Spoilers Darling – Don’t read on if you’ve been avoiding the trailer!
I have seen a few trailers in my time and they’re a pleasure to watch if done well. They intrigue and hook you on to a new story, but never give you so much information that you feel you could relay the whole movie to someone without ever even seeing it. This is a major issue I have with most trailers – I usually feel as if too much of the story has been given away.
The latest trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2 [2014] is a massive culprit when it comes to giving away too much info. I am so fucking excited for this movie. I loved the first one and found it to be one of the best of the Dreamworks feature animations – amongst few others such as Kung Fu Panda [2008], Megamind [2010], and some of their earlier productions, Shrek [2001], The Road to El Dorado [2000] and Chicken Run [2000]. I think Jay Baruchel was cast perfectly and his character Hiccup’s relationship with his dragon Toothless is touching and funny. I’m excited for the movie but incredibly disappointed by the main trailer. Why? Because they give away one of the crucial twists of the story.
In ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ the audience is told that Hiccup’s mother is dead. Classic animated family movie tradition. Would not want to be a parent in the Disney universe. And now, in the trailer we find out that Hiccup’s mother is actually alive. That is a twist. A big one. Why did they make that the focus of the trailer?
They quickly mention that Hiccup and Toothless will have to face against their biggest villain yet and then go straight back to Hiccup and his mother. This was a crucial aspect of the story that could have easily been avoided, not to mention incredibly rewarding had I seen it for this first time during the actual film.
The teaser trailer is breathtaking and I can’t wait to watch that whole sequence again on the big screen. You can watch both trailers in the links below and then proceed to agree or disagree with me in the comments.
Official Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsgOzj4NaJk
Teaser Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68AqHwgk2s8
Jess Cahill
Are you excited to see How To Train Your Dragon 2?
Screen Session 