How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Review

 

Without a doubt one of DreamWorks most beloved and acclaimed series, “How To Train Your Dragon” ended its story this past week with the release of the final film in the trilogy, subtitled “The Hidden World.” After two acclaimed films prior, can this finale cement its place as one of the crown jewels of the DreamWorks canon?

Those going in expecting a scope as broad and expansive as the previous film might be disappointed. This is not an epic, earth shattering conclusion like other series typically have as their finales. On the contrary, this last chapter for Hiccup and his band of dragons and friends is much more introspective than before.

It focuses on why its takes others to show people the potential they have inside them, and how that can both help and hinder a leader. It’s not as heavy as the emotional moments from the previous film, but it’s still unique for a film billed as a family adventure to have such an introspective theme.

Hiccup is a flawed character, often times stubborn and over relying on his bond with the Night Fury dragon Toothless. Writer and director Dean DeBlois (“Lilo and Stitch,” “How to Train Your Dragon”) knows that the bonds that seem the simplest often have the most complex connections bubbling underneath, and he continues to employ that here.

It helps that he continues to have such a great cast at his disposal. Jay Baruchel (“Man Seeking Woman,” “Tropic Thunder”) continues to deliver career excellent work as Hiccup. America Ferrara (“Superstore,” “End of Watch”) and Cate Blanchett (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Carol”) play off each other wonderfully as Astrid and Valka, respectively.

F. Murray Abraham (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Amadeus”) gives a growling and well-done performance as the villainous Grimmel the Grisly. However, despite giving an excellent performance, his villain highlights a problem inherent in some of the film’s aspects.

Grimmel simply isn’t as intriguing or well developed of a villain than the previous film’s antagonist Drago. He isn’t poorly performed, or uninteresting, he’s just not as strong as those who came before. The same goes for the film’s third act; it isn’t bad, not by a long shot, but it isn’t as powerful as the second film’s.

As this is DreamWorks, its expected that some of their brand of kid-friendly humor will sneak its way into even its more serious films. The same is true here, where most of the more serious moments have at least a light chuckle peppered into them, to prevent scenes from becoming too dire. A few running gags just seem bizarrely out of place though, like one of Hiccup’s friends hitting on his mother.

It does leave a bit of a cloud hanging about this film: since the previous entry was so great, can this possibly match up? In some ways, like the villain and third act conflict, it can’t, reaching a spot just below the excellence previously achieved. However, it still manages to hit the incredibly high bar the previous film set visually.

Every frame of “The Hidden World” crackles with color and life. This is a world that feels absolutely fantastical, with endless oceans and piercing blue skies. The seemingly endless dragon designs are a joy to look at and identify. Even the character designs, just like the second film, go against the typical animated Hollywood tradition, by aging them appropriately. It’s a visually stunning film that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

This being the final film in the “Dragon” series, there is a sense of bittersweet that goes along with it. It also leads to mediations on the nature of this finale; could it ever live up to expectations? Are the nitpicks and comparisons to the previous films worth picking at in what is, clearly, a smaller scoped film? Yes and no. While none of these are reason enough to harm the film, their worth mentioning, especially as this is a series film. Even if “The Hidden World” is still leaps and bounds above most typical Hollywood animation, and even most DreamWorks films, it’s still worth mentioning.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter much though, because the emotional core of the movie is so incredibly rock solid. While it may not be as heart-wrenching as the previous film, its more bittersweet and somber. DeBlois doesn’t pull any punches when it comes time to wrap things up, and the movie’s closing monologue is not only something special, but something tear inducing as well.

“The Hidden World” is a worthy conclusion to one of DreamWorks best series. It continues the previous films trend of providing gorgeous animation as the backdrops for thought provoking mediations on friendship and leadership. Even if it can’t quite live up to the previous film, that doesn’t mean it isn’t excellently voice, wonderfully scripted, and emotionally poignant. It’s hard to see a better way this series could have flown off into the sunset. 4/5

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part - Review

 

Phil Lord and Chris Miller are on a bit of a roll right now. For the past five years, they’ve helped to dominate the animation world with the LEGO series of films, they’ve earned rave reviews with their comedy series “The Last Man on Earth,” and they’re the favorite to take home an Oscar for their 2018 critical darling “Into the Spider-Verse.” Now would be as good a time as any to release a follow up to the film that arguably catapulted them to this newfound success, and thus, here we have “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.”

Thankfully, everything this sequel introduces clicks right into place with the preexisting world, and even manages to throw in some references to the spin-off films for continuity. It also mantains the same level of meta humor and jokes about animated films, just like the first film. Just about half of the film is exactly what you’d expect after the previous LEGO films.

However, about thirty minutes in, things get cranked up to eleven after the true themes are revealed, diverging from what the trailers seemed to give off almost completely. It’s a welcome surprise, and these new themes manage to give “Second Part” an emotional core just as rock solid and unexpected as the first films.

By the time this new theme is introduced though, it’s clear that subtly is the last thing on the mind of “Second Part.” Whereas the first movie ended with a bombshell realization that set the wheels in motion for the entire universe of LEGO films, this one wears its heart on its sleeve, embracing its meta nature and its twists a bit too earnestly.

This results in a movie that isn’t as surprising as the first, and while there are plenty of twists, only some really pack a punch due to the lack of subtlety. The twists that do hit are the most important though, and they hit hard. Just like past LEGO films, there are quite a few moments of tears in “Second Part” and they come from the most unexpected of places.

All of that is thanks to the fact that Lord and Miller know that a comedy still needs to provide an engaging story underneath the jokes. “Second Part” keeps audiences guessing with just where its story is going to go, and it surprises in quite a few places, never getting lazy or letting the pace die down for the sake of jokes. It’s still just as effective as the previous LEGO films at talking about the mind of a child, and not at the child.

It’s still a visual marvel as well. There aren’t as many “WOW” moments as in the first, mainly since the uber-realistic animation style is now the norm for the series, but there are still plenty of cool looking sequences and details.

Some of the space sequences seem to be set against sheer glittery veil-like cloth, and any scene with the new Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, a shape-shifting alien, is a wonder to behold. She moves with a fluidity and ease that would have initially seemed impossible within the LEGO medium, but the animators at Animal Logic have not only doubled down her effects, but brought the entire rest of the film to equally impressive quality as the previous ones.

The cast from the first film have all returned, and do just as excellent of a job as before. The only major additions are Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip,” “The Last O.G.”) as Watevra and Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Short Term 12”) as General Mayhem. They both do well, holding their own against the previous film’s characters and adding to the general sense of fun present throughout. Chris Pratt also gets to add even more silliness to the fare, not only returning as Emmett, but also voicing the new space-faring hotshot Rex Dangervest.

What’s most impressive about this sophomoric outing with Emmet and his friends is how it manages to (mostly) avoid the typical trappings of big budget sequels. The nature of the story doesn’t feel like it has lower stakes or is unworthy of the audience’s time. It also never sacrifices the sense of humor previously established or the direct parodying of itself it does.

It does, however, lack the initial surprise that came from the first film’s unexpectedly high quality. Everything also feels a bit looser and wilder, partly because of the lesser emphasis on subtlety. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does rob the film of some of the tension the first film managed to establish effortlessly.

These points are only valid when comparing it to the first film though, because even with them, “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” is better than 99% of the rest of the Hollywood animation game. It’s still funny, it’s still gorgeous, and it still manages to surprise with its themes and its willingness to poke fun at itself as it goes along, all while providing an engaging adventure. It may not be as flawless as the first, but everything is still awesome. 4.5/5