Just got back from seeing this, and what an absolute stunner this is.
The second film in a trilogy is always in a tricky spot, as it has to set things up for the third film and one has to figure out how to end it, etc. And I feel they did a solid job of making an entertaining film where you *really* want to see the 3rd film right. now. I totally dug the new cast, the various emotional stakes and themes they're playing with, and just like the first film, the soundtrack is killer.
And then there's the animation. The first film blew me away with what it pulled off, no other film has truly captured the feeling of a comic book coming to life, and this film showed that the previous was merely a sampler of what they can do. Someone else said it best, there are films out there that you can only do with animation...and this one is proof positive of that! There are so many stunning shots in this, and they're just having a field day on pushing what's possible.
Personally for me, I see this being the best animated film this year. While there are some upcoming films I think will be a lot of fun like Nimona and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem), I don't see them reaching the very high bar this one has set. As much as I want to say How Do You Live?, Studio Ghibli is giving us nothing but the poster before its release, and it's only being released in Japan at the moment.
All in all, a very enjoyable film and next year can't come soon enough!