A magical conclusion to an earnest and heartfelt trilogy
From Dreamworks Animation comes the conclusion to the How To Train Your Dragon (HTTYD) franchise, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Directed by the trilogy’s visionary director, Dean DeBlois, with the voice cast of Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, America Ferrera, and Cate Blanchett returning as their respective characters, The Hidden World puts it’s characters on the run as a new foe approaches.
Set shortly after the events of the second film, Hiccup’s vision of a viking and dragon utopia is flourishing. The dragons and the vikings of Berk live in peace as their young leader strives to fill in the shoes of his father and Jay Baruchel really owns this stage of this character just as he has the previous two. Baruchel isn’t the typical, charismatic, big strong voice one would expect from a leading character, but in choosing not to go that route, it simply enhances the character arc even more. It makes Hiccup a more relatable protagonist and some of the range he showcases here is extraordinary. The rest of the voice cast has always been solid, but this was far and away the Hiccup and Toothless show.
This is by no means a critique of a lack of secondary character focus, as Astrid, the Thorston twins and others get their fair share of screen time and laughs. Although the money is mostly being spent on seeing this world and arc for Toothless and Hiccup finalize in a conclusion we can only hope is as powerful as the previous two outings. Between Roger Deakins as the visual consultant and John Powell’s miraculous score composition, the world that Dean DeBlois built with the Dreamworks crew is nothing short of decade-defining craft. Despite the fact that the animation hasn’t aged as well in the original HTTYD, the themes ring wide and true, and the visual splendor put on display is nothing short of imaginative and eye-popping. Nothing changes here as the depth of the mysterious “Hidden World” changes the entire dynamic of the way we may have perceived the realm of dragons. Lights shimmer, shine, and reflect beautifully off the wide variety of beasts, and it adds another element to such a beautifully realized world.
Even though everything is pretty sharp in this conclusion, I can’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed by it’s story. The first HTTYD is a pretty standard origin story, but it’s ability to interweave touching themes is flawless. It’s follow-up, HTTYD2, is much larger in scale, but it never pulls punches and goes for it, even though it may be a bit predictable. Here, the conclusion feels slightly uneventful (by comparison) and more so like a middle chapter rather than the finale. The story is a bit scaled down, and the introduction of a female light fury hits a huge cliché wall, which may be why the result felt less rewarding than anticipated. This by no means makes HTTYD3 a bad film, or decent at best, it is still the only gripe in a film loaded with charm, laughs, tears, and gripping tension.
Simply put, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is magical. From it’s stunning art and production design, to the incredible voice work, and some of the best technical craft in an animated film, it caps off a beautiful and earnest trilogy that is sure to please all audience members. Although it isn’t as well written as the previous two outings, the thematic resonance and parallels are still there. The commentary on leadership and relationships is natural, and roots the film in strength and wisdom beyond what to expect from a film geared towards children. It may be too soon to tell, but the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy is certainly one of the best trilogies of all-time, and probably the best animated trilogy ever made.
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World gets an 86/100