So like…a couple weeks ago (almost a month ago…wow…), I took myself (and the parents) to the movies to see How to Train Your Dragon: the Hidden World!

I know what you’re thinking: “wait didn’t that movie come out like…ages ago why are you like this” to which I say, until I get paid to write these things, occasionally my actual job will take priority and will run My Entire Life.

Anyway, if for some reason you haven’t seen this yet and are still thinking about it (like I am) and want to know my thoughts, HERE YA GO.

I cried. A Lot.

THE PLOT

Sometime nearby before the second movie, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) & Co. (Astrid (America Ferrera), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig), Tuffnut (Justin Rupple), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Valka (Cate Blanchett)) are chasing down Vikings who capture dragons so they can free them and take them back to Berk. This raid we see goes well-ish, although there’s one dragon who purposely hides herself so she doesn’t get freed (it’s unclear why she does this, I mean she has this ability, but wouldn’t she want to be free? It’s possible she’s just real wary of humans, and after we meet Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), it’s understandable why). One of the Vikings on the ship makes an Angry Face as the group flies off, so we know that’s gonna come back to bite them. Hiccup introduces the new dragon recruits to Berk, which has become a paradise for dragons and humans alike (sort of). Toothless is still the Alpha Dragon (as we saw from the last movie) and sort of keeps all the other dragons in line. Gobber (Craig Ferguson) complains to Hiccup that he can’t keep bringing dragons back here because it makes them real vulnerable to attacks and also it’s just real crowded and dragons keep bathing in the soup. He also says that it’s about time Hiccup and Astrid got married, to which there’s a lot of awkward fanfare.

We catch up with the Angry Face Viking from earlier, who apparently works with this big Viking council that we’re only just now learning exists, and they’re all real bitter that Berk has become so peace-and-dragon-loving because they keep releasing the dragons they unfairly capture and that’s just Rude. This is where we meet Grimmel, the main villain. He’s real gaunt and evil-looking, and has these two scorpion-dragons that chillax with him. He doesn’t really care about everyone else’s problems with Berk and Hiccup as chief until they mention that Hiccup’s dragon is a Night Fury. I guess Grimmel is the reason we don’t see any other Night Furies-he killed ‘em all. He takes this pretty personally and vows to destroy Toothless and Hiccup and all of Berk or whatever, and he plans to use the dragon from earlier (the one who hid and didn’t go with the other dragons being freed) to lure Toothless into a trap.

Hiccup, meanwhile, has a lot of flashbacks to when he was a kid (which means we get to see Stoick (Gerard Butler!) again!!). In a very The Lion King moment, Stoick holds a young Hiccup in his arms as he looks out at the sunrise and talks about how one day, Hiccup will be chief of all of this. He also talks about something called “the Hidden World” which is a brand new plot device and apparently where all dragons come from/live/hide/something, it’s not really explained (remember how in the first movie, the dragon lair they found was supposed to be the main source of dragons? Now it’s the Hidden World). Hiccup decides that this Hidden World is their best chance, and that the way to fix everything is to straight up move Berk to the Hidden World, where humans and dragons can live secretly in peace.

Everyone else thinks this is crazy, but they go along with it (albeit kinda unwillingly) because Hiccup is the chief. Grimmel, however, is hot on their tail (PUN INTENDED) at every move, and he always seems to be three steps ahead of them. He introduces Toothless to the Light Fury (which Hiccup calls a “Bright Fury” at first which like I thought that was pretty good, that could’ve stuck, c’mon), and then the rest of the film is a tense back-and-forth between Hiccup, Grimmel, and the dragons these Vikings have begun to call friends.

THE REVIEW

I am full of emotions, y’all.

I’m part of a group of people that really kinda grew up with this franchise and these characters (the first movie came out when I was 13) so there’s something especially bittersweet here for me. It reminds me of when the last Harry Potter book came out, and then when the last movie came out…it feels a little like the ending of an era. Now, I realize that it doesn’t necessarily mean the end; it is Hollywood, after all! The Harry Potter universe is giving us Fantastic Beasts currently, and there’s every chance that more dragon movies will be made about the next generation, or even other characters.

