The Hidden World brings the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy to a teary but inessential end
Film Reviews Movie Review
Most big-studio, big-budget animated movies are, if nothing else, dazzling technical achievements. What’s frustrating is how indifferently written so many of them are, to the point where you end up feeling bad for the animators, painstakingly rendering every strand of hair and blade of grass, all in service of some very first-draft magic. The Hidden World, the third but probably-not-final-if-this-one-makes-a-mint entry in the How To Train Your Dragon series, is about as breathlessly gorgeous as its predecessors. Early on, the “camera” swoops around the spiky topography of a North Sea island paradise, and your eyes practically burst, trying to take in the full menagerie of colorful, eponymous beasties packed into every frame. Later, to top that rainbow spectacle, we’re taken on a tour of a lost kingdom that’s like a dry-land tropical reef, illuminated by the almost heavenly glow of its flora and fauna. The Hidden World doesn’t really stop giving you lovely things to gawk at. But as an act of storytelling, it’s curiously perfunctory, never rising to the level of effort and care put into creating its cornucopia of visual pleasures.
That wasn’t a problem with the original How To Train Your Dragon, which adapted Cressida Cowell’s children’s lit bestseller into a soulfully simple fable about the interspecies friendship that develops between a pacifistic teen Viking and his jet-black, fire-breathing exotic pet. It remains the closest DreamWorks Animation has come to reaching the heights of classic Disney or Pixar enchantment. But the 2014 sequel misplaced some of that charm, cluttering things up with extraneous new characters while basically just recycling the first film’s be-yourself messaging. In part three, we return once more to the island of Berk, home of gruff, bearded warriors and their scaly companions. The Vikings have adjusted so fully to the company of dragons that they don’t even seem to regard their one-time natural enemies with wonder anymore—they’re just a part of everyday life. Unfortunately, the movie itself adopts that same casual perspective on its main attractions. It figures we all get why dragons are cool and special, and that it doesn’t need to make the case anew.
One year after the events of the second movie, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), who’s taken up his late father’s mantle as chief of the tribe, dreams of relocation, of abandoning the ancestral homeland for greener pastures: the fabled hidden world of the title, which appears on no map but is said to be situated somewhere to the west, tucked behind a waterfall. Rescuing and basically domesticating dragons has certainly put Berk on the map—and among those itching for a fight is Grimmel, a legendary big game hunter with his sights set on Hiccup’s winged bestie, Toothless. Going above and beyond for a sound-booth paycheck gig, F. Murray Abraham voices the villain with a surplus of delicious haughtiness. But there’s really not much dimension to the guy, even for the heavy of a family film. (His motivation: He hates dragons.) Beyond a formidable new adversary, Hiccup grapples with the light pressure everyone’s putting on him to settle down and get hitched to his ass-kicking sweetheart, Astrid (America Ferrera). If the first Dragon film was about defying social expectations, the sequels have been dismayingly concerned with manning up and meeting them.
The script, by returning writer-director and series mainstay Dean DeBlois, sags with subplots. One of them involves boastful sidekick Snotlout (Jonah Hill) and his weird fixation with Hiccup’s mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett)—though it’s honestly a little unclear whether he’s seeking a surrogate parent, a mentor, or something less platonic. (Competition for her attention comes in the form of Kit Harington’s deeply inessential Eret, who seems to have been introduced in the last installment for the sole purpose of being voiced by somebody from Games Of Thrones.) Not surprisingly, the film springs to life most when it gets away from its nattering human characters in favor of, you know, the dragons. Toothless himself remains an inspired creation: the mythological creature as adorable hambone, playing to the camera like an internet-famous cat. The Hidden World hinges partially on the appearance of an albino female dragon of his breed (a “Light Fury,” they call it), and DeBlois gets some solid, wordless comedy out of the awkward animal courtship, briefly tilting his overplotted movie into Bambi and Lady And The Tramp territory.
One is left with the impression, common to sequels animated or otherwise, that this was not a story that demanded to be told. The Hidden World does eventually build to an emotional Hail Mary, its very own Toy Story 3 tearjerker of a trilogy conclusion. But everything before it almost feels like filler—it’s the destination, not the journey, that seemed to matter to everyone involved. And the ending hinges on a bond, that central boy-and-his-beast kinship, that DeBlois oddly neglects, as if he were just counting on lingering affection for this world and these characters to do all the heavy lifting. Maybe that will be enough for the Dragon faithful, especially those who have watched the last two installments enough times to commit their every sky-grazing detour, slapstick pratfall, and motivational pep talk to memory. But in The Hidden World, only the tireless animators seem determined to give those same fans more than a buzz of nostalgia. What’s really hidden here is the true appeal of How To Train Your Dragon.
