Now
that that I've done a quick review of the first two How to Train films it's
time to do the review for the third film. We watched this a few days after
opening night and we had to take the 3D one since the regular ones are already
full for that day. The folks at Dreamworks did an excellent job at marketing
and handling the film since both the previous films before this has been solid
ones which is rare for animated fantasy films.
I
did a quick review of the first two films before seeing this film in theaters
and tried to stay away from spoilers. Even so I went with an open mind since I
have been disappointed way too much in the past.
How
to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World takes places about a year after the
events of the second film and roughly six years after the first one. Hiccup discovers
that Toothless isn't the only Night Fury in the world and this discovery has
earned him a new enemy as well. But now Hiccup must also seek this legendary
"hidden world" of dragons if he wants all dragons to be safe again.
If
the second movie deals about Hiccups story the second one is more about
Toothless as he discovers his true place. Sadly as much as the third movie has
a decent story I feel it has one of the weakest villains in all the three films.
Sure there are scenes where you see how dangerous or threatening the villain is
but all that build up feels flat during the third act.
In
fact I count at least three times the villain could have killed off Toothless
and Hiccup but he choose to let them escape cause he wants to feel the
"thrill of the hunt." he even monologues a lot which makes him your
typical generic villain which is sad since he seem to know his dragons well
enough to track them down and has a tactical mind to outwit Hiccup and his group nearly every turn.
Still
I guess one bad scene is not a bad thing for what the rest of the film had. The
film gave a realistic ending instead of a utopian paradise that realistically won't
happen in the real world. The movie has enough guts to shove the truth into the
film and meet halfway with a solution.
The
visuals are as stunning as the second film...maybe better. I watched this film
on 3D and seeing the dragons pop out on the screen was nice since this film
seem to have a lot of those kind of scenes. My only issue is some of the night
scenes was a bit too dark that it hard to see whats going on specially with
characters running around.
I
also like how the film gave a few call back and easter eggs here and there that
that folks that saw the first two movies will notice. Its also worth mentioning
that a lot of the side characters have their time to shine in their own way
this time and not just there for comic relief or just a means to get the plot
going from point A to point B.
The
character had better dialogue and some of the side characters that I didn't
like in the first and second film are more flesh out this time around...specially
Valka. You could say most of the characters have matured more and able to hold
their own in a fight while still retaining the quirky stuff that made them fun
and adorable.
The
HTTYD movies are set up as a trilogy with How to Train Your Dragon the Hidden
World pretty much wrapping up Hiccups and Toothless story arc yet seems sets it
up as a possibility of a fourth film and even a brand new trilogy with future
generation of characters. Personally I like to see a fourth film made.
As
a whole How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a decent finally to an
awesome franchise. What it lack in action it more than makes up with content,
emotional story and well developed fun character. A well earned ending while at
the same time still being open to future sequels and spin offs. if you watched
the first two films than I highly recommend this one.
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