*Minor to no spoilers in this review
Written by Peter Karleskint
Ever since its first entry in the series, I have been a beloved fan of the How to Train
I have even considered the first movie to be my favorite movie for some time now. It always gave me a feeling that I felt lacking from me as a child, not to mention my love for animals and pets which these movies somehow get perfectly accurate. When I heard that the third movie would be coming out, I was so excited. And so, as soon as I could go, I made my way to the theater to enjoy a movie with my highest of expectations. And I must say, the movie did a lot right.
The ensemble, now growing into the young adults they were always destined to be, has gone through quite a bit of growth since the first movie. They are always present and funny throughout, even if all but Hiccup and Astrid sometimes feel like running gags. While the original movie showed growth and open-mindedness from each of these characters, the most recent entry seems to forgo all development for everybody but the main two, opting instead to halt any further character growth for the rest of the ensemble.
This was a minor upset for me. While I have always loved each character, none of them have held my interest more than Hiccup and Astrid and that has not changed in this movie, though it does feel a bit more necessary this time around. For such a big movie in terms of scale, it was a little sad to see these characters’ potentials wasted for the final entry which seemed to mean so much. Still, seeing each character on screen finally really grown and acting like the Vikings of their town, it really did feel like the audience had grown with them over the course of the trilogy, each movie introducing an important lesson for all of us.
Granted, the lack of development for the entire ensemble seemed to be based in sacrifice for the overall story of Hiccup and Toothless. The two go through more development than any characters up to this point. The movie wants this to be their swan song. And in many ways, it does it right. The third entry is a bit reliant on having connected with the prior two movies, but if you have, then this entry will be impactful in more ways than one. There are constant, and welcome, references to the prior movies and a need to see where these characters have grown. At the start of the movie, it seems to show Hiccup and Toothless’ bond is stronger than ever. They have grown and have become reliant on each other. Making their story all the more gripping and bittersweet.
The movie has a theme of letting go that is rather consistently mentioned throughout. From the Vikings of Burke, to the dragons, to Hiccup and Toothless there is a message about learning to love and move on in the new world that they built. The story is truly moving, and the dialogue is as it has always been which kept the whole thing at a place that is hard to beat. Not to mention the wonderful and meaningful flashbacks involving Stoic and Hiccup thrown into the mix. These flashbacks really helped strengthen Hiccup’s resolve and show the connection to his father that sometimes felt missing from the conversation between the characters.
My biggest complaint would be the wasted potential of the main villain of the story. Which was almost certainly going to be the case after introducing such a villain as Drago in the previous movie. Coming from such a hardened and intimidating villain, it was going to be hard to live up with another human antagonist. And my suspicions were correct. This villain simply isn’t that intimidating after a certain point. To be fair, Hiccup’s first interaction with the villain was gripping and started things incredibly strong. The problem remained that they couldn’t hold this standard up for the rest of the movie. Eventually the villain seemed to fall into the, evil for the sake of it category and grew less intimidating by the minute. Lucky for us, he wasn’t the main point of the movie.
This movie has a lot of heart that is especially apparent in Hiccup and Toothless’ relationship as it gets put to the test when Toothless uncovers a love interest for the first time. The love interest storyline is funny and moving throughout as the story progresses, though it did feel like the scenes focused too much on Toothless and this new love interest doing the same things over and over with a different backdrop behind them. I often felt like some of these scenes could’ve been cut to make more room for better parts of the story or characters to develop, but in either case these scenes were never bad, overextended if anything.
As we reach the ending for the finale of the series, there was a lot of feelings to be had. A feeling of bittersweetness that has always been hard to come by in my life so far. Everything felt so sad, both in the story and the idea that this series had reached its end, but also so right. There was no better way to end this story, even if it had been predictable. But predictable isn’t always a bad thing. Predictability can work and this movie proves that. The ending matched the attitude of holding onto those things important to us, even after having to move on. It showed that even as we grow into the adults we are meant to be, there’s always room to allow for that little bit of magic that made us into what we are.
The acting of this movie was strong as expected, though TJ Miller’s role of Tuffnut had been recast to Justin Rupple who did a great job in his place. A choice that was made no doubt to the previous allegations for TJ Miller this past year. Still, while at times it was hard to tell it was a different actor, the times that I could tell it did break my immersion.
The direction of the movie was also strong. The way it all came together and the care that was so obvious when putting it together could only be done by Dean DeBlois who has been the director and a writer for each movie in the series.
Truly, the acting and directing of this movie are hard to beat. Everybody did their part to make this the best movie that they could, and that effort was obvious. On top of that, the visuals and sound effects of this movie were spectacular, especially the visuals. Every scene as it played out was met with beautiful harmony as every part had some of the best animation I have ever seen in a movie like this. Every environment and
This place that we have seen grow since the first movie has come back with a newfound beauty. The water effects and sky left me confused that I was watching an animated film until a dragon came onto the screen. It was truly a wonder. And the sound effects continued to hold their splendor as every dragon has their unique sounds that really pull them together and make them alive. The music didn’t seem to progress too much in this movie, most of it a rehash from the other two entries, but I can’t complain about that since I love the music of these movies so much.
It can be hard for somebody as critical as me to enjoy a movie so thoroughly. And while I still had some complaints, the movie could wipe some of those off the list with how perfect the ending was alone. There is so much love here. From the story to the characters, everybody who worked on this movie really did care and it shows in the best way. That care spread to me as an audience member who loved what was displayed. It is rare to find such a feeling in a movie, but How to Train your Dragon: The Hidden World nails it perfectly. This movie lived up to its expectations, at least, it did for me.
This story started when Hiccup and Toothless first met and its end will bring back memories of their first adventures. When the credits began to roll, I felt overwhelmed by the movies perfect ending and respect to its stars. Still, as I write this review, there is that bittersweet feeling reminding me of the experiences I had with this series and I will not soon forget them.
| Story, Script, Characters | Out of 35 | 32 |
| Acting | Out of 20 | 19 |
| Direction | Out of 15 | 15 |
| Design (Visual and Sound) | Out of 15 | 14 |
| Overall Enjoyment | Out of 15 | 14 |
Final Verdict
For more, catch up with the latest reviews in movies and games with PTE Reviews!
For other reviews check out rottentomatoes or metacritic!