How to Train Your Dragon 2

Writer-director Dean DeBlois breathes fresh fire into the second chapter of this enchanting animated franchise, returning to the mythological world of the Viking Hiccup and his dragon Toothless. Picking up five years after events in the original, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel), his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera), and the other graduates of the Berk Dragon Training Academy are soaring and swooping around the skies, showing off aerial acrobatics that could rival Harry Potter's Quidditch matches—except that these involve sheep and baskets. Hiccup's aging father Stoick (Gerard Butler) is grooming his now-grown son to become chieftain of the Nordic clan. Meanwhile, adventurous Hiccup encounters bad guy Eret (Kit Harington), a mercenary who traps dragons and forces them into servitude for his power-hungry boss, villainous Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). Fortunately, there's help: the reclusive vigilante Valka (Cate Blanchett), Hiccup's long-lost-and-presumed-dead mother from the icy Arctic, who dwells in a visually magnificent dragon sanctuary that is full of multi-colored winged reptiles—many of which she freed from captivity. Inspired by Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon books, this delightful family film is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Fishlegs' Dragon Stats” interactive segment, an art gallery, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an audio commentary (by story artist Simon Otto, producer Bonnie Arnold, writer-director Dean DeBlois, and production designer Pierre-Olivier Vincent), a “making-of” featurette (54 min.), a “Dawn of the Dragon Racers” all-new episode (27 min.), deleted scenes (12 min.), a “Berk's Dragon World” production featurette (4 min.), “Drago's War Machines” and “Hiccup's Inventions in Flight” galleries, trailers, and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an entertaining sequel.] (S. Granger)