I’m “biast” (con): nothing
I have not read the source material
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
It absolutely breaks my Viking-heritaged, geeky little dragon-lovin’ heart to have to say this, because I adore the first two How to Train Your Dragon movies, but this third one, The Hidden World? It’s not very good.
Which isn’t to say that it’s very bad, either. In some ways, it’s worse than that: it’s forgettable. Like, instantly forgettable. (Maybe the hidden world is… too hidden?) I went to write this review after seeing the film once and I was totally stumped, because I could barely remember a thing about it just a few days later. So I went to see it again, and once again, just a few days later, it’s all a blur of… nothing.
It may be the understatement of my 21-year career in film criticism to say that I’m disappointed that an animated series that has been a glorious exploration of reason over violence, of human partnership with the natural world, and of dragons — oh so many beautiful dragons! — comes to such a flat conclusion.
We’ve watched Hiccup (the voice of Jay Baruchel: RoboCop, The Art of the Steal) grow from a proudly nerdy boy amongst warriors into a dragon trainer extraordinaire. Now, in The Hidden World, he is leader of the Viking village of Berk, which, we can plainly see, he has transformed into a realm of human-dragon cooperation and friendship. It’s a fun place! There’s still a bit of darkness about; the film opens with Hiccup and his friends rescuing captured dragons from cruel hunter Grimmel (the voice of F. Murray Abraham: Robin Hood, Isle of Dogs). But Hiccup’s world is pretty close to being as right as it can be.
There’s not much drama in that, and the conflict that returning writer-director Dean DeBlois (Lilo & Stitch) cooks up feels pretty small, even though it shouldn’t. Hiccup decides that he and the people of Berk should embark upon a quest to save dragonkind from Grimmel by finding the legendary dragon sanctuary, that hidden world, for the beasts to conceal themselves in. It’s not really clear how Grimmel is the existential threat that the movie makes him out to be, but fine: We’re meant to understand that everything that Hiccup has been building and working toward over the previous movies is threatened, for hiding away the dragons means the end of the human-dragon symbiosis that he had fostered.
Yet the stakes feel very low, and Hiccup’s odyssey is a bit incoherent and rather slapped together. The actual plot intended to bring about the salvation of dragons is a lot of faff in which his friends goof around and wisecrack in precisely the same ways they’ve been doing over the past two movies — they have not grown like Hiccup has — and in which Hiccup’s, dragon, Toothless, gets himself a girlfriend. But even the unexpected appearance of another Night Fury — Toothless had been presumed to be the last one — leads to little more than some mild comedy as this creature, wild and beautifully all-white in contrast to Toothless’s jet-blackness, mostly just watches with bemusement his goofy attempts to woo her.
Sadly, not only is The Hidden World not about that hidden world — it barely appears — it’s not about much of anything else, either. Sure, Hiccup’s world still looks touchably gorgeous — see this in IMAX if you want see it at all — and there’s certainly nothing offensive here. The series’ themes of nonviolence and careful human stewardship of nature are still here, and Hiccup remains the sort of hero the big screen sees far too few of: he’s a great example of nontoxic masculinity. But his final adventure is missing the spark the others had… and it’s a desperate absence. I’m very sorry to say that it looks like a good thing that this franchise is finished.
see also:
• How to Train Your Dragon (review)
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 movie review: flying higher
When the villain in the trailer said, “I will destroy everything you love,” and I saw the gender signified soft white and baby blue female night fury, I immediately lost interest. Script writing and character design don’t get any lazier than that. Did they at least offer some possible evolutionary explanations for the odd coloration?
I’d love to see an animated series grow in scope and subtlety with its initial audience and main character so that by the time the third movie rolled around, the tone was more serious and the themes/ideas more complex. The Harry Potter books/films attempted (superficially at least) this kind of progression from pre-teen to young adult issues. The Toy Story trilogy also dealt with increasingly serious topics to a certain extent – we’ll see if the 4th movie breaks the pattern. The only animated film that hasn’t been mediocre for me this year is Into the Spiderverse. Come on Frozen 2, don’t let me down.
Not a bit.
