In terms of length, the narrative focus of this "How to Train Your Dragon" has clearly shifted to people rather than dragons. However, the part that stands out is almost all in the part of the dragon, and the story of people is a little dull. Part of the reason is the wavering of character values and the film's stance. A large part of this is reflected in whether to inherit or rebel against authority, tradition or patriarchy.
Stogo plays the most authoritative role of this patriarchy in both How to Train Your Dragon movies. In the second episode, Stogo's funeral scene, Hiccup, his mother and friends fire arrows that ignite the boat carrying Stogo's body. The younger generation of these characters has always been a representative of rebellion against tradition, and Hiccup's mother is a predecessor who rebelled against tradition. They send away his father, who represents the highest authority of Bock, and represents the arrival of a new era.
The question is, what kind of new era is this?
The director also seems conflicted. On the one hand, the charm of Hiccup comes from the personality that dares to deviate from the usual way, but on the other hand, the continuation of the tradition seems to be worth paying attention to.
Hiccup's affirmation of tradition has a track record. In the first part, he tried to kill a dragon because he wanted the affirmation of his father, although after meeting the Toothless, he adopted a way of living in harmony with the dragon, but still wanted to gain authority and be the majority The recognition of the villagers to prove their worth. In the second installment, this is even more apparent - his resistance to being the leader comes more from lack of self-confidence than from disgust with the position itself.
Hiccup's personality is thwarted in the process of indirectly causing his father's death, but it cannot be completely denied. So after the death of Stogo, Hiccup and his companions fought back because the little dragons "don't listen to anyone", that is, they don't recognize the authority of the Dragon King. The twins even added "they are just like us". In the second part, there are a lot of obvious human-dragon echoes, such as the Black Dragon King vs White Dragon King corresponds to Dreyfus vs Stogo, or the relationship between Hiccup and his mother corresponds to the relationship between Toothless and Yun Zhongyue, When these are still interesting to express in pictures, it is a matter of opinion whether it is necessary to say it through the mouth of the characters.
When Hiccup returns to Berk Island with the help of a dragon who doesn't listen to anyone like him five years ago, he still has to face Dreyfus who has taken his authority away. Here is another echo. The struggle between Hiccup and Dreyfu, and the struggle between Toothless and the Black Dragon, constitute a set of parallel relationships.
Toothless's defeat of Black Alpha is a challenge to authority, but one that is obviously also carried out within the traditional framework of authority. When Black and White Alpha fought, there seemed to be a tacit understanding that the Dragon King must be of this type with big fangs, so when a cute creature like Toothless challenged the status of Dragon King, people were moved to Toothless for Friendship can break through traditional barriers to challenge authority. But a very important point, this kind of challenge is still in line with the logic of the authority of the winner to be the king, and in line with the tradition that the dragon family must challenge the old dragon king to become the dragon king.
Correspondingly, Hiccup also has a very obvious similar trajectory in the process of becoming the leader. Although he constantly rebelled against his father's old-fashioned ideas and wanted to use peaceful means to remove evil forces like Dreyfus, in the end he had to use what his father believed to be war to win.
The first is a triumph of breaking tradition, and the second is a triumph of tradition. If antisocial madmen like Dreyfus can only be dealt with the traditional logic of winning or losing, then what? Should Hiccup rebel or inherit?
Ultimately, the film takes a moderate avoidance of the issue: it emphasizes the importance of responsibilities, but doesn't say whether those responsibilities should be fulfilled by following tradition or breaking it. The statue of Stogo was erected, but the order of humans and dragons established by Hiccup was maintained. Respect tradition but not superstitious tradition? This kind of answer seems a little weak, like the standard answer of ideological and political courses.
As far as the viewing experience is concerned, I am very satisfied with "How to Train Your Dragon 2". Thinking about the narrative, it seems to be a transitional product linking the previous and the next. Hiccup became the leader, and Toothless became the Dragon King. In the third part, how to fulfill the responsibility of the king will be a problem that Hiccup and Toothless have to face together. The second part answers Hiccup's "WHO" (who am I) question through the presence of his mother, and the third part he should face the "HOW" (how to do) question, my hunch is that Toothless will will be a key factor.
View more about How to Train Your Dragon 2 reviews
