*Spoilers after ads
Summary:
Hiccup, Toothless, and the How to Train Your Dragon crew returns for a final adventure to the trilogy. (Though let’s be honest, if it makes money, they’ll find a way to get a 4th story and make it a cycle.) Hiccup and company have fought hard to create a dragon-human utopia. And it works, sort of. It also draws a lot of unwanted attention.
Additional Comments:
– Dragon based stories generally fall into the “dragons are adorable” or “dragons are terrifying” sides. Though they’re definitely mostly on the “adorable” side, the makers of this movie managed to include some super scary dragons as well.
– Story 4/5: Hiccup’s way of life is threatened, so he tries to move on. His clan faces big trials. Toothless meets a lightfury and falls in love (not a spoiler since that’s pretty much all the trailer and the posters focus on). There’s good balance between the two halves of the story.
– Fight Scenes 4/5: Most reminded me of the Battle for Naboo (plains side), where Jar Jar Binks is fighting off droids and succeeding despite complete ineptness. There is an exception to that noted below. Hiccup’s sword is pretty awesome though and there are some pretty sweet moves here and there.
– Flashbacks 4/5: Not usually a fan, but I think it worked well here.
– Conflict 4.5/5: Toothless and Hiccup are at an interesting point in their relationship and in life. They handled the themes with care.
– Humor 3/5: The comic relief characters had way too much screentime, and they weren’t particularly funny. On the other hand, the awkward scenes with Toothless and the Lightfury were downright hilarious.
– Epilogue 4.5/5: Not really a huge fan of epilogues, but this one worked for me. More on that later…
– Visuals 4.5/5: comments below.
Random trailer comment: I’m such a sucker for Nancy Drew, I’ll probably watch the reboot.
Conclusion:
Excellent movie worth seeing a few times. One of the rare movies where I think it matters to have it in 3D. Entertaining and fun as well as pretty (if you can get past the overdone sections of stupid humor.)
Associate links to follow…
(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)
Amazon Prime
The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.
If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.
Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
OR
Spoiler Section:
– Music 4.5/5: Favorite score was the one playing while Toothless and the lightfury weave in and out of the campsite.
– Visuals 4.5/5: It’s a very pretty movie when they’re not focusing on stupid humor. The Hidden World piece is only like 5 minutes long, but it’s beautiful and majestic. I think you see the best part in the theatrical trailer.
– Best fight scene: The escape from Grimmel’s trap.
– Most of Ruffnut’s dialogue was stupid but the part where she annoyed the heck out of Gimmel was quite impressive. (Even though the evil mastermind planned for it.)
– Epilogue comments: Baby dragons! Awwwwww. They’re so flippin’ cute.
