With production difficulties meaning Pixar didn't have a movie ready to unveil this year, 2014 looked like it was going to be a rather lacklustre twelve months for animation. Which makes it all the more surprising that not one, but two animated flicks make the top twenty. For How To Train Your Dragon 2, rather than running the franchise into the ground by continuation a la Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, Dreamworks has kept story and visual beauty a primary focus for their sequel, making something totally worthy of the original. The movie ignites a child-like wonder that so few big movies do, fully drawing you into its increasingly defined world. There's been blockbuster-style animated movies before, but never before has a CGI movie transcended its medium to sit shoulder to shoulder with live-action spectacle. In the pre-release press hype Dean DeBlois was boldly making comparisons to The Empire Strikes Back, and when Hiccup first dives down brandishing a lightsaber-esque fire sword it looks like the director's taken his own affectations a little too seriously. Thankfully, while Dragon 2 is a classic fantasy story painted against a fresh backdrop that improves on and broadens the scope of the original, it's certainly its own, very entertaining, beast. The end of the second act will reduce you to tears.
