Looking at the way some people have talked about it online, I may have underestimated just how much people love the How To Train Your Dragon series. It’s probably due to the Toy Story effect, you see the first one when you’re young, and you grow up with the following installments just like the main character, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel). I do love the first film, but found the 2014 sequel to be a hot mess (though, the original ideas for it sounded promising). Either way, fans finally get their capper for the trilogy with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
Writer and director, Dean DeBlois, returns as does most of the cast. This time around, Hiccup finds out about a night fury hunter named Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), who has his eyes set on Toothless. He uses this as an excuse to seek the mythical land that his father used to tell him about called The Hidden World, a utopia where all dragons live in peace away from humanity. Meanwhile, Toothless is forming – or at least, he’s trying to – a bond with a female white fury, which sort of mirrors and runs parallel to Hiccup’s growing relationship with Astrid (America Ferrera).
Reviews like this are really hard to write because I don’t have particularly strong feelings about neither the franchise, nor this specific film. It’s not a bad one, it’s not really a great one. I had a good time for the most part, but did find myself engaging with it less and less as it went along. The characters are still likable, even if the obnoxiousness of Hiccup’s friends occasionally threatens that. There’s nothing really wrong with the film. The worst I can say is that it’s going through the motions.
It also feels a tad derivative of some of the themes explored in prior films. Hiccup learning to be a better leader for the people of Berk was already explored in How To Train Your Dragon 2. There isn’t much in terms of crafting a satisfying character arc or pushing the characters in new directions, even though it constantly feels like it’s on the verge of doing it, and backing off before it can commit. It’s just odd to see, especially considering all three films were handled by the same creative team. Perhaps it’s a result of the changes made to the second film’s story, can’t say for sure.
Characters introduced in the second film like Eret (Kit Harington) and Valka (Cate Blanchett) are here, but they don’t have a thing to do. Abraham certainly brings a delightfully sinister presence, but he’s a nothing character with a motivation that feels like an afterthought. No complaints against the cast, though. Everyone does solid work, and – in certain instances – elevate the uneven material into something that resembles emotional resonance.
If nothing else, the How To Train Your Dragon series has always been where DreamWorks Animation shows off the capabilities of state-of-the-art animation. The film is stunning, and it would be so even without the use of Roger Deakins as a visual consultant. John Powell’s score is still lovely. The designs, especially of the dragons, are still wonderfully weird. The action sequences are appropriately thrilling and intense. Plus, Toothless is always a joy to watch.
That’s honestly all I got. Like I said, not a bad movie by any stretch, but it just didn’t do much for me. If you are a fan of the series, and have loved everything so far, then I can’t imagine why this won’t resonate with you. It’s conclusions might be typical of movies like this, but if you’ve spent a lot of time with these characters, and you’ve really grown to love them, this might be the finale you’ve been waiting for. I wish I enjoyed these more, or more specifically, the sequels, but maybe I wasn’t the right age for the series to really dig their hooks into me. But considering where it ends up, I would be open to the idea of an additional adventure, Hiccup can really rock a beard.