Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2
Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2
In a word: AWESOME! This is a move for adults packaged as a movie for kids. Something for everyone to enjoy, and packed to the gills with humor, plot, character development, and more. Major spoilers beneath the cut:
Leaving childhood behind, that can be a scary and sad transition. There is a sacrifice involved.
Babies don't have to listen. And let's face it, sometimes adults don't listen too well either.
The maturity of Hiccup's established relationship with Astrid contrasted with such a fantastic unspoken comparison to the infatuated crushes displayed by their peers, highlighting one of the reasons why Stoick was actually right to believe Hiccup was ready to take on additional responsibilities for the village. Sometimes father does know best.
Hiccups meeting his long-believed-dead mother. A family reunited, because they chose to focus on the positive of reconnection and love, instead of delving into shouting, yelling or blaming. Mature drama at its finest.
Forgiveness. Forgiveness of abandonment. Forgiveness of losing control.
How could anyone live up to the bravery and selflessness Stoic embodied? [paraphrased]
We can only try.
Try to live in peace. Try to talk things out instead of going to war. Try to communicate with a father who was just as stubborn as you are. Try to figure out how to move into adulthood when you're not sure you're ready to take that step. Try to take on responsibilities you aren't sure you can fulfill. Try to change the minds of people who don't want to listen.
But Hiccup had to try. He refused to give up. He believed that seeking peace and living in unity with the dragons was possible. Sharing that peace and unity with the world outside his own home. He trusted his feelings on this matter.
Trust was, in fact, a huge partner with loyalty throughout the movie. The many exercises of trust on display between Hiccup and Toothless. How Hiccup fearlessly put his life in his dragon's hands, err... wings, several times. JUST FOR KICKS. Because he trusted him that much. I've now watched this movie three times, and each time I've picked up more and more details revealing the depths of Hiccup and Toothless' trust and loyalty with each other. Not just in the big obvious moments, but in the smaller, blink-and-you'll-miss-it gestures, and shared glances of communication with each other. The vibrant affection in their play, and the fierceness of their protective defense of each other. Heart of a chief and soul of a dragon, indeed.
Loyalty.
This is what it means to earn the loyalty of a dragon.
It means that dragon will trust you with control. Willingly, not because there is no choice. It means that dragon will protect you to the best of its ability. It means that dragon can become more than he knew he was capable of, because he loves you just that much.
Chief equals Alpha. Just as Toothless stepped up in a time of crises because his heart was loyal to his human, so too Hiccup stepped from the lingering remnants of childhood into true adulthood. We saw the two Alphas/Chiefs fall to a challenger, and then become replaced by the true choice of their own people.
Drago Bludvist was a man who saw himself as an Alpha. Dragon Master, the man who controlled all dragons through force and will. His styling of so-called leadership was very much a dictatorship. When he placed his heavy boot on Hookfang's, and later Toothless' head in a display of dominance, it evoked an imagery of slavery that turned my stomach in horrified rejection. He wanted the subjugation of both beast and man.
Good dragons under the control of bad men will do bad things.
Yes, bad things indeed. It wasn't Toothless' fault he got mind-whammied by Drago's Bad Alpha. None of the dragons who got mind-whammied were to blame. How to break through the control and restore free will, that was the problem.
A man who kills without reason cannot be reasoned with. But that doesn't mean others can't be reasoned with.
Drago failed to understand one salient fact about lasting leadership. Obedience through fear and force is a revolt waiting to happen. What happens when the masses turn on you?
Inconceivable.
You won't get your dragon back, but you're welcome to try. [again paraphrased]
Oh, try. There's that word again. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Domination versus persuasion. Force of will exerted in two entirely different ways. And leading to an entirely different outcome than anyone saw coming.
Once you have a dragon's loyalty, there is nothing he won't do for you.
I had goosebumps from Toothless's determined defense of his human friend. His body, seeming so tiny in comparison to the Alpha dragon, was the perfect size to cocoon protectively around Hiccup. And the fire in his heart to eradicate the threat to Hiccup's safety triggered the reveal of something even bigger. Daring to challenge the Alpha, to protect others. Creating a unity of cause from sheer force of will, turned to a positive purpose.
This is what it means to be Alpha and Chief, because "a Chief protects his own." Leading by example can mean taking the risk of failure. But the rewards... well. The rewards can lead to a brighter future for all.
So really, who needs an army or Armada, when you can have dragons leading the way to a whole new world of possibilities?
And my final words on the movie: I need a Toothless collectible that comes with the new plasma-blue glow option. Because that was just so freaking cool. Our boy and his dragon, all grown up. I hope we see where their next adventure takes them, because I'm not ready for this story to be over yet.
P.S. Go see it. And if you've seen it already, I still recommend seeing it again. It's the kind of movie that rewards repeat viewings because there are so many details to take in, both foreground and background. I wish Hollywood made more movies like it.