45 Comments
“If the first Dragon film was about defying social expectations, the sequels have been dismayingly concerned with manning up and meeting them.”
I only saw the first one, but I was kind of baffled when I saw the trailer for this movie and Hiccup was a flame-sword wielding combat master. I thought part of the appeal of his character was that he wasn’t mister fight man guy.
I guess I’m glad my kid seems to have aged out of this series.
I dunno, I could see making Hiccup a little more Viking-like. But he’d have to be one of those “doesn’t get violent ever until the bad guy does something REALLY bad” types.If they can do that without resorting to ’fridging Astrid or his mom, more power to them.
Well, having seen the second film as well the flaming sword is shown to be much more of a tool (for dragon-training, among other things) than a melee weapon. There’s a scene where he’s confronted by a large group of dragons and he distracts/mesmerises them with the flaming blade, then impresses them by creating a small explosion using a spray of flammable Zippleback gas, canisters of which can be concealed in the sword’s hilt. He sometimes uses the sword to cut ropes, etc, but rarely if ever uses it as an actual weapon (though it is shown to be useful for intimidating other vikings).And without spoiling too much a major thread of the film is Hiccup being determined to avoid conflict and find a peaceful resolution in the face of a particularly obstinate foe, so he’s definitely not mister fight man guy in the second film. Can’t speak to the third, but I don’t see why they would introduce such a drastic change to his character so late.
The third is much the same. He tries to find the hidden world in the title to try and avoid constant attacks and further threats, only fighting when they’re trying to free captured dragons and running soon as they’re done basically
I’ve seen the third one and he’s definitely still about peaceful resolution.
What age? My 16 year old daughter and her 17 year old boyfriend frickin’ love these movies. They’re going out to see the third Saturday night. I warned her it’s going to make her cry, but she’s fine with that since she does not wear make-up.
The boyfriend on the other hand is going to look like A drenched Alice Cooper.
The movie undercuts that scene almost instantly, because Hiccup doesn’t like hurting people.
“One of them involves boastful sidekick Snotlout (Jonah Hill) and his weird fixation with Hiccup’s mother, Valka” Come for the final chapter of How To Train Your Dragon, stay for the sequel to Cyrus.
Also a retread of Superbad’s mom-crush joke.
Saw it at an early screening, loved it. It’s about growing up, and moving away from the “domestication” that Dowd mentions. Hiccup and Astrid’s solid relationship is evidenced far more than is usually the case w/ a kids film. Up there w/ the best Pixar and most Miyazaki for me.
Agreed. I love how supportive and equal the relationship is. And like the whole thing with the Light Fury shows that despite the friendships, the dragons are still wild animals. Yeah, the trilogy as a whole, even with some weaker story points along the way, really holds up imo. I definitely cried watching this one.
It’s been 10 years. If your dragon isn’t house trained by then, put them down.
Loved the first movie. The second movie was eh and the series are disposable kids sitcom fodder, but DuBlois brought a cub to the Oscars so there’s that.
I loved the first movie so much (and even the second one was serviceable-to-good) that two years ago I bought a Night Fury stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear (actually was looking for a Pokemon one but they didn’t have anything I wanted). Ended up naming them Jet because a) jet is the color black and b) jets fly.
The second movie was my favorite! They really pulled out the stops for the feels. I felt like the third was not as emotional as the second and I was disappointed by that, but I think maybe I hyped it up too much. It’s still good, it still made me cry, and it provided character development and closure.That being said I would be all about them making more. 😀
So, are there a lot of high-flying action scenes? I’ve only seen the sequel (due to a free ticket offer) and was mesmerized by the flying stuff. That’s literally the only reason I care about this movie.
There is a gorgeous mating flight scene between Toothless and the light fury
There’s some pretty great flying scenes in Hidden World.
Judging by the TV ads I’ve seen for this, there appear to be some flashbacks involving Hiccup’s dad, so, I guess it’s good that Gerard Butler can still get work.
Gerard Butler’s problem is that he’ll take any work. Den of Thieves 2? Three damn movies in the _____ Has Fallen-verse?
How to drain your dragon:Very carefully.
I’m kinda baffled as to why this second-tier animated junk gets a feature review here all of a sudden, as opposed to, you know, basically any other movie. Where’s our Smurfs: The Lost Villiage review?
This site has always reviewed as many theatrical releases as possible, and they’re still doing that. The movie is a wide release, so there’s no reason not to write about it.
And yes, Smurfs: The Lost Village was also reviewed.
They literally review every wide release movie that comes out, it’s not that hard to figure out.
Having seen the movie, I object to your description. It’s first-tier animated junk.
Have you ever seen the films? I would hardly call them “junk”. As jaded and cynical as this reviewer is, and I totally disagree with his review, is it possible you can be wrong?I avoided this series for years, based on assumptions. Watched it one day and was totally taken by its heart and storyline.
