There are a LOT of really great scenes in How to Train Your Dragon 2 but this is the one that had the most impact on me and FOR GOOD REASON:
It’s such a sweet and genuine song first of all.
It’s sung, at first, by this HUGE masculine viking who spent the better part of the first movie being super cold and distant, leaving his emotions at bay. Now he’s allowing himself to open up and express his feelings and that’s totally okay woah!!
Along with that his movements around Valka are slow and gentle, allowing her to either reciprocate or walk away. He never grabs her or tries to shove her right back into their relationship. He’s aware of how much time has passed, of her guilt, so homie’s playin it cool.
But yeah, ultimately SHE’S the one who agrees to the dance and picks up the pace and it’s SO GOOD to see both figures treating each other with so much love and respect.
Even better is that both parties are ADULTS, the mom and dad figures of the film series. Adults get written out or ignored so often in children’s movies, either by being dead throughout the entirety of the series OR by only showing up at key moments. Both Valka and Stoic are essential to the film, as is their relationship and Valka’s reason for leaving.
Did I mention how sweet and genuine the song is? Damn near every romance song in a kid’s film is built up to some schmalty love anthem but HTTYD2 takes a quieter, more human approach.
This isn’t even touching on the little details Dreamworks’ adds to their facial expressions and their movements and gosh everything here works so wonderfully please watch How to Train Your Dragon 2
