Here is the short and mild-spoiler review for DreamWorks' third installment of “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise, subtitled The Hidden World.
1. What is it about? As alluded on the title, the third adventure will once again explore the relationship between Hiccup, who is now the leader of his tribal village Berk; and Toothless, his Night Fury dragon. Together, they embark on an adventure to find the mythical hidden world of dragons, following the ever-growing threats from the ruthless dragon poachers such as Grimmel.
2. Much of the credit is that the film continues to give its lovable dragons and their human counterparts with ample opportunity to shine. The plot device is rather simple and funny yet is also affectionate enough due to the heartfelt moments and emotional messages. These are adequate and appropriate to conclude the trilogy on a high note.
3. There are, however, pieces of underwhelming feeling that the third outing is nothing more than a rehash of the two predecessors in terms of its themes and story. The first movie was true magic, while the second one successfully took bold risks.
4. On the aspect of visual treats and much like its predecessors, one can expect grandiose experience with striking colours and amazing scene fluidity. Take the hidden world, for example, the animation highlights the Edenic neon-infused atmosphere and swarming dragons amazingly well. However, the comedic fighting sequences the movie displayed are quite forgettable.
5. One of the downsides of the movie is perhaps the direction for the villain character. Earlier, Grimmel is portrayed as a fearless, intelligent and charismatic dragon hunter. Unfortunately, the story development eventually made him pretty much one-dimensional and fails to live up to the expectation of a satisfying climax.
6. “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” plays too safe but offers a satisfying send off to the characters we loved.
OVERALL RATING: 8.0/10
Distributed by Universal Pictures. A production of DreamWorks Animation. "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" stars Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, and F. Murray Abraham. Directed and written by Dean DeBlois, based on Cressida Cowell’s “How to Train Your Dragon”. Runs at 104 minutes. Released since 31 January in Malaysia.
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| Source: IMDB |
2. Much of the credit is that the film continues to give its lovable dragons and their human counterparts with ample opportunity to shine. The plot device is rather simple and funny yet is also affectionate enough due to the heartfelt moments and emotional messages. These are adequate and appropriate to conclude the trilogy on a high note.
3. There are, however, pieces of underwhelming feeling that the third outing is nothing more than a rehash of the two predecessors in terms of its themes and story. The first movie was true magic, while the second one successfully took bold risks.
4. On the aspect of visual treats and much like its predecessors, one can expect grandiose experience with striking colours and amazing scene fluidity. Take the hidden world, for example, the animation highlights the Edenic neon-infused atmosphere and swarming dragons amazingly well. However, the comedic fighting sequences the movie displayed are quite forgettable.
5. One of the downsides of the movie is perhaps the direction for the villain character. Earlier, Grimmel is portrayed as a fearless, intelligent and charismatic dragon hunter. Unfortunately, the story development eventually made him pretty much one-dimensional and fails to live up to the expectation of a satisfying climax.
6. “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” plays too safe but offers a satisfying send off to the characters we loved.
OVERALL RATING: 8.0/10
Distributed by Universal Pictures. A production of DreamWorks Animation. "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" stars Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, and F. Murray Abraham. Directed and written by Dean DeBlois, based on Cressida Cowell’s “How to Train Your Dragon”. Runs at 104 minutes. Released since 31 January in Malaysia.