How To Train Your Dragon 2 (***)

The old gang is back in the less-than-imaginative sequel to one of 2010's best movies. 'How To Train Your Dragon' (still not the best title) followed a boy's journey as he convinced his village that dragons were friends, not villains, and along the way won over his father's respect. It was a surprising personal story, with very real moments and one goddamned hell of a cute dragon named Toothless.

The sequel picks up just about where we left off (although 10 or so years in the future) as Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is now older and wiser, and dragons have essentially become the standard household pet. Gone are the wild, beautiful animals we saw in the first film - here we see some accelerated domestication happening. Charting territory (or something along those lines) with his girlfriend (or fiance, or whatever), he stumbles upon an ice cave, and inside, he finds his long-lost mother Valka (Cate Blanchett). Assumed dead, he finds that she too has learned to gain the trust of wild dragons, and together they are now pitted against a new villain, Drago (Djimon Hounsou). Drago wants to use dragons to take over the world (as all villains do), and has enlisted all of the biggest and baddest dragons in the land to help...

What made the first film so special was a rare combination of animation, music, and originality. It had many extended moments with little to no dialogue, telling story solely through music and images. With the sequel, it seems like filmmakers thought the strengths were in action and one-liners. There are some tender moments with Hiccup and his mother, and John Powell (our composer) is just about on-par with his original, Oscar-nominated score.

The movie is a marvel of animation. The first film's flying sequences are truly amazing, and here again is a film that pushes limits and is first and foremost a work of art. Even character animation is so subtle; we recognize the tiniest shift in facial expression and realize it as truth. Its detractors have carried over from the first film: dumb sidekicks, the occasional lack of creative dialogue, and a conveniently wrapped up conclusion (and do I smell another sequel?).

Nevertheless, the film has moving moments and strong sense of collaboration. There is clearly a solid base on which the next film will be mantled, and the filmmakers behind these movies should be given much credit, indeed. Not the greatest movie, but hey, not the worst.

(Awards potential: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score)