Also known as, "How to Rush Out Your Blog Post." Work beckons, but first I just had to throw this out here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11teqw_how-to-train-your-dragon-2_shortfilms?search_algo=2#.Ud-zw9g9WM0
Daily Motion embeds don't seem to work on Blogger. Also, I may need to change my pants.
For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, the trailer to How to Train Your Dragon 2 has been leaked/released/whatever. Now, I absolutely love the original, but I'm the sort of person who's naturally doubtful about sequels, and even of continuations (e.g. in TV series). I've had too many bad experiences in that regard. That said, this trailer blew me away, but let us not lose our heads. Let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of this little bit of footage, shall we?
Positives
The film looks absolutely amazing. It is so very easy to become jaded when there are so many animated films coming out with high production values, and when pretty much anyone seems to be able to slap together something that would have taken the finest minds in the industry months, if not years, to put together a mere decade ago. That said, the sheer visual quality of this teaser has truly raised the bar for Dreamworks. The textures, the lighting, everything is of the utmost quality.
This is a very energetic flight sequence, with great cinematography. Yes, this isn't "Test Drive" from the original, but it's not supposed to be. This is a much more experienced Hiccup and Toothless flying, with all that implies, and Dean DeBlois is directing this film solo, so there are going to be differences in how the scene is shot. And that's absolutely fine.
Making Hiccup older (and the other characters, for that matter, but Hiccup is the most noticeable at present) is a daring move. That is just what is needed in this sequel. Dreamworks sequels (mostly Shrek and Madagascar - from what I gather, Kung Fu Panda 2 took some risks that paid off) in the past have suffered very much from being more of the same. By skipping ahead in time, DeBlois has minimised the chance of that happening here.
The music. Now, judging from teaser trailers in the past, that's probably not music from the actual movie, but if it is, then it will not only be a very promising sign for the rest of the film's music. Though given that John Powell is, according to IMDB, doing the score again, I think we can be fairly sure it will be good.
Negatives
While I like that they've aged Hiccup, I don't like the design for him. It just feels too blandly handsome. I liked that Hiccup looked like a dork in the original, as it made him more relatable. That said, this is a small problem, and I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Neutral
I'm honestly not sure what to think about Hiccup's "wing-suit" (there's probably a technical term for it that escapes me). It's an interesting idea, and looks good in action, but I fear that it will make him too independent of Toothless. If I had to pick one thing that made the original film work, it would have to be just how much the two needed each other, especially by the film's end. I don't want to see Hiccup able to fly without Toothless, or vice versa (why yes, I did have very mixed feelings about the short film Gift of the Night Fury). Fortunately, it looks like the two can only glide when separated, which should keep them together except when it's dramatic to separate them.
I am rather curious as to how directly this is going to follow on from the TV series Dragons: Riders of Berk. On the one hand, I would hate to see that all become rather pointless. On the other hand, I haven't been able to see most of it yet, and I doubt most people outside of the USA will have been able to see much of it by the time this movie is released. Only time will tell, I suppose.
Conclusion
In summary, in spite of my own general rule to avoid hype, this teaser trailer has just shot the film up to the top of my "Most Anticipated Films" list. At the very least, it should be one heck of a visual experience. Now, to figure out how to separate myself from the internet between the US and Australian release dates.
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