Stars: 4/5

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” brings the trilogy to a close in the best way possible.

Viewers were first introduced to the lovable Hiccup, played by Jay Baruchel, in 2010 with the first “How to Train Your Dragon” movie. If you haven’t seen the first movie, Hiccup is the son of the leader of a viking village whose main goal is to kill dragons. Hiccup defies the village and befriends a dragon whom he names Toothless.

Flash forward to the third movie and Hiccup is now the leader of the village, which now is a utopia of sorts where dragons and humans can co-exist together in harmony. Hiccup and his mother (Cate Blanchett) lead a ragtag group of dragon rescuers on missions to save dragons from other villages. During one of these missions, they encounter a female dragon that is the same rare breed as Toothless.

Expectedly, Toothless and the female dragon fall for each other, and this leads to one of the most entertaining scenes in the movie. Toothless has never encountered another female of his kind before, so when he attempts to woo her — cheered on by Hiccup, of course — it causes the viewer to almost have secondhand embarrassment. Toothless proves time and time again that even though he is a 3D animated dragon, he has as much emotion and heart as his human counterparts.

The rest of the movie moves along smoothly and the plot is realistic and entertaining at the same time. The romantic subplot between Hiccup and Astrid (America Ferrera) also brings more humor and heart to the movie. The relationship between Hiccup and Astrid is a realistic portrayal of young love, and it’s interesting to watch them try to navigate the ups and downs.

While the relationship between Astrid and Hiccup is interesting, the one between Hiccup and Toothless is even more compelling. It pretty much encompasses the phrase, “If you love something, set it free, and if it doesn’t come back, then it wasn’t yours in the first place”. Toothless grapples with wanting to be free in the wild, while still being loyal to Hiccup.

Overall, the movie is great both storywise and graphics-wise. The all-star cast makes the movie even better. Famous voices such as Kristen Wiig, Kit Harington, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill and T.J. Miller lend their talents to the movie. “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” was the perfect way to end the series with the final scene bringing so much emotion and warmth to the hearts of the viewers.