Still, though, there’s nothing quite like the book closing on the original storyline.

I’m always skeptical about sequels, especially when it comes to a movie I love, because sometimes I feel they’re so unnecessary and just serve as a cash-grab for the company. I honestly would have been perfectly fine with just the first How to Train Your Dragon, except that both sequels do such a beautiful job with expanding the world and the characters (sometimes it kills them, but We Don’t Talk About That).

Still, as good as both How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Hidden World are, they’re not the first movie. The first movie will always be one of my favorite movies ever, and at least in my opinion, the two sequels never quite live up to it. Are they still amazing? ABSOLUTELY. I also know that I’m alone in thinking the first movie is better than the second (and third). Maybe I’m just bitter about it all ending; it’s hard to watch characters you love grow up and change, and make hard decisions in their world that end up affecting everything.

The point is, this is a great movie and a great end to a great series. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first movie, but it’s still absolutely incredible.

Plus, crying. Lots of crying. So much crying.

I’m still crying.

So without further ado, let’s soar into what exactly makes this movie so incredible, and an excellent send-off to our favorite dork and his dragon.

Spoiler warning now in effect!!

THE MUSIC

Y’ALL.

So full disclosure, John Powell is one of my favorite composers, and the original How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack is definitely one of my favorites. It was the first soundtrack album I bought (kind of a moot point now that I use Spotify for everything, but back in high school it MEANT SOMETHING), I listen to it constantly even now, I recommended we play the music in high school band…I have a very strong connection to the original soundtrack, basically, if you couldn’t tell.

That is why every time the original theme started playing, I was basically already crying. It’s like when they used Hedwig’s theme in the last Harry Potter movie when sad things were happening-they used our own nostalgia against us!

And actually, it’s a genius move, no complaints here. Lots of tears, maybe, but no complaints!

There were lots of new things in the soundtrack that separated the story from its predecessors without taking anything away from it, in my opinion. It was adventurous and emotional and made me want a dragon friend to fly around on. That could be said of the whole movie series, really.

THE CHARACTERS

Again, it’s How to Train Your Dragon, so the characters are all lovable and great (except for the villain, of course, and we’ll get to him).

Hiccup has always been a fascinating lead-he’s not the typical Viking we all think of, and he remains that way throughout the series. He believes in loving and rescuing the dragons above all else, and he really only engages in combat if he feels he has to (or if someone dear to him has been threatened or something). But what’s interesting about Hiccup in this film is that we get to see him truly struggling to fill his father’s shoes as the leader. We see him truly dealing with his father’s absence, shown particularly in flashbacks with his dad when he was super small. His big conflict in the film is that he knows he’s not his father, but he truly doesn’t know who he is besides the guy who saves dragons. So when he’s faced with the idea of losing Toothless, it’s a real roadblock for him. Astrid has a great conversation about who he is without Toothless-still a whole person. Hiccup has dealt with a lot of loss in his life-first his mom, then he found Toothless. Then he found his mom again, but lost his dad. Now he’s faced with losing Toothless, and there’s no real replacement for him. His mom is here again, but she’s been there at this point. Astrid is there, but again, she’s been there as well. There’s no one new Hiccup can focus on to help him get past the pain of loss…or is there? Hiccup’s arc in this film is all about him finding himself. He is the new person he has to love and accept to help him get over and deal with losing Toothless. I’m a strong believer in self-love (and I struggle a lot with it myself) so this was an incredibly personal part of the movie for me.

I would argue that none of the other characters have quite the arc that Hiccup has-none of them are growing and changing in quite the way that he is. Snotlout is in love with Hiccup’s mom for some…reason…Ruffnut and Tuffnut are delightful little dorks as always (Ruff’s capture and Tuff’s beard are absolutely two of my favorite plot points), Gobber is still the supportive gruff guy we all know and love, Fishlegs has a little baby dragon the whole time and it’s super cute (DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT AT THE END HE MADE HIMSELF A LITTLE STUFFED VERSION OF THE BABY DRAGON HE GAVE UP BECAUSE EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT IT I CRY SOME MORE)…and of course, there’s Astrid. Astrid has always been a great character in my opinion, and her relationship with Hiccup has always been incredible to watch.

