How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

"You do know that my leg isn't a chew toy, don't you?"
-Hiccup



It's been a year since the events of the second movie and Berk has become a sanctuary for dragons under the rule of Chief Hiccup (Jay Baruchel).  Meanwhile, the surviving members of Drago's army from the previous film hire the infamous dragon hunter, Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), to put a stop to Hiccup's raids on their ships.  With Berk too difficult to defend, Hiccup leads the dragons and the vikings to find a legendary utopia where they will all be safe, but to further complicate matters, Toothless meets another Night Fury and quickly falls for her.


What Works:

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a stunningly beautiful movie.  The animation looks fantastic, especially during the fiery action scenes.  The color of the Hidden World itself is gorgeous and there are some really amazing looking sequences of Toothless and the female Night Fury flying around.  This film really is a work of art.

While not quite as fleshed out as the second film's villain, Drago, Grimmel is a perfectly acceptable bad guy.  From early on, we are shown just how much of a threat this guy is.  He's definitely a fearsome opponent.  What I really like about Grimmel is that he is a hunter and loves the thrill of the chase.  This is all a game to him and I really like that kind of villain.

Toothless, as in the previous films, is simply the best.  I love everything about this character and his mannerisms.  He's just a treat to watch every time he is on screen.  The sequence where he is trying to impress the female Night Fury is one of the funniest things I've ever seen and I couldn't get enough of it.

Finally, the emotional moments of this movie are some of the strongest of the series.  The film is about two best friends faced with possibly having to go their separate ways.  It's a really emotional film and my eyes may have watered a bit.  The characters in this film are very easy to relate to and the story is extremely investing.  The ending of the film is simply perfection and ends the trilogy on the highest note possible.  I hope they don't make a 4th film because this whole trilogy was fantastic and the story feels complete.


What Sucks:

Not all of the humor works with the other dragon riders.  I do appreciate that they were all given more to do in this film than in second, but it didn't all work for me.  In particular, the jokes involving Snotlout (Jonah Hill) were by far the weakest part of the film and almost all of them fell flat.


Verdict:

Though not quite as good as the second film, The Hidden World wraps up this series to near-perfection.  The film looks beautiful, the villain is solid, the action scenes are exciting, and the emotional aspects are wonderful.  Not all of the humor works, but this film and this film series have completely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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