Landon’s Outlook: “How To Train Your Dragon 3” soars to new heights with a personal tale of growing up
Illustration by Gray Gibson
Landon Roberts, Contributing Writer
The story of Hiccup and Toothless began in 2010 when a young scrawny outcast created peace between his Viking tribe and nearby dragons by forging a friendship with the last-known dragon of its kind.
Through this friendship, we saw these two timid characters grow confident and responsible. “How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World” deals with responsibility, letting go of the past and growing up.
Following his father’s death in the second movie, Hiccup takes charge of his tribe, which has become a Viking-dragon utopia. After Grimmel, a dragon hunter, attacks this utopia, the entire tribe goes on a journey to discover a mythical land called The Hidden World.
On the journey, they discover a female dragon, creating a divide between Hiccup and his night fury dragon Toothless. Nevertheless, the friendship between the two has never been more palpable because of beautiful, yet minute animations.
These animations create a sincere pathos that strikes the viewer’s heart and soul in the deepest way possible. The look on Hiccup’s face following the haunting destruction is familiar to most.
However, these hopeless expressions are shattered by the world’s epic scale. The bright vibrant blues of the never-ending ocean are a feast for the eyes. The wide luscious forests edge on photorealism. This is all because of the fantastic lighting. The orange flames illuminate the dark night skies, plastering shadows to the ground.
Where the lighting truly shines is in The Hidden World. The neon lights reflecting off the dragon scales create an out-of-this-world experience, bringing the mythical tale into reality.
The score, paired with all these elements, brings forward many emotions. The soaring trumpets put viewers on Toothless’ back next to Hiccup, feeling the breeze in their hair. Powerful war drums put fans in the heat of battle, eliciting fear and anger.
“How To Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World” has done the impossible by creating a conclusion that doesn’t rely on nostalgia, but instead carries viewers with it to process the idea of growing up. Not only has this series solidified itself as one of the greatest animated trilogies of all time, but it has achieved a coming of age story that truly tracks adolescence to adulthood and the pain and loss that accompanies it.