One of my favorite elements of the series is that Hiccup and Astrid never have any crazy relationship drama? We see how much they are friends as much as they are lovers, and it’s such a good, positive relationship model. When they’re married at the end, it’s made very clear they are leading Berk as equals. Would it have been great to get a little more individual development for Astrid? Yeah, of course. But their relationship isn’t the centerpiece for the films, nor should it be. How to Train Your Dragon has always, always been about friendship, especially when it comes to humans and nature.

Before we go forth to discuss the dragon characters, I have to touch on our main baddie, Grimmel. He’s…he’s a jerk you guys. And in a weirdly uncharacteristic move for this franchise, he’s not redeemable. The past films have always had some kind of arc for the “villain” so that we learn about them and they are allowed to grow and change. Grimmel is not treated the same way…his obsession with controlling and wiping out the dragons is never fully explained. He is filled with pure hatred for these creatures, and we never really learn why. To some degree it makes him all the more unnerving-it’s like he hates just for the sake of feeling hatred. He embraces anger and revenge, and he loves to torture both dragons and humans alike. He’s constantly outsmarting our heroes, and we find out that he’s controlling his scorpion dragons by brainwashing them with their own venom. He’s…he is not nice, fam. I guess he’s one of my pet peeves in the film, because while I appreciate how delightfully evil he is, it’s weird that we never truly learn that much about him. Even the other village leaders follow him purely because he’s a lil’ scary. What is his DEAL, y’all???

So since we can’t really touch on Grimmel all that much purely because the movie doesn’t really let us, that brings us to some of the dragon characters. Particularly, Toothless and the Light Fury (does she have a name? Sparkles? Can it be Sparkles? She’s real glittery you guys).

THE FRIENDSHIP AND GROWING UP

Like I mentioned above, the How to Train Your Dragon series is about friendship above all else. It starts with an outcast kid finding kinship with a lonely force of nature. Hiccup finds purpose in Toothless just as much as companionship, and Toothless finds love and loyalty in Hiccup just as much as purpose.

I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than a good story about companionship between humans and animals. It’s why stories involving “the boy and his dog” or “the girl and her horse” are so iconic. Many of us know that we humans are social creatures, but many of us also feel that we generally kinda suck at connecting with other humans. We know we can’t survive alone and we’re not supposed to, but damn it, it’s hard! That’s why we’re drawn to stories where the awkward outcast finds a powerful, social relationship with an animal. It’s made more powerful because the bond is often formed without words.

We all want relationships like that, so it’s nice when we get to see or hear about a relationship like that.

What I love about the How to Train Your Dragon series is that it gives us that relationship, but it also shows us what happens to it over time. After all, we all know that theoretically the story continues past the first “death scare that actually makes the bond stronger and makes the grumpy dad believe in the power of love” or the “very important race that doesn’t need to be won but actually yes it does because that means you can keep your horse because it clearly only listens to you also here’s some flowers and like a trophy I guess.”

Hiccup and Toothless are tested in the first movie when they’re learning about each other, when Stoick separates them, when Toothless dives into the fire to save Hiccup (well, most of him). Their bond is strengthened when Hiccup loses his leg because now they’re both physically “broken.” They’re tested in the second movie when they face a new foe, when Toothless loses control and costs Hiccup his dad, when Hiccup yells at him to leave for that, and then later when Hiccup apologizes and begs for his best friend to come back.

In some ways, the series set us up for a hard fall with the third film, because we believed up to this point that their friendship could and would stand against anything. We saw it stand up against impossible odds, didn’t we? What could possible change that?

COLD, HARD REALITY, OF COURSE.

