How To Train Your Dragon:
The Hidden World
review by Bobby Blakey
In 2010 Dreamworks unleashed the monster franchise How To Train Your Dragon that has since spawned a feature film sequel, TV series and more. Now the dragons are flying back into the theaters with the third chapter of the film franchise How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The film features a great voice cast as usual including Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, Justin Rupple, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harrington and F. Murray Abraham. Can this latest chapter bring closer to the story as promised or will it not be able to soar above the clouds?
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World follows Hiccup and Toothless who will finally discover their true destinies: the village chief as ruler of Berk alongside Astrid, and the dragon as leader of his own kind. As both ascend, the darkest threat they’ve yet faced—as well as the appearance of a female Night Fury—will test the bonds of their relationship like never before. This series continues to impress with each film being better than the next and this latest one is no different. I love that they have continued to evolve the characters through each chapter in not only story but in design as well allowing them to age. This chapter kicks right into action letting you know what all these characters are now up to with the new world of humans and dragons living together.
The voice cast all do a great job as usual bouncing right back into their roles like they never left. Each of them brings so much energy and passion to their roles you fully invest in each and every one of them. Sure there are silly characters, but unlike a lot of these kinds of movies they never go full ridiculous with any one character to where it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the world. I love all of these characters and how they have kept the ones that came in the previous entries to showcase they have become a family of sorts. The same goes with the dragons who have just as much personality as the human characters especially Toothless. It is so great seeing him on screen as you can see so many emotions and character
in every movement and reaction making him a character you want to see in action.
I have always applauded the designers for this franchise for such a wide variety of great dragons. They never stuck to one style and just kept upping their game with every film as they further expanded the story. They all have their own personalities as well and while they have a cartoony vibe at times they somehow all still work to perfection. Much like the previous films this one has a lot of heart, laughs and even more action than the first two films in my opinion. They are billing this as the final chapter and it does a great job of bringing the story to a close, but as usual keeps it still open ended if they ever want to revisit these characters and I for one would love to see more of them. If this is the final film as they seem to be planning then it is a perfection ending to a perfect animated series.
This release not only includes the film, but a ton of bonus content including alternate opening, commentary, deleted scenes, Dreamworks shorts and a bunch of featurettes that take you behind bringing the latest chapter of the franchise to life. Return to the world of dragons with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World available now on digital, 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.