If How To Train Your Dragon Had An Empire Strikes Back...

How To Train Your Dragon 2 would be it.

I can't rightly express my excitement as I got revved up to see this DreamWorks sequel. The first How To Train Your Dragon is the movie that changed my mind about the studio and made me begin to look at them as legitimate competitors with the likes of Pixar after so many years. And since that release in 2010 Dreamworks has almost completely won me over. This of course also comes on the heels of Pixar's collapse into sequel/prequel land. So what is there to say about this new trip into the world of How To Train Your Dragon?

Well, it's surprisingly darker. Definitely darker. That Empire comparison is the most accurate statement I can make as to the shift into darkness this franchise just took. But it somehow didn't compromise the family element. I was worried for a moment that parents wouldn't be able to bring their kids. Rest assured, the movie changed my mind quickly enough. Yet I tend to be on the side of applauding that bravery. The studio knows how big this movie is for them. These producers had to have some balls to let it move into this territory.

You should get excited about this movie. It expands the How To Train Your Dragon world to an impressive degree and lets you really understand the characters and what they are dealing with... past, present, and future. It also just looks so much better which is amazing because the animation of the first one was excellent. This is the kind of movie that makes me want another one right away because it was such an interesting successor to the original. I just want to know what the filmmakers have in store for us next.