How To Train Your Dragon 2

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Toothless looks at another dragon. How to Train Your Dragon 2

How To Train Your Dragon – Five years after his village has made peace with dragons, Hiccup spends his time exploring the lands around his home with his dragon, Toothless. When he discovers a new area, he finds a lot of unexpected danger as well as someone who he thought was long-lost to him. Now, with the knowledge that a dangerous madman named Drago wishes to capture dragons for his ‘Dragon Army’, Hiccup must do all he can to stop him before he can gain control of all the dragons, including Toothless, but will it be enough to defeat a man who is stronger and more ruthless than he is?

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) – Director: Dean DeBlois

Is How To Train Your Dragon 2 appropriate for kids

Rating: PG

Running Length: 102 mins

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Djimon Hounsou

Genre: Animated, Fantasy

REVIEW: ‘HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2’

The sequel to 2010’s ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ had a lot to live up to as being appealing to both adults and children can be a difficult task but thankfully, Dean DeBlois proves that the charming and funny original was not a one-off. The energy and chemistry between Hiccup and Toothless remains wonderful and marks the heart of this movie. Hiccup is still very intelligent and now has the (somewhat unreliable) ability to fly with the aid of some dragon-inspired wings. The focus on Hiccup’s intellect and engineering skills is great to show kids that strength isn’t always what is needed to be better than those around you.

What the ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ films do well is aim themselves at an older child audience. This ensures that good messages are being put across and a great (and sometimes gritty) story is being told with plenty of humour without coming across as patronising while dealing with the theme of ‘good’ versus ‘evil’. It has to be said that the majority of the comedy comes from Toothless’ playfulness. While a conversation is happening in the foreground, Toothless can often be seen in the background bounding around or annoying other dragons in a manner that will be familiar to anyone with household pets.

‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ is an excellent movie which both kids and their accompanying adults will enjoy tremendously. The film also deals with mature emotions meaning that it can be upsetting and bleak at times. So, although the audience’s hope for a happy ending is not lost, you may wish to ensure that you have plenty of tissues with you!

CONTENT: IS ‘HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie starts with several sheep huddled together, looking very frightened. They move as a unit, and are constantly looking up, moving from underneath one building to another. Eventually, the group of sheep push one of the members of the huddle out into the open and it is almost instantly taken by a dragon. It is thrown from one dragon to another, helpless and trembling with fear. It is soon revealed that this is part of a game which the whole village of Berk are watching, the aim of which is for the players to put as many sheep in their baskets as possible. The sheep are also put into a catapult and fired into the air incredibly fast, again the sheep are very frightened and are not willing participants in the game. This scene (and one later in the movie) implies that animals can be used against their will. This could be quite upsetting for some kids and it may not be a message that parents wish to instil in their children.

The dragons who are ridden by Hiccup and his friends are captured in nets on several occasions. They struggle in distress and some of them have their heads pushed down to the ground with a foot or sometimes a wooden staff despite the protestations of their riders who are helpless to stop their captors. The people who capture the dragons clearly don’t care about whether the dragons are scared or hurt and are quite cruel to them. The villain of the movie, Drago, wears a dragon-skin cloak, showing that he has no qualms about killing dragons.

One of the female characters, Ruffnut, sees a dragon trapper, Eret, and instantly becomes enamoured with him. There are a few close-up shots of his muscles bouncing in slow motion and she groans with pleasure whenever she sees him. While this is little more than teenage infatuation, it does border on mild sexual fantasy which parents may feel a little uncomfortable with their children seeing.

In one scene, when Hiccup is flying with Toothless, a person appears from the clouds wearing a mask that has numerous spikes on the top and the eyes are large dark circles. They glide passed the pair and disappear back into the clouds. Hiccup is then captured and taken to this person’s dark and scary lair; he is surrounded by dragons and the person in the mask approaches him slowly. Hiccup is brave but is clearly frightened. When Hiccup is taken, Toothless falls into the freezing water below him. He tries to fly and climb out but is trapped and struggles to stay above the water. The camera then focuses on some huge underwater dragons approaching Toothless, only the spikes on their backs can be seen (similar to a shark’s fin) and as they reach Toothless, he is dragged underwater with them. The scene shifts to Hiccup pleading with his captor to save his dragon because ‘he’ll drown’. However, a short while later it is revealed that Toothless is alive and well. This whole scene could be very frightening and distressing for younger kids.

One character explains how they have lived among dragons for a very long time and several have been saved from trappers. She points out injuries that some of the dragons have, for example, one that lost a leg in a trap, one that had its wing sliced in razor wire and another that was blinded and left for dead.

As has been shown in the trailers, Hiccup finds his mother, who he believed had been killed by a dragon when he was a baby. Hiccup’s father, Stoick, also finds her and their reunion is very emotional. One established character is killed during the final third of the film and the following five to ten minutes are very emotional, especially when their loved ones are speaking at the funeral.

There is a scene towards the end of the movie where Hiccup and his friends lose everything and the situation becomes very desperate. Hiccup manages to find his fighting spirit and is able to carry on, however this moment is very bleak and it could be upsetting for a lot of kids as it is unclear how there can be a happy ending from it.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?
VERDICT: IS ‘HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2’ FOR KIDS?

‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ not only lives up to being the sequel of the first movie but also the hype that has surrounded its cinematic release. Due to some adult themes and how desperate the plight in the movie becomes, we feel that this movie may be too much for little kids and therefore we recommend it for children aged 6 and over. We would also recommend adult accompaniment for the movie for kids aged under 8 in case any reassurance is needed.

  • Violence: 2/5 (there is a large-scale battle which includes hundreds of men and dragons, most of the action is seen from a distance, however when two huge dragons fight, one eventually impales the other with its tusks. The injury isn’t seen and the death is only revealed from the expressions of the characters who see it happen)
  • Emotional Distress: 3/5
  • Fear Factor: 2/5
  • Sexual Content: 1/5
  • Bad Language: 0/5 (one character says that they will ‘Kick Drago’s …’ but is cut off mid-sentence)
  • Dialogue: 1/5
  • Other notes: Deals with themes of friendship, family, treating sentient beings with respect, fighting against an oppressive force,bravery, sacrifice and forgiveness.

Words by Laura Record

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