How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World *** (2019, Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, F Murray Abraham) – Movie Review

The third How to Train Your Dragon animation feature movie is still classy and entertaining, mixing laughs with high adventure. Those dragons are fascinating! It is the third and final film in the DreamWorks Animation trilogy that started with How to Train Your Dragon (2010) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014).

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) is a kids’ movie, but definitely adult friendly. They have carved out a decent third yarn and made the movie look beautiful, occasionally exquisite. The downside is it is over-sweet and over-sentimental, Spielberg style, especially at the end, which is way too manipulatively heartwarming and tear jerking, but we’ll let that go as the film is so appealing and enjoyable, as well as a labour-of-love visual feast.

Jay Baruchel again provides the voice of young village chief Hiccup, who discovers his dragon Toothless isn’t the only Night Fury, and has an untamed, elusive mate. With the Vikings’ homeland threatened, Hiccup and his people and dragons set out to find The Hidden World, a secret dragon utopia before evil tyrant Grimmel (voice of F Murray Abraham) finds it and them.

Director Dean DeBlois’s screenplay is based on the How to Train Your Dragon book series by Cressida Cowell. The Hidden World is intended as the series finale to the Dragon trilogy, but we shall wait and see.