Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World’ wraps up the trilogy on a down note
While the story is simple, Hiccup discovers Toothless isn’t the only Night Fury, he must seek “The Hidden World”, a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired bounty hunter named Grimmel gets to the pet dragon first, the execution gets too adult in its execution.
Critics are raving over How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and how mature the final resolve is compared to other kids’ films.
Hiccup’s (Jay Baruchel) dragon-based tech as evolved with fireproof armor built from the dragon’s scales and a flaming sword (which doesn’t really give the hero an advantage in battle). Toothless continues to play fetch with Hiccup’s foot and the twins hate on one another. The jokes and themes are the same as other films (Shrek, Toy Story 3, even Secret Life of Pets) as director Dean DeBlois mixes doses of animal rights messaging with real world pessimism of difficult decisions.
The Dragon series gets bonus points from the social justice warriors for being disability friendly and the strong role(s) of female characters, particularly Astrid (America Ferrara). Sadly, Cate Blachett’s role as Valka is regulated to the backseat with uninteresting contributions and remarks.
It’s all too simple and predictable: save the dragons, fight the bad guy, awe over the lovestruck dragons and cheer for Hiccup to find the fortitude to become the leader of his clan. You can pretty well call the shots, wait for the spoonfed “baby dragon” moments you know will come as the creators attempt to tug on your heartstrings.
The list of plot holes are so glaring I don’t understand how the critics bashing Ready Player One can praise this film. Why is there a flaming sword? Why are the characters just magically capable of winning the battle at the end of the film after getting crushed early on? Everyone just grows up…it just works out.
Contrived is a kind word to describe Hidden World.
I never found the journey interesting. There are amazing visuals, but not a mesmerizing jump forward from the first two films. There are whole sections of the film just “killing time” much like Rian Johnson did in Last Jedi. Grimmel is billed and amazes early on as a formidable enemy, who ultimately loses because, well….just because.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World earns 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars.
