How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World brings a heartwarming finish to this fantastic trilogy, but sacrifices the conflict to save its emotion for the series’ end. By the end I was excited to go home and watch the previous two films, but I had to sit through a rushed and weightless conflict before seeing the ending this series deserved.

I want you to go see this film, but I also want to explain why I was disappointed. How to Train Your Dragon did something truly different and special; its sequel was unable to match that, and even less with this film, but all of these films show an organic development of now iconic characters in some of the most beautiful animated scenes I have ever seen.

I cannot describe in words how breathtaking and powerful the animation of this film is; everything breathes with life and energy. The variety of dragon species fill the screen with so much fantasy and wonder, and their eyes show so much emotion only animation can execute. The world itself looks real, surrounding the characters in a wilderness filled with mystery. There were several scenes where I would just look at the stubble on Hiccup’s face, or the pupil dilations in Toothless’s giant eyes. Dreamworks put their A-Team on this trilogy, even animating a new logo for this third installment, and it matches if not exceeds the skill in the recent Pixar films.

With the comparison to Pixar, Incredibles 2 is the longest animated film, and is 14 minutes longer than this film. The only problem How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has is how long it spends time on certain scenes and characters; this film would have been perfect if it had just 14 more minutes. I know those 14 more minutes mean months of added animation, but I could tangibly feel what was cut out of this story. The antagonist is so second priority compared to the quest to find this mythical ‘Hidden World,’ even though the potential of his comparison to Hiccup could have been the best element. Grimmel is what Hiccup could have become from the choice given to him in the first film. He is the version of Hiccup the world wanted him to be—being clever and inventive to overpower the brute of his home, but also cold and ruthless, using his tricks to take advantage and kill instead of love. What does the film do with this brilliant juxtaposition? Nothing. It is barely even hinted. This conflict of dragon-trappers and the safety of Hiccup’s home feels half developed—even cutting out, it seems, most of the screen time of the characters introduced in the last film—and most of the time spent on this issue makes the audience feel like the good guys are winning, when in reality they are far from being safe. The successes are elevated beyond their necessity, and the failures are brushed aside as if they already have the solution. The final battle, especially, suffers from this dilemma, because the good guys win before it even starts. There is no threat of losing, and that prevented me from feeling anything in the story… until the epilogue.

I am calling it the epilogue because it is so far separate from the hour-and-thirty-minutes before hand. The final choice Hiccup makes defines this trilogy in a new light of reality. Throughout this film he is completely buried in the needs of Burk and his own desires, how he wishes to live in peace with these dragons, and how being with these dragons makes his home more vulnerable than before. The legacy of his father is even put into question with every decision he takes, and the amount of time these events are piling against him physically push him to the edge. He believes he cannot handle the responsibility, living in the joy of creating a “dragon-human utopia” when even the audience can see that it is complete chaos. He finally sees, after losing the trust of his village and failing to break the nature of his best friend’s instincts, that he cannot be the leader on his own. Every choice he makes for his vision ends in disaster. It is not until he hears what his supporting characters have to offer do they succeed in saving the day. He learns to understand that his concept of the future will not work, so he decides to sacrifice everything he has built in order to save Burk. That choice is what shines brightest in this film, fully closing this story from the opening narration of the first film to the closing scene of this film. The hope and knowledge of reality exposed in this choice make the trilogy more mature and timeless than any other Dreamworks film in the past 20 years.

The time and dedication to make this trilogy shows in the visual beauty and an ending that somehow makes the relationship of dragons seem truly human. Why the central story was so frequently ignored, and the characters that teach Hiccup are almost taken out of the film—his own mother Valka, Eret, Gobber, and even Astrid at times—is beyond my understandings. This film could have spent the time to sit and reflect on so many scenes, like the previous installments did perfectly, but it discards these scenes to move on to the action. The focused characters are filled with emotion and conflict, but every narrative surrounding them is only shown for humor or a tangible sense of danger. The last few scenes of this film stand apart, giving this series a complete and heartwarming end, but what comes before is nothing in comparison.

Story Rating: 6/10

Character Rating: 6/10