Toothless is the last of his kind and she’s not a nightfury, she’s a lightfury and sh’s not the last of her kind, if you look closely their are other lightfuries in the hidden world. Toothless and her are cousin species, you know, like dogs and wolves. And Grimmel is not the greatest threat, its the thought that the dragons will always be hunted even if they defeated Grimmel and the fact that Hiccup accidentallu put a huge target on Berk due the large population of dragons and their reputation of rescuing them. The movie isn’t about defeating the bad guy and live happily ever after, it’s about change, an everlasting friendship, love, growing up and to love someone enough to let them go so they would be happy and safe even if that happy and safe isn’t with you
Thank you for the explanation. So, it has a similar theme to Wreck it Ralph 2? I got the impression that Toothless was more of a puppy/pet than a friend/equal comrade from the trailers – maybe it misrepresented the film.
Is this mentioned in the movie? I don’t think so. Anyway, dogs and wolves are the same species, as clearly Toothless and the “Light Fury” (a name made up on the spot) are, if
they have babies.
Great. I don’t see that in the film. It needs to be dramatized.
I think you are dead inside my friend hahah …
Eww. Is your friend a cannibal? Gross.
Speaking as a fan of the franchise since the first film, I found it to be amazing. I loved every minute of it.
Great. What did you love about it?
Es lógico, como no es disney, peliculas de princesitas y esas bobadas, claro no le gusto a esta señora. No se que fue a ver al cine.
Esta señora tiene un nombre, y no es una fanática de las películas típicas de las princesas de Disney. ¿Qué te gustó de esta película?
Akala mo ba na kung ibang wika ang ginagamit mo, walang makakaunawa sa iyo dito? At hindi mo ba binasa yung pinakaumpisang isinulat niya, na nagustuhan nga niyang maigi ang una at pangalawang pelikula? Sana’y mag-isip-isip ka muna bago ka magsulat, para hindi akalain ng iba na ika’y tanga.
If you think you’re going to get away with being a jerk at my site because you post in a language other than English, you’re wrong. And now you’re banned.
I seriously have no time for or interest in anyone’s fucking shit anymore.
YOU FUCKING MOTHERASS CUNT HOW DARE YOU AS A WOMAN USE SUCH VULGAR PIECE OF VOCABULARY I SHOULD SAY THAT NOW I AM A KID WHO IS 18 AND SHOULD TELL WHETHER OR NOT A FEMALE HAS THE RIGHT TO SPEAK IN THE WAY THAT YOU ARE TALKING IN RIGHT NOW AS OF THIS VERY INSTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This doesn’t even deserve to be in the gendered abuse thread, and there are some truly, mindblowingly stupid posts in that thread. You’re proudly incapable of forming constructive thoughts, kind of a weird thing to be proud of but okay, why the faux sarcasm though? No amount of “ironic” sarcasm will ever mask the fear you’re exuding. You are frightened of women with opinions. We all got it the first time. There’s nothing for you here. Go home.
The right to speak. LOL
Fuck you. Banned.
I couldn’t agree more. The worst part of the movie is the fact that the villain is so underwhelming and adds nothing to the story other than his “threat”. It would have been better if the villain is removed, and Hiccup himself realizes the crowded state that Berk was in and decides to find a world that his dad has told him about. Honestly, even the search for the “hidden world” was lackluster and unfulfilling. By the time they came across it, I was like “oh they found it? ok then”.
Valka’s role should’ve been more important in guiding hiccup to be more mature instead they left the so called “advices” to Tuffnut. And Valka’s worth is only the fact that she is Snotlout’s “crush” WHICH IS FREAKING DISTURBING! They spent a whole movie in httyd2 to make Valka so interesting, cool, majestic only to downgrade her as a.. crush?!! None of his friends changed. And I mean none! It would’ve been better if they reduced the screentime of his friends because the twins are super annoying with their childish banter.
Also, there was a scene in the beginning where Gobber said to hiccup “maybe someday you’ll meet someone you can’t win against”, that line got me hyped up because I thought it’s a foreshadow and this villain is gonna be awesome and someone is probably gonna die but I was disappointed. That line was forgotten just like that. I have a lot more that I am unhappy about but I should stop here. Sorry for the long rant though haha
That’s a great idea.
You should read the books. Definitely worthwhile! I see the books as being about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III while the films are Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the I. I see this film as a good ending, maybe weaker than the other two, but still a good ending for the trilogy. What I took from this is that you have to let go of what you love sometimes. I think maybe too much of the silly humour from the TV shows seeped through into movie, but otherwise I enjoyed the film, especially the gentleness of the end. Anyway, do read the books. They are well worth it. If they ever want to do another film, they need to do Hiccup the II and his dragon Furious. Of course, this story doesn’t have a happy ending, but it’s a good story and leads into Hiccup the III.