Review Summary: Soars to a terrific conclusion.
Over the past nine years, many have viewed How to Train Your Dragon as The Lord of the Rings of animated franchises. This is a series that kids have enjoyed, while young adults have proven to be big fans as well. Why has this appealed to all ages so well? It's important to note that back in 2010, Dragon was a game-changer for DreamWorks Animation. It was their first movie to truly compete with Pixar on a storytelling and critical level. It has the goofiness and adorable characters for kids, while having a deep story and relatable characters for the teens and adults in the audience. It also remains one of the best animated films of the past decade.
The sequel took a few steps back from the original, mostly because I felt it was too dark for a movie of its kind. The adorable interactions of Hiccup and Toothless were largely gone, and there was a bit too much of an edge. Hidden World regains at least a couple of those steps back, as director Dean DuBlois thankfully lightens things up and gives Hiccup and Toothless a more relatable arc. Now, it still doesn't quite reach the original, but as a finale, it lives up to expectations.
Starting with the animation, it's startling how much technology has advanced for animation in the past decade. And The Hidden World has its visual distinctions. The Isle of Berk has evolved (kind-of) into a colorful human-dragon paradise (of sorts). The humans all have more realistic features. And, in a stunning sequence, the Hidden World itself is a visual treat. There's glow-in-the-dark techniques mixed with dazzling color. It's worth the price of admission alone.
However, I'm not sure the title of the movie needed to be The Hidden World (or just How to Train Your Dragon 3). Because the actual "hidden world" only appears for a few minutes. It's discussed quite a bit, but this is more of a story of a changing relationship than finding this dragon birthplace. However, it is also a very good thing that this hidden place only plays a small part in the movie. The filmmakers wisely spend more time on developing characters rather than showing off the eye candy.
The story itself has its' nuanced, deep and interesting moments. The development behind Hiccup and Toothless goes in a couple of unexpected directions. A "father/son" dynamic is brought in here, as Hiccup struggles to come to terms with his dragon finding a girlfriend. His world is changing before his eyes, and he wants things to stay the way they are. Making this plotline even more effective are a handful of flashbacks to Hiccup and his dad, which effectively underscore the situation at hand.
Jay Baruchel remains one of the most unique talents out there, and his voicework continues to be convincing and memorable (as Hiccup). The supporting cast all does a nice job, and considering the cast of characters has grown some, DuBlois does a solid job trying to balance everyone. Now, it's not a perfect job (Christopher Mintz-Plasse's Fishlegs and Cate Blanchett's Valka seem to be pushed to the backseat a bit here while Craig Ferguson's Gobber and Kristen Wiig's Ruffnut seem to have more to do this time), but thankfully Hiccup's central story and character development is never overwhelmed.
As I mentioned earlier, there's definitely a lighter edge to this installment. That was definitely needed, as the second one had a bit too serious of a tone. There's several great jokes here, mainly from the supporting characters. It's all nicely-executed, without resorting to anything that feels forced, inappropriate, or out of left field.
The film does lag a bit in its' pacing in places. For one, they spend way too much time on Toothless and the Light Fury's budding romance. I think they could have deleted one of the four scenes involving the two characters and their courtship, getting to know each other, etc. With a little bit shorter time, it still would have been enough for the characters to have sufficient development. Some younger kids also won't quite understand the relationship either. A couple of the action scenes also go on a little too long in places.
But ultimately, I have to say, DreamWorks Animation (now under Universal) knows how to wrap a film series right. While this might not have been the intention (it was released last out of the entire franchise), Puss in Boots was the best out of all the Shrek films. Madagascar 3 was the most entertaining entry in that franchise, and Kung Fu Panda 3 wrapped its' trilogy on a pleasing and impressive note.
The Hidden World sends off Dragon in just about the right way. Now, I can't go into spoiler territory as far as how this series ends. But I can say that it is very satisfying and emotional. It is sad somewhat, but it also has some bits of happiness along with it. That's all I can really say at this time.
Yet (save for some pacing issues), its' still just as fun, thrilling, heartwarming and impressive as fans would want it to be.
My Score: 8.7/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is rated PG for "adventure action and some mild rude humor". Not quite as dark or intense as the second film, I would say ages 7 and up are relatively safe here. There is some action that includes arrows, tranquilizer darts, and flaming swords. Dragons are shown in very perilous situations many times. A character falls to his death. A giant dragon causes some minor destruction on the island. Intense at times for very young children.
Some jokes about "boy talk" and "who's the hottest girl on Berk?", but nothing really inappropriate or adult. Someone jokingly insinuates that one character has a crush on a woman much older than he is. We hear multiple uses of "gods" or "g**, I love that dragon!" as interjections. A character manipulates Toothless for his own personal gain, and kills dragons as a revenge tactic. Dragons show mating/courtship rituals that are more for laughs than anything else.