Was the soundtrack good? That’s what hooked me so hard on the first one, the music was perfection. I still get misty when I hear that lone violin refrain.
It was gorgeous
I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago with my wife and kid. And, even while the movie is awesome it feels empty, somehow. Like you are just going through some family album of someone you hardly know. You have your fun, share some stories but, in the end, you hardly remember what happened.
So I kind of disagree with the assessment on this one.Whilst it’s definitely the weakest of the three (I can’t fathom how anyone can shrug off the second film which is absolutely superb) because it does echo a lot of the same action beats as the second film, it thematically is exactly how the series needed to finish.SPOILERSFirst one was about friendship and an element of a symbiotic relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. Both outsiders in their communities (prematurely born Hiccup not being Viking enough, Toothless as the last of his kind) who found each other. Second film was about Hiccup and Toothless finding their place in their worlds, as chief of Burk and as the alpha for the dragons. Both ambassadors for peace between their communities. Seriously, the challenging the Alpha moment in part 2 is spine tingling.The third film is about the world not being ready for the peace both species need to co-exist and ultimately Hiccup and Toothless having to say goodbye to eachother for the sake of the dragons survival. It is an absolutely heartbreaking moment and the wife laughed at me quite a lot when she saw how teary I was in the cinema.END OF SPOILERSNow whilst i could have done without the antagonist in this film because that is the main weak link of the story, I also understand it’s a family adventure film and needs action set pieces, I wasnt going to get a character story about separation because 8 year olds do not want that. They want flying scenes.I don’t know where I’m going with this. I adore this series and I am probably being unnecessarily protective of it. From 1-3, it told an amazing story that was mature, inspiring, heartbreaking and filled with joy. Can’t say I want more from cinema than that. If/when I ever have kids, I can’t wait to show them these films and deal with the inevitable question of “Daddy, why are you crying at the music?”.TLDR: I like these movies pretty much more than any other animated films ever made so take what I’m saying based on that. Balls to your Toy Storys, these have my heart and I’ve ugly cried at every single one for multiple reasons varying from pure pride for a fictional CGI dragon (Challenging the alpha) to heartbreak (Viking funeral).
if you have kids read or listen on audio book the original books series. they are fun and other than a few names have nothing in common with the movies.
Seconding this so hard. The audio books are narrated by David Tennant, giving possibly my favorite voice performance of all time, doing dozens of distinct voices with accents from all over the British isles. My kids fell in love with the movies first, but the books are even better.
Toothless is a riot in the books.
It’s kind of amazing that me and my family love both the books and the films, given that book Toothless and movie Toothless are pretty much the opposite of each other. I can understand why the movie folks made the decisions they did, and movie Toothless wound up being a great character in his own right, but it’s one of the more drastic adaptation changes you can imagine. It’s like someone looking at Lord of the Rings and deciding they want Vin Diesel to play Frodo, without any digital alteration to make him smaller.
very good analogy.
Great movie. Saw an advance screening with our daughter two weeks ago, and it left all three of us in tears. Just a really, really satisfying conclusion to the story. Definitely recommended for families!
Came out in Aussie cinemas ages ago – thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Part of me (a sadistic part) wanted the ending to be darker but I guess you can only show so many decapitated dragons before it changes the movie rating – i thought the glistening heads on spikes were a nice touch.
“But the 2014 sequel misplaced some of that charm”Oh thank goodness, you’re just wrong. I was worried there for a second.EDIT: Just saw the film. It’s definitely a step down from the first two (wonderful) family movies – clunky script, and some of the side characters are very annoying – but there are some truly breathtaking sequences here, and the central duo shines.This is a C+ in the way that Infinity War was a C+, happy to say.
Does it end with Hiccup rightfully realizing that Astrid is a better leader than he is and stepping down as chief? Like, he’s good with dragons, and he can make a heartfelt speech every once in a while, but Astrid has repeatedly shown that she is all around a better leader.Make Berk a Meritocracy Again!
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91% Certified Fresh/89% Audience = C+ in Dowd’s book.
Yeah ok, champ.
I disagree that the bond between toothless and hiccup is neglected. The movie goes to great pains to show how much getting toothless back to independence is hurting hiccup, but he does it anyway because thats what you do for something you love. It makes the emotional end of the story resonate even harder. Lots of times in life, wanting something badly doesnt make it ok/right.
In the first movie, Astrid, willful competent, and very very violent. In the second movie she has a strangely round head. In the third movie, she tells Hiccup that he made her what she was. Ugh. Give me Astrid from the first movie please.
The first film is a delight and the singing scene in Part 2 with The Dancing and the Dreaming is one of my favorite sequences of this decade in cinema, bar few, but there’s nothing of that caliber in this one. AA’s review is right on the mark