Here’s the facts, y’all. Toothless, much as he seems to share a human bond with Hiccup, is an animal. He’s a part of nature. He’s gone his whole life being the only one of his kind, so as much as he loves Hiccup and all his other dragon friends, he’s lonely. Like us humans, he craves that social relationship with others of his kind.

So of course when he meets the Light Fury, he desperately wants to be with her.

Now I don’t think Toothless, when Hiccup initially lets him go after the Light Fury, was actually planning on staying away forever. I think it would be hard for him to communicate that to Hiccup, necessarily, but I also think he trusts Hiccup to know how much he wants to be with the Light Fury. Hiccup, of course, is a human and therefore plagued with anxiety, so this doesn’t quite work out, and Toothless is a lil’ bitter about that.

Toothless has a deep, inner need to be with the Light Fury and the other dragons-he wants to be with her and the other dragons. We see most of the movie from Hiccup’s point of view, so all we are really allowed to relate to is Hiccup’s anxiety about Toothless’s departure. But it’s meant to be that way-we are like Hiccup, we will always relate to him more, so therefore we will always want him to be with Toothless. That’s how it’s always been, right?

The reality, however, is different. Because of the dragons’ presence, Berk is a target. Because of Stoick’s death, Hiccup is the leader and has to make hard decisions. Because of how humans are, dragons are not safe. Because, because, because…

And isn’t that how it is in reality?

As much as this is a fantasy series, it does bring in some things that are just as real as what we all have to deal with at some point; but it’s never been the forefront of the series as much as it is in this third film.

We all know that friendships grow and change just like we do. Sometimes, we have to leave good friends behind because of whatever reason, but that doesn’t mean your friendship has to end. Maybe sometimes it does, and that’s okay, too-but it doesn’t have to. Life gets in the way and you may have to say goodbye, but that doesn’t mean your friendship is any weaker for it. I’ll touch more on the very ending of the film a bit later because it really ties into this. Many of our friendships, battered and tested by distance and time, can remain the same-just as strong as when they began.

It can still hurt of course, which brings us to…

THE GOODBYE

Everyone ready to cry?

GREAT.

I will freely admit that a teaser for the film actually spoiled the big goodbye twist for me. There was a short clip of Toothless, looking longingly off to some other dragons flying nearby, with a voiceover of Hiccup saying “it’s okay, bud. It’s time.”

Once I’d picked up the shattered pieces of my heart, I realized I was actually thankful for this…I think the film was slightly easier to sit through since I knew what was coming. Granted, the movie teases the Big Goodbye relatively early on. Hiccup almost says goodbye to Toothless after they first find him in the secret dragon lair, but then Plot happens.

Unfortunately, knowing it was coming did not make it any easier to sit through.

The bond between Toothless and Hiccup is a refreshing one, so simple and powerful and hopeful! So watching them hug one last time and say goodbye for…they didn’t know how long?

My popcorn was flavored with my many, many tears.

But! I knew this was coming! Plus, it made sense plot wise, the dragons weren’t safe, Toothless wouldn’t be alone, and neither would Hiccup! It’s okay! They’re still friends! It’s fine!!!

What was NOT fine was then having to watch the ENTIRE VILLAGE OF BERK SAY GOODBYE TO THEIR DRAGONS, TOO. I mean, all at once, everyone is hugging their dragons and crying and I JUST.

I think the real kicker, though, was watching Astrid say goodbye to Stormfly. There was something about the way her voice cracked and their little snuggle hug…

Anyway, not even popcorn anymore, just soggy, salty, once-was-popcorn.

(Fun fact: supposedly the dragons have voice actors to help the animators with facial expressions and gestures before final editing, and I guess Toothless straight-up says “I don’t want to leave you” in that final hug with Hiccup so I’m just gonna go crawl under a rock and sob for a thousand years, thanks)

It was heart-wrenching, and you know it’s the best solution all-around because humans are awful and can’t be trusted with nice things like dragons.

But you know what else it was? Hopeful.

