How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Directed By: Dean DeBlois
Starring: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Kit Harrington
My Rating: [rating=5]
If you have kids then you know that when they are young and they latch onto something, you’ll groan at the mention of its very name. If it weren’t for my daughter I probably never wouldn’t have watched any of the How to Train Your Dragon movies. When she latched on to these movies, I actually didn’t mind. The depth of the world is immersive and suddenly you find yourself talking about the lore and characters. Despite watching all the different series, several times at her request, I actually became a fan. So much so that I, too, wanted to see this movie.
A new threat has emerged, Grimmel the Grisly. He isn’t just after the dragons, he specifically hunts Nightfurys and he’s after the last of them. He has threatened all of Berk to get his hands on Toothless and, as the new chief, Hiccup must protect them. Finding the dragon’s hidden world is their only hope to survive Grimmel’s fixation.
Biggs Review
It’s a great conclusion to an epic series. It has some heartfelt moments and it wraps everything up neatly. One of the things I noticed is the “camera work”. I realize that’s a bit of an abstract observation since animated films can’t really have “camera angles” like a live action film. However, they seemed to try to create the illusion of live camera angles, even shaking the camera a bit in a couple of scenes. John Powell (also known for composing the sound track for Solo) continues his amazing work on the soundtrack; I never realized how much I enjoy the soundtrack.
This is one of those series where you hate to see it end but you knew it has to at some point. If you enjoy the other movies, and the series, then I think you need to see how it all wraps up. The story and character progression makes sense as well as the ending. Also, if you haven’t watched any of the series, you need to check them out.
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” – Stanley Kubrick