Hiccup's growing up

Rating: 6/10 (11 September 2017)

I'm going to be honest here and say that this chapter wasn't anywhere near as good as the first one, but then again that is generally what you get when you come to sequels. Maybe it had something to do with me being distracted, or maybe it was just that they were simply trying to cash in on the success of the first movie that they decided to head into sequel (and now trilogy) territory. Well, that sometimes works, and the movies were actually based on a series of books, but that does not necessarily mean that they actually follow the books all that closely (apparently they don't).
Anyway, the film takes place five years after the previous film, and as we know from the end of the previous film all of the dragons moved in with the villagers and they are now part and parcel of their life. However, as Hiccup is out exploring he is attacked by some pirates, or more precisely dragon hunters, and discovers that there is this rather nefarious person out hunting all the dragons to create an army of dragons riders. Being the rather idealistic person that he is, Hiccup then decides to try and locate this fellow and attempt to convince him to have a change of heart (which we all know is going to fail abysmally).
I guess this is in part a coming of age story, but then again the first movie was like that as well with Hiccup training to become a warrior, but instead of following the ways of the villagers, heading out on his own and actually changing the village for the better. This is the story that continues here, particularly since we learn that he doesn't have a mother (and even though it was never explicitly stated in the first movie, the lack of an older female figure in his life suggested that he may not have one). Of course, we also have his rather good heart, and his belief that he can change somebody through reasoning and a well founded argument – only to discover that unfortunately doesn't work.
Yet even though it felt weaker than the first film, I still quite liked it. The film expanded the world somewhat, and we also discovered that there are many more varieties of dragons than what was introduced in the first film – including the gargantuan dragon who has the ability to control all other dragons in its vicinity. Of course, we have our antagonist, whose goals aren't that particularly clear, though we do know that he seems to have a chip on his shoulder with regards to dragons.
In the end, even though I didn't find this anywhere near as good as the first one, it was still a really fun movie to watch, and I admit that in the end I did enjoy it.