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IMO, it's a good movie, but it takes for granted that you've seen the first one, and have been active on it's website. There's no exposition whatsoever about the new dragons, the bad guy has no backstory (nor in-movie explanation as to how he got his trump-card), and almost everyone other than Hiccup and his parents have been reduced to tertiary characters. Snotlout, Fishlegs & Tuffnut have been reduced to comic relief - and, granted, they're kind of that in the first one, but at no point do they get to really shine to the point they did in the first. I don't even remember Tuffnut saying anything that wasn't either a joke or a set-up for one.

The first half of the movie approaches being as good as the first one, and then... Well, then it stops doing so.

You're not the only person who thought that.

That is the beginning. There's the Dreamworks logo (sans Toothless' silhouette this time), Hiccup's traditional "this is Berk" voiceover (which goes on for maybe 20 seconds), and then the dragon races.

Villains without back-stories are rarely good villains.

Having a picture of a map does not mean the in-movie world has expanded. Sure there's a lot of islands on that map, but now think about the new places we actually go in the film: "Itchy Armpit Island", the Alpha's den, a few boats, and a dragon-proofed Berk. That's it.

The series gave us more expansion to the archipelago - and it actually focused on any new dragons that were introduced, instead of just reducing them to scenery.Okay, yes. The thing with Stoick (and who causes it) is definitely "darker" - but now think of the Bewilderbeast vs Alpha fight: When the lethal blow is struck, we're given a cut that feels like TVY7 editing, and the winner comes away with his tusks not having a drop of blood on them. Additionally, the enormous corpse of that thing is never seen again, in spite of having several more events happen within its proximity. (Also, Valka not reacting more to its demise or saying 'goodbye' to it bugs me, as she revered it almost like a god.)

BTW, what species was that dragon that got caught in the snap-trap? I hope it wasn't one of the new ones, because if it was then most people probably won't even know...Certainly one of its greater merits.The former, yes, but I must have missed the latter happening... unless you're referring to the Alpha's compulsion over the other dragons? If so, that's tantamount to mind control, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't count.What things did they flesh out that weren't made clear in the first movie? Valka's the only thing I can think of...Okay, the whole Ruffnut-Fantasizing-About-Eret thing was amusing (though I find it funny for other reasons than most people), but now give me some stuff that was funny that didn't have to do with that sub-plot. Better yet, give me a single line that wasn't a throw-away by Tuffnut, Snotlout or Fishlegs that didn't involve it, other than the latter asking about whether Hiccup found any new dragons, and basically getting ignored. (Come to think of it, I kinda feel for him on that...)Agreed. The new designs were excellent, and the flight scenes were badass. (The last one also contained pretty much the only blatant callback to the first film: Hiccup and Toothless are skimming the Alpha's tail and Hiccup says, "Oh, not again".)Meh. It mostly felt like remixes of the first movie's themes, to me. All of the "dark" scenes (particularly the one involving Stoick) had completely forgettable music, as I can't remember a single piece that evoked any feeling for me - and I'm not the only person who thought so.