How to Train Your Dragon 2 Directed by:Dean DeBlois Starring: (voices of) Jay Baruchel, Kristen Wiig, Gerard Butler Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: June 20, 2014
Trailer Score: 9/10
Thoughts by TSR: Simple, effective, and absolutely beautiful: This is how you do a teaser. There isn’t much to it – to be expected considering the film doesn’t come out until June 2014 – but every moment is executed with beautiful perfection. I liked How to Train Your Dragon just fine back in 2010. Still, I haven’t been particularly excited about the prospect of a sequel. Part of that could be because it’s so far off, though I usually have no problem looking forward to films a year or two ahead of time. This teaser has changed that. While it’s not even a given that this sequence will show up in the final film, it did its job and then some by getting me excited to return to the Isle of Berk.
If ever a teaser has begged to be experienced in 3D, this is probably it. Though I didn’t see the first film in the extra dimension, I recall it being generally praised. It’s easy to imagine this sequence of Hiccup and Toothless flying through the clouds being even more stunning with a bit of added depth. Nevertheless, it still soars (ugh) on a computer monitor. The gorgeous flight animation and the music – “Beyond the Clouds” by the trailer music wizards at Audiomachine – are a perfect match, and even though I didn’t see it on a giant theater screen, this first teaser for How to Train Your Dragon 2 left me with chills.