In a word: AWESOME! This is a move for adults packaged as a movie for kids. Something for everyone to enjoy, and packed to the gills with humor, plot, character development, and more. Major spoilers beneath the cut:
Leaving childhood behind, that can be a scary and sad transition. There is a sacrifice involved.
Babies don't have to listen. And let's face it, sometimes adults don't listen too well either.
The maturity of Hiccup's established relationship with Astrid contrasted with such a fantastic unspoken comparison to the infatuated crushes displayed by their peers, highlighting one of the reasons why Stoick was actually right to believe Hiccup was ready to take on additional responsibilities for the village. Sometimes father does know best.
Hiccups meeting his long-believed-dead mother. A family reunited, because they chose to focus on the positive of reconnection and love, instead of delving into shouting, yelling or blaming. Mature drama at its finest.
Forgiveness. Forgiveness of abandonment. Forgiveness of losing control.
How could anyone live up to the bravery and selflessness Stoic embodied? [paraphrased]
We can only try.
Try to live in peace. Try to talk things out instead of going to war. Try to communicate with a father who was just as stubborn as you are. Try to figure out how to move into adulthood when you're not sure you're ready to take that step. Try to take on responsibilities you aren't sure you can fulfill. Try to change the minds of people who don't want to listen.
But Hiccup had to try. He refused to give up. He believed that seeking peace and living in unity with the dragons was possible. Sharing that peace and unity with the world outside his own home. He trusted his feelings on this matter.
Trust was, in fact, a huge partner with loyalty throughout the movie. The many exercises of trust on display between Hiccup and Toothless. How Hiccup fearlessly put his life in his dragon's hands, err... wings, several times. JUST FOR KICKS. Because he trusted him that much. I've now watched this movie three times, and each time I've picked up more and more details revealing the depths of Hiccup and Toothless' trust and loyalty with each other. Not just in the big obvious moments, but in the smaller, blink-and-you'll-miss-it gestures, and shared glances of communication with each other. The vibrant affection in their play, and the fierceness of their protective defense of each other. Heart of a chief and soul of a dragon, indeed.
Loyalty.
This is what it means to earn the loyalty of a dragon.
It means that dragon will trust you with control. Willingly, not because there is no choice. It means that dragon will protect you to the best of its ability. It means that dragon can become more than he knew he was capable of, because he loves you just that much.
Chief equals Alpha. Just as Toothless stepped up in a time of crises because his heart was loyal to his human, so too Hiccup stepped from the lingering remnants of childhood into true adulthood. We saw the two Alphas/Chiefs fall to a challenger, and then become replaced by the true choice of their own people.
Drago Bludvist was a man who saw himself as an Alpha. Dragon Master, the man who controlled all dragons through force and will. His styling of so-called leadership was very much a dictatorship. When he placed his heavy boot on Hookfang's, and later Toothless' head in a display of dominance, it evoked an imagery of slavery that turned my stomach in horrified rejection. He wanted the subjugation of both beast and man.
Good dragons under the control of bad men will do bad things.
Yes, bad things indeed. It wasn't Toothless' fault he got mind-whammied by Drago's Bad Alpha. None of the dragons who got mind-whammied were to blame. How to break through the control and restore free will, that was the problem.
A man who kills without reason cannot be reasoned with. But that doesn't mean others can't be reasoned with.
Drago failed to understand one salient fact about lasting leadership. Obedience through fear and force is a revolt waiting to happen. What happens when the masses turn on you?
Inconceivable.
You won't get your dragon back, but you're welcome to try. [again paraphrased]
Oh, try. There's that word again. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Domination versus persuasion. Force of will exerted in two entirely different ways. And leading to an entirely different outcome than anyone saw coming.
Once you have a dragon's loyalty, there is nothing he won't do for you.
I had goosebumps from Toothless's determined defense of his human friend. His body, seeming so tiny in comparison to the Alpha dragon, was the perfect size to cocoon protectively around Hiccup. And the fire in his heart to eradicate the threat to Hiccup's safety triggered the reveal of something even bigger. Daring to challenge the Alpha, to protect others. Creating a unity of cause from sheer force of will, turned to a positive purpose.
This is what it means to be Alpha and Chief, because "a Chief protects his own." Leading by example can mean taking the risk of failure. But the rewards... well. The rewards can lead to a brighter future for all.
So really, who needs an army or Armada, when you can have dragons leading the way to a whole new world of possibilities?
And my final words on the movie: I need a Toothless collectible that comes with the new plasma-blue glow option. Because that was just so freaking cool. Our boy and his dragon, all grown up. I hope we see where their next adventure takes them, because I'm not ready for this story to be over yet.
P.S. Go see it. And if you've seen it already, I still recommend seeing it again. It's the kind of movie that rewards repeat viewings because there are so many details to take in, both foreground and background. I wish Hollywood made more movies like it.