Speaking of Joe Darnell:
My children didn’t seem especially engaged. It held their attention, but not like The LEGO Movie. Dragon 2 is entertaining, but for us it’s not like the first film. Something about it…in spite of its fantastic animation and plot development and adorable dragons, it left me feeling like the filmmakers cut corners wherever they knew young audiences wouldn’t be paying attention.
Joe and I certainly had different experiences with our children. I found mine were engaged throughout the entire film. What’s missing from the analysis though is how often our children go to films. I rarely take my children to the theater. In fact This is only the second time in about a year that I have taken all three of my movie going aged children to the theater, and only the third time in about a year that I have taken my oldest son to a movie. So perhaps the newness of specialness of the occasion caused my children to pay more attention. But then, maybe not because I really don’t know how often he takes his children to the theater.