How to Train Your Dragon, The Hidden World: A Fantastic Series Wrapped Up In the Best Way Possible

Mason Segall
Feb 26, 2019
5 min read

It occurred to me somewhere around the halfway mark in my viewing of ‘How to train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,’ that the entire franchise, based on the children’s books by Cressida Cowell from the early 2000s, was something from a bygone era in filmmaking. Not in terms of visuals, themes, or animation, in those respects the series is about as modern as they come, but in terms of consistency. Like several series of kids’ movies out of the 1980s and 90s, each of the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ films have the exact same strengths and weaknesses. Which can be both good and bad, as these things tend to go.

In the third and final entry in the series, protagonist Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) has acclimated to his role as chief of his tribe of dragon-riding Vikings. He and his friends lead raids against villainous dragon-trappers, they free anything with scales and wings, and then provide a sanctuary for the kidnapped creatures on their increasingly crowded little island. However, this routine is disrupted when the dragon-trappers bring the sadistic hunter Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham) out of retirement. Hiccup’s mission to protect his people from this new threat is only made more complicated by the needs of his dragon and series mascot Toothless, who has become enamored with the last surviving female of his species and seeks independence from his rider in order to court her. All of these mish-mashed plot points frame their mutual desire to find the Hidden World, a mythical land where dragons originate from and can be safe from any and all human interference.

Let’s begin with the strengths of this film, not only because they are shared by the previous two entries in the franchise, but because at this point the Dreamworks team responsible for the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ movies, led once again by director Dean DeBlois, has gotten so good at what they do that it makes sense just to get the obviously deserved praise out of the way. First off, the voice cast is as stellar as always. The supporting cast is filled with the returning voices of America Ferrera, Cate Blanchette, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harrington, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, all of whom have brought these same characters to life under more trying circumstances and could give excellent performances for them in their sleep. Outside forces caused TJ Miller to drop out of his recurring role and is replaced here by Justin Rupple, who acquits himself well but just doesn’t have Miller’s distinct voice or comic timing. Gerard Butler returns as Hiccup’s father, Stoic, in a few flashback sequences and is around just long enough that he can be enjoyed without overstaying his welcome. But true kudos have to go to Abraham, whose performance as the antagonist is so chilling and enjoyable that this single film has made him comparable to Tony Jay and Jeremy Irons in my little red book of terrifying animated villain roles.

Then there’s the animation. It should go without saying the CGI is top notch, but there were some particularly groundbreaking sequences where the movement, scenery, and action all came together in ways that other animated properties simply can’t match. Sometimes it was the small things, like the way the sand shifts in a scene where Toothless tries to woo his lady love on a beach, or the spray of mist from a massive waterfall mixing with the clouds above, that will just make you lean away from the screen in sheer awe of the artistry and talent that went into every single frame. Then there are the big moments, such as the reveal of the hidden world itself where it looks like every single design concept the storyboard artists could come up with was integrated into a singular, beautiful landscape of light, color, shadows, shapes, and space. Speaking of design, the character revisualizations and new dragon designs both stand out as worthy of commendation. Each figure is distinctive and easily discernible, and while that’s never been a problem in the previous films, it still feels like something of an improvement here.

These movies have always had a pretty good score, but in ‘Hidden World,’ it’s straight up the MVP. Apart from the series’ regular suites, the score includes sweeping, orchestrated action music that sounds like something straight out of an Errol Flynn picture. But mixed in with the arias and overtures are a smattering of small, symphonic, new-age synth tunes. They fit well with the film’s themes of discovery and reinvention, but pair perfectly with the animation. The reveal of the hidden world is made all the more impactful with a more subdued score than a grander, more epic one as a softer tone allows the beauty of the visuals to speak for themselves.

The flaws of the film begin to arrive, as they did in its predecessors, in the story itself. The first film was a generic kids movie with a basic lie-reveal, going against tradition story but was elevated by above-par visuals and distinctive voice performances. The second film was an equally generic but much more convoluted coming of age story about facing adversity and was also vastly improved by the aforementioned strengths. ‘Hidden World’ has about four and a half acts, all with different pacing, and is a very blanket tale of letting go of something precious for the sake of preserving it. While its story is at least linear and comprehensive, it also meanders, takes short breaks when longer ones are needed, and doesn’t deliver enough during emotional moments. A tight and witty is able to cover up most of these issues, but they drag underneath the narrative like an anchor, just like they did with the previous two films. One of the more insulting scenes is when Hiccup’s girlfriend Astrid (America Ferarra) needs to give him a pep talk before the film’s second climactic battle. It lasts all of thirty seconds, doesn’t reveal any new information, her tone doesn’t match her dialogue, and is so generic that I’m pretty sure it was written using a template of other famous “girlfriend pep talk” speeches from a litany of random sports movies. Scenes like that can pull at a film’s atmosphere and too many of them can sink a film entirely.

Fortunately, that’s not the case with ‘Hidden World.’ It’s a good movie made great by its technical elements and made good again by its lackluster narratives. But that’s more or less what we’ve come to expect from this franchise and, despite my immense enjoyment of it over the years, I’m very glad that it will be ending after this chapter. Not only because it indicates that Hollywood is starting to wise up to audiences being fatigued by repetitive sequels, but because it means that it won’t risk a fourth entry where the flaws baked into the series’ core could emerge over its strengths. Looking at you, ‘Toy Story 4.’

At the end of the day, you know already whether or not you’re going to see this movie. If you have kids or love gorgeous animation like myself, it’s a must see. If not, well it’s still a damn fine way to kill an afternoon. I just wish that I could have left the theater pleasantly surprised instead of just content in my resignation. Still, if the team at Dreamworks Animation can turn these: