If anyone were to tell you earlier in DreamWorks career that one of their most successful trilogies would be from franchises like Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon, it would simultaneously shocking that something so seemingly generic and/or stupid could result in good films, but also perplexing to see how they would pull it off. Starting in 2010, the How to Train Your Dragon films have managed to uphold their standards with good writing, memorable characters and engrossing and game-changing visuals, and unlike other trilogies, they actually managed to secure a decent conclusion with the final film titled The Hidden World, in 2019.  One year after becoming chieftain, Hiccup (voiced again by Jay Baruchel) has made the village of Berk a safe haven for dragons and make it their effort to rescue any dragons that need a home, which has eventually led to Berk becoming overpopulated with Dragons. Hiccup desires to find ”The Hidden World”, a sanctuary for dragons, and he and his people are forced to flee their home and fasten their plans when an infamous dragon hunter named Grimmel (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) gets his eyes set on capturing Toothless, who is now the alpha dragon and presenting him to the over warlords of the war. His plans involve using a female Fury dragon (otherwise called a ”Light Fury) to lure Toothless in, and the two slowly start to form a romantic connection. With Grimmel closing in on his prize, and with Hiccup slowly starting to realize that his people being around the Dragons has put them in more danger, especially now that they’re tracking down their hidden world, he along with the rest of his people might have to decide whether it’d be best to let their dragons free. While Pixar’s equivalent of a successful franchise is Toy Story (even though that isn’t a trilogy anymore), DreamWorks can safely call this franchise one to be equally proud of. While this final instalment might not reach the level of the first film, it still contains the usual pros and cons of the franchise, while also ending on a very satisfactory and emotionally gripping note.

You can always feel the stamp of DreamWorks’ signature style within these films, and you’d figure that would cause a problem with these films, as the quirkier and even to some extent, pandering nature of some of their writing and humor would get in the way of making the film’s feel grounded and mature. But through solid pacing, directing, and writing, they haven’t really struggled with that stuff too much, developing a world that feels a bit more serious and a little more story-driven than the book series written by Cressida Cowell, but still containing the fun creative side as well as the adventurous spirit of the franchise. What’s also appreciated is how these films evolve and age their characters and plot with each passing film, allowing the audience to witness the progression between movie (which there is a decent amount of), and it treats its audience with enough respect and dignity to trust them with something that isn’t constant with its action scenes and goofy moments (even though they are still showcased here). In regards to this film, it doesn’t have too many surprising twists or grand new elements that aren’t familiar to this genre already, but not only has the franchise seemingly built up to this point fairly well in regards to its themes always being about letting go of something, but the ending is easily the strongest part of this movie, with a wonderful send-off balanced with a truly iconic closing moment that comes full circle, and a resolution for all the characters (especially Hiccup and Toothless) that is very touching and it’s hard to imagine a better ending for this franchise then what they showcased here. With that said, not everything about film hits a complete bullseye. There are problems with the world building that make the reasoning and logic behind a lot of the character’s actions feel not as fulfilling, and it can often times be hard to determine why the film is even focused on this journey to a new location, so it doesn’t have as strong a focal point as the other films.  There are problems with pacing, tone in certain parts as well as the usefulness of some of the characters, but the weight of the story and the characters emotional developments are what truly keeps people invested in this world and these stories, so it never falters when it comes to that element.

The characters may appear like stock cartoony characters with their quirky designs, and mainstream voices actor not always matching the ancient Viking tone the film’s universe presents, but it isn’t a problem because most of the characters are well written and very well performed. Hiccup as a lead character is honestly very impressive, as he’s developed from this scrawny kid known for being a screw-up and has truly evolved into a character that is totally believable as a leader, which you wouldn’t expect from his character in the first film and Jay Baruchel’s unique-sounding voice. A lot of credit should also go to him as despite how easily it would be for that voice to come off as annoying, he usually owns it through his solid performances and it’s no difference here. Toothless has always been the highlight of this franchise from his design, expressive nature and through his genuine friendship with Hiccup, which is displayed very nicely through this film in a new enough way to not feel like a repeat of the previous way. His relationship with Astrid (voiced again by America Ferrera) is also very nice, with the two sharing some genuine chemistry and despite not having a lot of screen-time together, truly feel like a strong couple. The side characters are also made to be a little more impactful this time around, feeling better utilized and competent against how they were usually just stuck as comic relief in the previous films. It’s true that their voices can be a little weird to here in this environment with people like Jonah Hill and Kristen Wiig and their dialogue isn’t really that hilarious and often times can be a little random, but it doesn’t distract from the tone and atmosphere of the story and if anything, it feels like it makes it distinct. Some characters you can feel they have no idea what to do with in the story, as people like Kit Harrington and Cate Blanchett despite feeling perfect in this kind of environment, have practically no role in this story and could’ve been cut out completely. The villain is probably the best that these films have ever had, but that isn’t saying a lot as the previous films didn’t have good threats to face off against. The backstory is okay if a bit brief, he is made to be entertaining to watch, and F. Murray Abraham is yucking it up in the voice work, but he still doesn’t come across as strongly as he could have if the world-building and exposition for the film was handled better, and his design is simultaneously basic and even a little bizarre in the features.

The animation in these movies have always been impressive and showcased a level of immersion that other CG animated movies at the time had never gone to (with the first film blowing everyone away with its 3D). This world should feel very animated in nature with a lot of colorful designs for the dragons as well as the people, but the background work and detail place on the miscellaneous stuff like sand of all things, looks almost photo realistic. The human models are expressive in a cartoony manner but are still kept grounded and normally structured (for the most part) to add a believable weight to them. While for the most part, the film’s color palette is pretty mundane and features a lot of stale tones, it truly does shine when it is showcased, especially when they find the Hidden World, and it gives the film great atmosphere and emotional weight. While most of the dragons have comically odd designs which doesn’t allow for a lot of expression even if it has a lot of characters, both of the Night’s Fury have both, and it leads to a lot of great scenes with them together. The films have always had a problem with their humor, and it actually feels like it’s at its worst in this film. With that said, there aren’t too many moments that will make its audience groan of feel pain when watching, it’ll just leave them confused and slightly perplexed by what was said, as outside of a few choice moments of improvisation (Kristen Wiig has a stretched-out monologue that isn’t too bad), it doesn’t really work. The climax is also a touch messy in its execution. It has a decent set up with a war-like battle happening on the waterfront with the lead and the villain clashing on their dragons, but it takes away any sense of grand scale and impression stunts against a more grounded and less theatrical conflict. It serves the messages and the weight of the characters during this fight does feel legitimate and adds to the impressive nature of the effects, but the muted red and brown color palette isn’t very nice to look at, it serves the purpose of the story but doesn’t feel as engaging as even the previous film’s climax (which were also pretty messy) and it highlights how this film had a strong lack of any memorable dragon flying sequences (which have been the highlight of this franchise).

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, may not take massive leaps above what came before it, but still delivers a satisfactory ending that cements these three movies as something DreamWorks should be very proud of. It may come off as cliched, overly modern, and not the most intelligent, but underneath it is a very entertaining, character-building journey that has a lot of heart at the centre and a lot of visual wonder to appreciate at the forefront. While this film doesn’t quite have the strength of the first film and stumbles in regards to some of its script, world-building, humor and even to some extent, its overall story (with a title as boring and generic as ”The Hidden World”, something was going to be a little off), it still has likeable characters, breathtaking almost realistic looking visuals, and a very powerful and effective ending that will stay in audiences mind for a long time to come.

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