry Potter entry), who end up doing battle in the film’s explosive climax.

While there are certainly formulaic elements to this sequel, what constantly surprises in How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the emotional richness that DeBlois brings to the enterprise. Hiccup is a young man on the cusp of power, albeit a power he’s not sure he really wants to assume. His relationships with Stoick and Valka (and to a somewhat lesser extent, Astrid) drive this film into unexpectedly fulsome territory, and a devastating development late in the film may crack even the hardest heart.

Once again filled with ravishing imagery (rendered with a newer technology that was unavailable during production of the first film), How to Train Your Dragon 2 is consistently visually alluring while also providing real depth and nuance for its motley crew of characters. Too often sequels are content to simply rehash events and characters from whatever film came before them, but How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the rare follow-up that manages to build upon its progenitor’s legacy. Hiccup and Toothless are still flying high, and many fans will probably be hoping that it’s not another five years until How to Train Your Dragon 3 arrives at theaters.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is presented on Blu-ray by DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The animation here is almost palpably tactile at times even in its 2D version, with beautifully rendered textures on the various classes of dragons and exceptional detail in elements as varied as costumes or even some of the Vikings' hair. As superb as How to Train Your Dragon was from a visual perspective, this sequel is at the very least its equal and arguably superior with regard to the often astounding levels of fine detail and especially its ravishing palette, something that really pops incredibly in some of the sequences at Valka's dragon haven (teals and turquoises are especially notable). Depth is often extraordinary (again the Valka haven segments provide a lot of background information and detail) and contrast is similarly consistent. Black levels are impressively deep but never overwhelm some of the darker scenes. There were no issues with banding, macroblocking or other concerns.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

How to Train Your Dragon 2's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is as aurally immersive as the film's 3D presentation is from a visual standpoint. The opening sequence sets a very high bar, with a whirlwind of surround activity as Hiccup and his friends battle during the Dragon Races, a bar which is then regularly met and arguably exceeded. John Powell's score, which briefly recaps themes from the first film before moving on to newer material, is also beautifully splayed throughout the side and rear channels. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and the often engaging sound effects offer excellent LFE as well as smartly placed directionality. Some of the nicest done effects are the various sounds emitted by the dragons, and in the showdown battle, there are some very cool foley effects that offer short bursts of LFE and then a kind of zinging, panning whoosh as fire and the like is spewed toward an enemy. Fidelity is top notch and there are no issues of any kind to report.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Dawn of the Dragon Racers (1080p; 26:37) is a fun adventure featuring the crew in earlier days learning to master their kind of Quidditch like game with sheep.


• Fishlegs' Dragon Stats (1080p) has separately accessible files on the various classes of dragons. There's a Play All feature.


• Drago's War Machines (1080p) does exactly the same duty with regard to Drago's many weapons of mass destruction.


• Berk's Dragon World (1080p; 4:19) has Hiccup showing Mom around the place.


• Hiccup's Inventions in Flight (1080p) has separately accessible files on elements like Hiccup's prosthetic leg.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 12:00)


• Commentary by Simon Otto, Bonnie Arnold, Dean DeBlois and Pierre-Olivier Vincent. This is a well done commentary, casually conversational in style, but regularly quite informative. It's fun to hear the participants joke about everything being cost prohibitive, but gone ahead with in any case.


• Where No One Goes: The Making of How to Train Your Dragon 2 (1080p; 54:40) has some good, in depth looks at several aspects like location scouting on pre-production, story development and the animation process.


• Gallery (1080p; 2:43) offers both an Auto Advance and Manual Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:25)


• Sneak Peek, Trailers and World of DreamWorks Animation all offer trailers or other promotional material.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If we were permitted to give ¼ point scores on Blu-ray.com, I might demote How to Train Your Dragon 2 just slightly to a 4.25, for it does have a bit of a formulaic feel in terms of its general structure and those oft derided "character arcs". But that's more than offset by this film's incredibly smart update of its characters and the trials they face, as well as the introduction of a new major character in Valka. Savvily dealing with issues like the realities of adulthood, loyalty and (just for good measure) world peace, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is that rare sequel which equals (at least for the most part) its predecessor. Those canine cute dragons are just frosting on the Viking cake. Technical merits are first rate and How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes Highly recommended.