"How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World":two-paragraph review

Directed by Dean DeBlois and starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, and F. Murray Abraham, "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" is the third installment of the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. It continues the story of Hiccup (Baruchel), Viking chieftain of Berk, whose people have, over the course of the two previous films, come to live in harmony with dragons, their former enemies. In this film, Berk's reputation as a haven for dragons has made it a target for dragon-hunters and dragon-killers everywhere, to the point where Hiccup thinks the time has come to move to a remoter part of the world. He also remembers the stories of his father Stoick (Gerard Butler), who had told a young Hiccup about the Hidden World from which all dragons come. Hiccup is still with his lady love Astrid (Ferrera), and the entire community is hoping the two will marry soon. Hiccup's dragon pal Toothless, meanwhile, discovers he's not quite the last of his kind: an alabaster female dragon whom the Vikings call a "Light Fury" (in contrast with Toothless's being a Night Fury) suddenly appears, and Toothless—who became king of all dragons in the second film—falls giddily in love. A dragon-killer named Grimmel the Grisly appears, determined to hunt down and kill both Toothless and his potential mate. The Berkians flee their beloved homeland of Berk, having been persuaded—like Thor in the Marvel universe—that Berk is a people, not a place.

The Dragon trilogy has relied on one-upping itself; that's one of its gimmicks. In the first movie, the big reveal is a huge dragon "nest" presided over by a ridiculously fat dragon. In the second movie, an even larger dragon realm is revealed when Hiccup finds his long-lost mother (Cate Blanchett). And in this final movie, the big reveal is the home and origin-place of all dragonkind. We get some amazing, sweeping shots of the Hidden World, but our visit there is disappointingly brief. Most of the movie's focus is on what it means to grow up and accept adult responsibilities: Toothless must go and be king of his own realm while Hiccup must cast aside his lingering sense of unworthiness and step up to the role of chieftain of the Berkians. The movie also performs the sad function of explaining why there are no dragons today, but while that might sound somber, the story ends on a note of happiness and hope. As with the other movies, this one doesn't provide us with much of a villain, but F. Murray Abraham gives us a scenery-chewing, heavily accented performance that's entertaining while his character is on screen. By the end of the film, we've tied up some major loose ends and finished on a satisfying note. While I don't think "Hidden World" is the equal of the two previous films, it's certainly not a bad ending, and the visuals alone will make the movie worth your while.