Perfect farewell to trilogy
HOW to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the third and final film of DreamWorks Animation’s adventure trilogy. Nine years ago, we were introduced to Viking Hiccup as a teenage boy, and his friendship with Toothless, the adorable and sleek Night Fury dragon who has a mix of dog and cat-like qualities.
We have followed their adventures throughout two instalments, but now the story has come to an end, and it’s safe to say the final movie outshines both of its predecessors.
While The Hidden World hits many of the same beats as the earlier films, we see a lot of character development in both Toothless and Hiccup in this last movie. Its filmmakers brings more emotion to the table this time around with a compelling and tearjerking plot.
While How To Train Your Dragon 2 was more focused on Hiccup and his relationship with his parents, The Hidden World highlights Hiccup and his deep bond with Toothless.
Hiccup, who looks like he is well into his mid-20s, has been rescuing dragons from trappers, bringing them back to their island village of Berk. The village is huge, but new dragons keep coming in, almost too many, and that’s when Hiccup thinks of a solution to the problem. He remembers a story about a hidden world where dragons live, free from the threat of humans, as told by his late father.
The film then introduces a female version of Toothless, another Night Fury (or Light Fury as she is white in colour) dragon.
When Toothless discovers the Light Fury, it is as though he has found his soulmate. From this point on, we see Toothless’ character development becoming more than just a “pet” to Hiccup.
There is hopping, wing-flapping and flirtation when Toothless falls in love. Despite all that sweetness, trouble soon comes for Hiccup and the dragons. Along the way, there’s the Night Fury killer named Grimmel the Grizzly (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) who aims to trap and kill the two main dragons. Hiccup draws upon his leadership skills to save the day once again by setting off to find the hidden world so he can place all the dragons in a safe haven.
Going on an adventure is part of who Hiccup is anyway. Fans of the movie will know that he always had a knack for exploring the world beyond Berk, since that’s how he discovered Toothless in the first place. So off he goes to find the hidden world.
Despite Toothless and Hiccup’s deep bond, we start to see Toothless slowly stray away, after being enchanted by the Light Fury. In the previous films the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless didn’t really evolve, but here in this final movie, it actually does, and that’s what makes the ending a very touching one.
But Hiccup also has his other relationship to contend with. In this case, his bond with the feisty and capable Astrid (America Ferrerra) has reached a point where marriage is on the cards. Again, we see a lot of character growth here.
I was extremely touched by the emotional arc of the characters but despite the heartwarming storyline, the movie gets you excited with its action and imaginative visuals. If dragons were to exist and they looked that colourful, they wouldn’t be as scary, would they?
The animation is adept at capturing sparkling worlds of wonder — it is utterly magical to be immersed in the animation. What truly makes the film worthwhile is the ending.
At the end of it all, the message is that there is no greater gift than love. Both Hiccup and Toothless go through a journey of falling in love and learning about sacrifice. The characters have each matured over three films, and its sentimental ending marks the perfect farewell to this trilogy. I am not afraid to admit that I shed a few tears during the final scene.