Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Animated Feature 2014

The Contenders:

Big Hero 6 (winner)
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

A Little Hiccup

Film: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on The Nook.

I won’t pretend like I wasn’t interested in watching How to Train Your Dragon 2. I was curious as to where the story would go after the first film. It had a good, solid base to build on; the first film is smart, funny, and had a great sense of adventure. It is one of those great kid-oriented films that manages to be just as entertaining for adults and for the same reasons. Additionally, the original film does a few things differently from the typical animated kids’ film and does those things really well. The question, then, is if the sequel holds up.

We’re back to the village of Berk, which has become a haven for dragons in the five years that have passed since the first film. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), the savior of the town in the first film is essentially running away from his duties as chief-designate by his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). Stoick wants to turn the reins of power over to Hiccup, who doesn’t want them. And again, in a piece of smart writing, this isn’t an irresponsibility thing or a function of Hiccup’s constant exploring of new lands. It’s that he doesn’t think he has the qualities his father does as a leader and that he won’t be able to handle the job the way his father does.