How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 

Back in 2010 I was introduced to the Northern Viking island of Berk and the skinny, scrawny, anemic, and misbegotten less than favorite chieftains’ son, Hiccup and the Night Fury Toothless and I couldn’t have been more surprised, enthralled, or pleased by DreamWorks offering of How To Train Your Dragon.  Been hooked on the story and characters ever since.  As such, I was beyond stoked to see for the concluding film in the franchise, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.  Bundled up like Nanook of the North, I braved freezing cold (literally), wind, and rain to be among the first to see the film.  High expectations?  You bet!

Were my expectations met or even exceeded? Honestly, no.

Don’t get me wrong.  The Hidden World is a solid film that delights more than disappoints, but it’s a tad underwhelming too.  Yes!  All the gang is back (save for T.J. Miller, the part of Tuffnut is now voiced by Justin Rupple), sweet!  However, they aren’t as integrated or integral to the storyline this time around.  As a final film in the trilogy, that’s disappointing.  I wanted more time to enjoy Gobber, Fishlegs, Snoutlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut, etc. before the last goodbye.  These crucial secondary characters have been pushed too far into the background this time around. 

There’s also, once again a villain problem.  The lauded F. Murray Abraham plays Grimmel, our big bad this time around.  He’s billed as the greatest most fearsome dragon killer around.  There’s talk and more talk about how he’s something no one can best, yet, for the most part that’s all it is.  A lot of talk.  There’s plenty of action, but the character himself is generic and bland at best.  If you hand Abraham a role, give him on that he can sink his teeth into and do justice.  I’m not even going to get into the Kit Harington mess.  Seems more like a look, we got Jon Snow from Game of Thrones in our film than an actual character.

The storyline is a bit problematic given the previous films and tv shows as well.  The reasoning behind upping and moving from Berk now, doesn’t ring quite true.  And while I love the fact that the writers have allowed the characters to grow-up they haven’t really grown.  If anything, they’ve been devolved. Hiccup’s character has been reduced to a rehash of doubt, insecurity, and neediness seen in the first film, no longer the new kind of Viking leader he’d become.  Again, I wanted more from him.  As for Astrid, well she’s also been reduced to a basic sidekick/love interest not the bad@$$ warrior she’s been. And while the love stories, especially Toothless’, are adorable there is just too much time devoted to them, particularly in a life and death crisis.  And forgive my crassness, but at this juncture I feel a bros before hoes code of conduct between Hiccup and Toothless is more apt. 

While the pacing is a bit slow at the beginning (I didn’t get bored per se, but the film just washed over me for a good fifteen minutes or so) of the film following the opening raid, once things pick up the story does keep your interest and is cute, entertaining, and offers some good action/thrills.  The visuals are absolutely stunning, especially in 3D.  The Hidden World sequence harkens back to Coco and is mesmerizing.  Powerful music score by John Powell.

N  Kids will definitely love it, even the mushy parts, and adults can get into it as well.  While not as stand alone or emotionally satisfying as say a Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a largely satisfying end to the movie franchise.  The final scenes definitely left me with warm fuzzies and a happy smile on my face.  Definitely worth a trip to the theater.  It’s a 7 from me.

ot the slam dunk conclusion to the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy I wanted/expected, The Hidden World is still a solid, enjoyable film.