How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

(Netflix Streaming, December 2015)  I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original How to Train your Dragon despite recognizing its many qualities, and I have similar feelings about its sequel as well: It’s competent fare, well-executed, warm and beautiful.  As a sequel, How to Train a Dragon 2 does nearly everything right: it expands the scope of the universe, picks up the story at another stage of the protagonist’s evolution, delivers something like the first film without being the first film.  Writer/director Dean DeBlois knows what he’s doing, and the result distinguishes itself from many animated sequel cash-ins.  What seems quite a bit better this time around is the visual polish of the film, which is spectacularly animated from beginning to end, and far more visually interesting than it needed to be.  Jay Baruchel’s voice performance still brings a lot of personality to the protagonist.  This being said, I often wished that I’d like the result more: while watching the film, I often had the impression that it was hitting its targets but for a younger audience.  At least I can recognize that How to Train a Dragon 2 works, and that it should please everyone who loved the original more than I did.