Goodbyes are just as real as friendships, unfortunately, and the move highlights that pretty strongly. But it also makes clear that not only is everyone strong enough to say goodbye, everyone is never alone when they say goodbye, either. Sure, Berk and the dragons had to separate, but they still had each other. Toothless has the Light Fury and his whole dragon community, and Hiccup has Astrid and all of Berk. It’s bittersweet, sure, but it’s real (as real as an animated movie about Vikings and their dragon buddies can be).

But you didn’t think that was the end of the story, did you?

THE ENDING

I remember when the last Harry Potter book came out-I was too young to go hang out outside the bookstores with my siblings and their friends, and I didn’t have a group of my own to go with (this was when I was attending a fairly conservative school that required a signed permission slip to even check the Harry Potter books out of the school library, so…). But I do remember my parents and I reading the book together. We’d each take turns reading a chapter out loud, and sometimes my dad would have to take over if my mom and I were crying, which happened a lot. I remember being so pleased with it. It felt like a perfect ending for these characters I’d grown up with. They deserved the happy endings they got, and I was so pleased they all remained friends.

When the movies came out and they ended the same way, with our leads all grown up and seeing their own children off to have their own adventures, that was when I became more aware of the outcry. I hadn’t realized how many people hated the ending before that. They felt betrayed that these characters, their characters, would just grow up and have normal lives…have kids…so on and so forth. Many remain disgruntled with their job choices.

Finally though, one of my friends posted on Facebook an article explaining why my generation seemed to be so miffed with the ending-it didn’t feel like our ending. It felt like we watched these millennial kids we grew up with achieve the baby boomer dream, and they were happy with that? Many of us maybe don’t want kids. Many of us don’t see a marriage and a family as our happy ending. Many of us wanted more of an acknowledgement for the trauma these characters went through.

Whatever the reason, and I’m sure there are more, people were unhappy.

I think more than anything, though, we were just mad that there was an ending at all. Sometimes it’s easier for us to swallow if the story ends before a big epilogue that skips 20 years and emphasizes the whole “where are they now?” Thing. At least then, we can imagine what happened-we can still see ourselves in those characters and imagine they’re still with us as we grow and change ourselves. But when we’re told what happens, when we’re shown the reality of the 20 years later and the marriage and the kids and the family, we suddenly don’t see ourselves anymore. We’re still in the stage of our lives where we’re slowly picking up the pieces of the battle of Hogwarts-we haven’t reached the stage where we send our own kids off to magic school and wave to them from the platform with our perfect spouse before we head off to our perfect job.

I think it felt like a betrayal of an ending because we felt like we’d been left behind by these characters we used to be able to relate to.

I bring all this up because I was expecting the same thing from How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. After all, we get the same thing-a flash forward of however many years, our leads we used to be able to relate to now older, wiser, full of facial hair or whatever, and they have kids. They are no longer our relatable protagonists because they have grown and changed and gone through life and we’re forced to face that very suddenly. It’s jarring-quite suddenly out of the fog we see Hiccup, but it’s not our Hiccup. This one is taller, even more muscular, quite full of facial hair, and he holds himself in a way we haven’t seen before. Then there’s Astrid-poised, older, not the scrawny overconfident kid we remember. And then there’s MINI Hiccup and Astrid!!

From the other end of the fog, we see him-Toothless, standing on the rocks with the Light Fury. They look relatively unchanged compared to our human heroes, and it actually takes a moment for Toothless to recognize Hiccup and not attack. Then MINI Toothless’s come streaming over the rocks and onto the boat, Hiccup and Toothless are reunited, and then Hiccup has his kids reach their little hands out to touch Toothless’s nose, just like their dad did at the beginning of the story.

What I really like about the ending is Hiccup’s final narration. He talks about how when he was a kid, there were dragons. So on and so forth, humans suck, so the dragons had to leave…but legends say that when an earthquake happens, or a volcano erupts, it’s just the dragons reminding us that they’re here, waiting for us to be ready for them…

Listen I am all for believing that dragon buddies are real and just waiting for us to not be so stupid and violent. I’m down with this.

