Keep Training Those Dragons

Yesterday was end of term for Matthew and Daniel, and we had a timely treat in store for the boys. How To Train Your Dragon 2 hit the big screen this week. Matthew has been waiting for this to come out as soon as he’d seen the first instalment.

How to Train Your Dragon introduced us to Hiccup, son of Chief of Berk, Stoic. Hiccup isn’t an ordinary Viking, and can’t bring himself to kill dragons. In fact, he goes the other way and befriends a nightfury dragon, Toothless. Together, they change the course of Berk and make peace between the Vikings and the dragons.

The sequel picks up the story 5 years later and introduces a threat to Berk and the freedoms of the dragons. I’ll not give out any spoilers. But any fear of the sequel to a great introduction being a disappointment was soon dispelled. The story was engaging and nicely continued Hiccup’s coming of age. The animation is good – of not better than ever, and the script gave us laughs and tears, excitement and tension.

Its rare for a sequel to be better than the original, but this time that’s just what has come out. We know the characters so well this time round and we’re right behind them – so much so that Daniel was cheering at the movie’s climactic action scene.

For Matthew – and Daniel to a lesser degree – it was more than worth the wait. We’d just come out of the cinema and they were needing us to see if there’s going to be a third instalment. There is – due to come out in 2016 – so the countdown is on already. One of the countdowns that is – Matthew is already asking for the Blu Ray version of the movie. Hopefully that will hit the shelves by Christmas.

If you’re looking for a wonderful 2 hour treat for you and your little ones, you can’t go wrong with How To Train Your Dragon 2. You’ll laugh, cry and cheer. The perfect way to get the summer holidays underway.