How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World Thoughts
So it finally happened. Last week, I got to see the last ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ movie. My almost 9 years old journy with Hiccup and Toothless technically came to an end. I was a bit hesitent to write this post because... well, first of all not a lot of people get to see it until Faburary. Second reason was that I didn’t think I was able to fully process it the day I watched it. But after letting the movie sit in my mind and got the chance to think about everything; I think I’m ready for this post. Yes. There will also be a Berkcast episode to those who know me from there. It’ll come later though, probably around the time the movie will hit theaters in North America. Note: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD! I’ll keep the first paragraph spoiler free but anything afterwards? You’ve been warned! I guess I’ll start by saying what you’re all asking. Yes, this movie is amazing and it’s defenitly a worthy conclusion to Hiccup and Toothless’s story. If you liked the previous 2 films, you’ll defenitly enjoy this one and this is a finale that you can’t miss! A part of me wants to say that this might be the strongest of the 3 films as it basically combines what works in the previous 2 films. You get the heartwarming and personal moments from the first movie alongside the action and scale of the second movie; alongside a wonderfully animated characters and universe, fantastic voice acting and an ending which... I won’t say much aside from the fact that it’s earned. I think I’ll need to think about it more to really tell you if it’s my favorite of the 3, but it is defenitly an option.
Spoilers from now on...
I really don’t have much to say regarding Hiccup and Toothless because... wel... They are Hiccup and Toothless. You know them, you love them, nothing changed in that regard. It does feel like all of their adventures in the previous movies and the show brought them to this moment and it all feels organic. Seeing Hiccup taking over as Cheif, making decisions for his villiage and his loved ones was the one thing I wanted to see from this movie and it delieverd. He’s not a perfect Cheif, he even gets called on it a bit, but you get why he’s making the decisions he’s making.
Toothless gets a lot more screen time in this movie, no doubt thanks to the Light Fury. You can feel his growth after he meets her, and their moments together are cute as hell. It is interesting to see Toothless being on his own and coming into terms with what it’s like being the Alpha, and all with no daialog! His story feels just as finished as Hiccup’s, and it’s wonderful. I also like how the Light Fury isn’t the sole reason Toothless agrees to leave Hiccup. She just helps him find his real place in the world.
The side characters were also extremly fun. It is entertaning to finally see Hiccup and Astrid talk about a wedding(Which is great once we do see it), I like Snotlout hitting on Valka(Which surprisingly works), I like Fishlegs being like a dad to this baby Gronckle, Ruffnut was a delight in this movie, Tuffnut’s bromance with Hiccup I can’t get enough of, everyone just got a moment to shine! I liked Valka and Eret too, but there’s nothing on top of my head that I recall loving about them in this one. Maybe after another veiwing.
Now for Grimmel... I liked him. I love the way he’s animated, he’s threatning, he’s smart, and I like that out of all the villians we had he feels like the most similiar to Hiccup. He’s also funny to boot, which I didn’t expect! I will say the one part I’m a bit ‘eh’ about with him is his backstory. It’s not bad, if anything I like how he started from the same point Hiccup did only he killed the Night Fury. Then again, I wish I could have seen that instead of just being told that. It’s such a great parallel that it kind of sucks it was just thrown away in a line of daialog instead of showing it to us.
One other thing I didn’t like, though it is very minor, is that there’s no real answer what happened to the Night Furies. We know Grimmel killed all of them and that the Light Fury is like a sub-species, so why didn’t Grimmel going after the Light Furies as well? We see some in the Hidden World, so what’s the deal? Are they the same or not? I think that could have been better explained for something that is such a big thing about Toothless and him meeting the Light Fury.
But now, let’s talk about that ending. Yes, I cried. Like, the last 20 minutes of this movie, I was crying like a whimp. It’s not a sad ending by any means, but seeing Hiccup and Toothless realizing their paths can no longer cross just breaks my heart. I knew this was coming, I knew this needed to happen, but it still got me. Seeing the other riders saying goodbye didn’t help things either.
The final scene was also great. Still hitting them feels while still keeping me smiling. This is how you cap a trilogy.
Thank you Hiccup and Toothless for this amazing, funny, and emotional journy!