As sad as the ending is, and I am not kidding when I tell you about the crying, yes it’s a kid’s movie, shut up, it’s extremely hopeful. For me, that’s the best kind of ending. It encourages dealing with goodbyes in a healthy way; to recognize them, to embrace them, and then to seek out the good that you still have. For Hiccup, he lost constant contact with a dear friend…but he found a leader within himself, friends and family with the people of Berk, and a connection with his fellow leader and equal in Astrid.

Friendship is incredibly powerful-but sometimes life gets in the way. Goodbyes suck-but they’re necessary. Most of all though?

Dragons are real-we’re just too big of jerks to handle them yet.

But just like Hiccup taught his kids to approach the dragons with kindness, so each generation that comes is a more kind, hopeful one.

“OOF” MOMENT

I…genuinely don’t think there was one? I think my main pet peeve is just that we truly do not know much about the Light Fury. She’s barely developed (aside from the moment where she saves Hiccup from falling #OHLOOKIAMCRYINGAGAIN), and I get why, but like…what is her name?? I NEED A SHIP NAME FOR HER AND TOOTHLESS.

Wait…actually…that whole weird subplot with Snotlout having a thing for Hiccup’s mom. Just…why.

Also, what happened to Grimmel’s scorpion dragons? We saw they were being brainwashed, so they could theoretically be saved and good like the rest of the dragons, but they just…die in the explosion I guess? Meh.

FAVORITE MOMENT

Ugh, so many. However, I will settle on the end of Toothless trying to romance the Light Fury on the beach. When all else fails, he draws her face in the sand. It’s a delightful callback to my favorite scene from the first movie, and also my favorite piece on the soundtrack. Like I teared up then just because of what it called back to, and that was EARLY.

Yes I know it’s a kid’s movie shut up.

SHOULD YOU TAKE YOURSELF TO SEE THIS MOVIE?

Look, clearly, I have a lot of feelings. Like, I do just in general, but especially about this movie.

I think it goes without saying that if you’re a fan of the series, see this movie. If you’ve seen even a part of the films and/or the TV shows, see this movie. If you like really, really well-animated things that make you laugh and cry, see this movie.

I get this series isn’t for everyone-different things speak to different people after all. But if you just want a genuinely good escape, I definitely think you should take yourself to this movie.

If it’s still in theatres. This is a super late post, after all. Otherwise, see it when it comes out to buy, because it is so, so worth it!

I give this movie…….

5/5 TEARDROPS THAT ARE ALSO SAD AND CRYING!!

Look, that last one is still coming to terms with everything, it doesn’t even know what to feel yet

TRAILERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

There were a lot of repeats…I mean between this and the 2nd LEGO Movie, I’ve seen a lot of kids’ movies lately, okay??

The two new ones were Angry Birds 2 which…..UGHHHHHHHH. I was a big fan of the game back in the day, okay? I wasn’t great at it by any means, but it was cute and fun! I wanted to like the first movie, I really did, but…wow. It was…it was real bad. I think it had good parts, I genuinely laughed once (maybe twice), but overall…wow.

The other new one is Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. I’ve never really been a Nancy Drew person, which is weird when I think about it because I think the series is like, exactly my aesthetic. It’s probably because everyone else liked it, therefore I couldn’t. I had to find something ~unique~. Hence, Harriet the Spy. Which I do recommend if you haven’t read it. Anyway, this adaptation stars Sophia Lillis in the title role, whom you may recognize since she was Bev in the new IT adaptation! It actually genuinely looks enjoyable, though it’s definitely a kid’s film. I mean the How to Train Your Dragon series is also for kids, but it doesn’t necessarily market itself as such.

Anyway, that does it for this review!! Hiatus over, I’m back for at least a while, and hopefully I’ll be adding a new feature to the reviews coming soon!

For now, if The Hidden World is still playing near you, I highly recommend you see it because crying is good for you, ya know?