Third time’s the charm for ‘Dragon’
HOWTO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3: THE HIDDEN WORLD ★★★
Who would have thought that DreamWorks’ “How To Train Your Dragon” would end up as one of the best film trilogies out there? Definitely not me, but with its strong third chapter, it’s achieved that rare feat.
The studio’s own “Shrek” nosedived with its No. 3 in 2007; “The Godfather Part III” and “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” have been famously mocked.
But the third “Dragon,” called “The Hidden World,” neatly ends the heartwarming story of gangly Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his fire-breath- ing friend Toothless, while also making a bigger style impact than its predecessors.
These days, the one-time dragon-hating village of Berk now loves its dragons like they’re French bulldogs on Bleecker Street. But Berk has become so crowded with scaly scamps that it’s turned into an easy target for dragon-killing thugs from other villages, like Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham).
Hiccup decides that in order to survive, the Viking town must decamp. So they set off in search of the mythical Hidden World, a lost land at the edge of the Earth where dragons are said to have originated.
Then a girl gets in the way. Toothless, thought to be the only Night Fury dragon in existence, meets a female of his species. She becomes a wedge in the pair’s friendship, and complicates the journey. The dragon ro- mance is sweet and silly, but also impressively graceful.
The “How To Train Your Dragon” series has always had a bigger heart than the average Pixar film, which leans cerebral and is better suited to nostalgic millenni- als than kids. “Hidden World” is funny, but not laced with double-entendre or, God forbid, inanimate objects. It’s smart.
The newest “Dragon” adventure, once again written and directed by Dean De- Blois, achieves real visual artistry. It looks like a “Fantasia” director’s cut.
The voice work is also topnotch. Baruchel really is a cutely awkward Hiccup type, and Cate Blanchett could just as easily play a dragon tamer in a liveaction flick. Gerard Butler gives one of his few decent performances as Hiccup’s dad. And if Abraham could murder Mozart, why not a dragon?
The movie could be called “How To End Your Trilogy.”
Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG (adventure action, some mild rude humor). Now playing.