Great sequel with excellent animation and loveable characters

I assume most of us make checklists before we leave for a break. To name a few tasks I always forget: doing the laundry, remembering to pack socks, packing the night before instead of ten minutes before I leave.

One thing I didn’t forget before leaving for spring break was making sure to catch “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” in theaters on the day of its release. I was introduced to the “How to Train Your Dragon” movies in my first year through a good friend (you know who you are). I fell in love with the adorable dragon known as Toothless because he has the soul of the best puppy. He’s such a good boy!

So, when I heard the third movie got the green light, I was super excited.

Then…the trailer hit. My excitement transitioned from excitement to being underwhelmed. I did not think I was going to be interested in Toothless getting a girlfriend or the “WHOLE NEW WORLD OF DRAGONS!!!” it was advertising. Now having seen the movie, I can truthfully say I was overwhelmed by how great this movie is.

One year after becoming chieftain, Hiccup and his team of dragon-riders have been traveling around the world freeing dragons from captivity. As a result, Berk is over-crowded due to the influx of dragons. Hiccup is feeling strain in all his relationships, particularly with Astrid, because people have been pressuring them to tie the knot.

Toothless is feeling neglected too, with Hiccup being pulled in every direction. In a dream, Hiccup remembers a time when he was younger, and his father told him a story about a waterfall at the edge of the world where all dragons came from. To try and protect them from outside forces, Hiccup convinces Berk to begin on a quest to find this hidden world where they’ll all be safe. However, they can’t help getting sidetracked by the mysterious Light Fury that has recently made an appearance.

I was really worried at the start of this movie because the animation did not look good during the opening scene. By the next scene, I realized it was an issue with the projector, so all was well. The animation for these movies is never a toss-up, it’s always the best quality. Even though I feel the hidden world as a place was created just so they could make the eye candy, doesn’t mean I wasn’t drooling over it the whole time. Aside from animation, the camera movements in this film where brilliant. Most of the first scene is one long take and a snap-zoom during the climax that gave me life.

Plot-wise, this movie reminded me of a lot of different things. Sometimes it was “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” sometimes it was “The Lion King” and, weirdly, at one point a character reminded me of Zuko from “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” I can’t tell you which one because I forgot to write it down in my notes, but know the thought was there. Thankfully, there was no racial-coding of the villain this time (looking at you, “2”), but his character was very underdeveloped. He kept bragging about how he killed all the other Night Furies, but he apparently had no motivation for doing so.

Now, let’s get into the things I liked: the characters. My boy Eret was back and even though he had little to do in the story, he was still great. Ruffnut is me, because my superpower is, also, being able to annoy people so much that they release me from captivity. Toothless is the absolute best boy ever and he deserves every happy thing in the world.

While I found his romance with the Light Fury kind of dry, I was happy that he was happy. The best character arc of this movie is Hiccup’s and he will cause you to cry multiple times in the last thirty minutes of this movie. This is coming from someone who didn’t find him that dynamic in “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” so that is high praise.

In conclusion, if you’re a fan of this series or if you’ve never checked them out before, I recommend marathoning this film and its predecessors after midterms is over to re-spark joy in your life.

Rating: 8/10