Every bit as good as the first

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2015)

Back in 2010, a fun animated movie about how to train a dragon took Dreamworks by storm. With such success as the first movie achieved, a sequel came out 4 years later. As such, How To Train Your Dragon 2 had very high expectations to meet. To me, at least, these expectations were met and more.
The movie picks up with Hiccup and Toothless training to become a better duo as Berk, their home, has become a place where humans and dragons live together in peace. But Hiccup still has loose ends he needs to tie up, such as the timeless question to figure out his identity. Who is Hiccup? It is while looking for the answer to this very question that he and Astrid, his new girlfriend, stumble upon a group of people working for Dragonfist, the new villain, replacing the hell dragon from the previous movie.
Along the way, he meets his long-lost mother, who has a dragon safe haven of her own, which includes an Alpha, a king of all dragons. While she and Hiccup catch up and the dragons play with each other to get to know each other better, a mother-son bond forms in such a way that behind all the laughs in the movie is a heart-warming chemistry that works well with the plot of the movie. We even see Stoic, Hiccup's dad, reunite with her and see the promise of a family rebuilding. Honestly, that is something I'd be looking forward to seeing.
That is... until Dragonfist decided to be a dick and try to hold all the dragons hostage. This is actually important because it not only present Hiccup with his greatest challenge, but it puts to the test how well Hiccup and Toothless have really bonded with each other.
The animation is done just as well as the last movie, which alone makes this fun to watch. The laughs are well-timed in this film, which only makes since Toothless is still the most hilarious dragon this side of Eragon's Saphira. The plot is engaging and consistent with a healthy balance of action, drama, and comedy, which is what a good animated family film about dragons needs in addition to well-done animation, which this has. It is a sequel that not only matches the first, but builds on it.
Astrid and Hiccup aren't near each other too much, but when they are, their chemistry is good, so their relationship works. I would love to see this build upon itself in the next sequel, coming out in 2018. The only real downside was how easily Stoic was able to locate his son every time. Granted, this is explained, but still, I found this a bit too convenient. That aside, I would hope this doesn't go the Shrek route and impress the crowds again when movie 3 comes out.