How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Summary

In the conclusion to the epic trilogy, Hiccup seeks out the mythic Hidden World where all dragons come from, while struggling to fight against the evil dragon slayer, Grimmel.

Image courtesy of Rambles from My Library

The Rundown

Plot: 3/5 stars

Characterization: 4/5 stars

Worldbuilding: 4/5 stars

Pacing: 3.5/5 stars
Theme: 4/5 stars

Animation: 5/5 stars

Overall: 3.5/5 stars

My Review

I was really hyped for Hidden World. As a huge fan of the first two movies, as well as the Race to the Edge TV show set in the time period between them, I was excited to see the ending for the trilogy. I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed.
This was mainly due to the raving I'd heard about it beforehand, and I feel that if I hadn't had such high expectations, I could have forgiven some of the flaws in the plot that took away from my enjoyment of the movie as a whole.  

All of the settings were beautifully animated. The Hidden World itself was gorgeously portrayed, and I really enjoyed watching some of these scenes. 

I had some problems with some of the settings themselves, not on an aesthetic level, but because of what these settings do to impact the rest of the trilogy. Without giving away too much, I found that the Hidden World had almost too much of a utopic feel -- it felt almost unrealistic. 

In terms of the heroes, we had some fairly good development -- though character arcs for some of the more major allies would have been nice. Eret, son of Eret was barely part of the story at all, and makes me wonder what the point of making him a good guy in HTTYD 2 was. Most of the major characters were decently developed, mostly building off their characters from the previous films, so I can't complain. I also liked Astrid much better in this movie than in the other two movies, which makes me happy.

In terms of the villains, I feel the story could spent more time developing them. The main villain, Grimmel, had truly weak motivations and seemed very tacked on. I feel that if the writers had spent more time developing him, he might have come off as a scarier villain overall.
The other villains felt even more tacked on, and never really got any chance for characterization.

Plot is where Hidden World probably failed the most. The "Hidden World" plot line didn't really fit with the "defeat Grimmel" plot line, which made parts of the movie feel random. In my opinion, the writers spent too much time on Toothless and the Light Fury's courtship scenes -- though some of the scenes were beautifully animated, they didn't really add much in terms of plot.

I feel that if Grimmel's motivations had been somehow tied to the Hidden World, the plot would have worked better. 

In terms of pacing, it feels as though the writers tried to fit two movies into the space of one. If Hidden World had been split into two movies, with scenes added for character motivation and plot building, I feel it could have been less rushed. 

The ending, naturally, was an absolute tearjerker. It was super emotional for me, and I feel that this was a scene the writers pulled off brilliantly. That epilogue type scene at the very end was also extremely emotional. I'm willing to forgive the weak points in the plot because of the nostalgia and also for the story in general -- while it failed in terms of plot, it ended the series well and I was happy about that. 

This is a kid's movie, so obviously there isn't a lot of content. Some violence, on par with the violence in HTTYD 2. A joke about two characters getting married. Mentions of romantic attachments. Kissing. Toothless and the Light Fury engage in courtship rituals. 

A villain uses drugs to control dragons. 

No real swearing; any exclamations are made up and based on Norse mythology ("oh my Thor"). 

I recommend How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World for ages 4 and up.