How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

The “How to Train Your Dragon” movies are probably my favourite Dreamworks animated franchise – they feel reasonably committed to making a realistic fantasy world that isn’t thrown overboard for a cheap topical gag, their lead characters aren’t “celebrity voice first, characterisation later”, and they know exactly how to use the lead dragon, the adorably kitten-ish Toothless. The sequels have largely expanded without feeling overly bloated, and this one both continues the tale and brings it to a satisfying end, as the dragon-enhanced village of Berk finds itself besieged by dragon hunters and goes in search of a refuge where dragons can live undisturbed. There’s also an emphasis, perhaps, on fairly traditional “growing up” markers – Hiccup and Astrid’s relationship is directed towards romance and marriage, while Toothless meets his own romantic interest. The titular “Hidden World” perhaps only gets a brief moment to shine visually, and isn’t overly dwelt on (it’s also the biggest case of “fantasy geography” in the entire series), and the story perhaps struggles a little with servicing all of a large supporting cast (a couple of characters do feel a little short-changed), and the ending gets perhaps a little metaphorically messy in an attempt to provide a satisfactory finale. But it's a nice farewell from the series that appears to be going out nicely on its own terms rather than feeling particularly dragged out.