“The friendship of a lifetime.
As Hiccup fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia, Toothless’ discovery of an untamed, elusive mate draws the Night Fury away. When danger mounts at home and Hiccup’s reign as village chief is tested, both dragon and rider must make impossible decisions to save their kind.” – Letterboxd Synopsis
There’s something about this movie that’s hard to fully get my mind around. Ultimately, I liked it. Visually, just like its predecessors, it is gorgeous. The main characters are great, and the major theme about moving on and growing up is really good. I just can’t help but feel like this movie was unsatisfying and underwhelming in some aspects, and it doesn’t quite hold up to the previous two.
The previous two movies showed how big this world is and how much more there is to explore. So it was cool to see even more of that, since in this movie, the tribe is on the run. They’re looking for a new, bigger place to call home. Under threat from a conglomerate of foreign leaders/invaders and already overpopulated with both people and dragons alike, it’s time to move. I love seeing Hiccup have to not only come to this conclusion but lead his people. There’s a heavy emphasis on growing up, taking responsibility and moving on in a lot of ways in this movie.
Everyone’s older now. It’s been years since the first movie, and now Hiccup and Astrid are being teased about marriage. It’s been a while since the second movie, and now Toothless is an alpha himself, a leader of dragons. Hiccup and Toothless’ relationship dynamic has changed in subtle ways. Now that they’re older and in these leadership positions, it’s almost like two kings can’t exist in the same kingdom, so there’s this whole through line about letting someone you love go for the better. It’s very clear how the relationship change affects Hiccup. I felt for him, and the ending of this movie is actually very sweet and wraps things up solidly. Yet I still can’t help but have this nagging feeling that I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied. I think part of that comes from how sudden it almost feels. From the first movie, Hiccup and Toothless bond over being outsiders. That bond strengthens through heavy turmoil in the second. And it almost feels just too sudden for this breakup, albeit I see the vision. The other reason this movie left me feeling this way was its villain.
In the first movie, the major conflict arose from the tribes’ beliefs about how dangerous dragons were. It didn’t need a big bad, but it did have one for the climax in the form of the alpha. Which ended up being a great final battle and tied things together well. The second movie has an amazing villain. One whose way of thinking is so directly opposed to Hiccup’s. He’s cunning, imposing, and violent. He has a commanding presence on screen. This movie’s villain was so forgettable. I don’t remember his name. I barely remember anything he said. The only interesting tidbit about him is that he is some all time great dragon hunter who has slain all the nightshades except two. One of which he has captured and the other being Toothless. They try to do this thing where he enjoys the hunt just as much as the kill, but that leads to just some baffling moments. I would’ve much preferred learning more about the four big allied tribes and their leaders (who all act dumb). They all had cool designs and seemed to be ethnically diverse. I feel like there was something there, but nothing with this villain at all.
And for the third time in a row, this movie looks gorgeous. Three for three on that front. I visually love all of these movies. My favorite thing, though, is seeing new dragons in each of these installments. Seeing which real animal elements they take from. The main villains’ dragons are actually very cool. Taking visual and design elements from scorpions. They were more imposing than him, but yeah, amazing visually still. Especially the dragon world. I wish we got to see more of it and spend more time there.
So yeah, to me this is definitely the weakest movie in the franchise, but it’s still good. I think it’s a solid send off to a great franchise. And while it definitely left me wanting a bit more in some aspects. I still really liked this movie and the things that it did. I had a great time watching Hiccup and Toothless’ journey.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – 7/10
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