How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World

This is the third installment in the animated fantasy franchise, chronicling how teenage Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) befriended fire-breathing Toothless, breaking the Viking tradition of fighting with dragons. In the sequel, Hiccup succeeded his late father (Gerard Butler) as tribal chieftain, following the lead of his mother (Cate Blanchett), a dragon-whisperer. Now, the island village of Berk is “the world’s first dragon-Viking utopia.” But there are overcrowding problems and an unwelcome influx of dragon hunters, particularly villainous poacher Grimmel the Grisly (F. Murray Abraham). With his fiancée Astrid (America Ferrera), Hiccup watches as Toothless, thought to be the last of the inky-black Night Fury species, falls in love with a blue-eyed, alabaster-skinned female dragon, dubbed Light Fury. So Hiccup and Toothless travel to the mythical Hidden World at the edge of the Earth—an ancestral dragon habitat—where Toothless courts Light Fury. Hiccup’s friends supply comedic relief, including Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the birdbrained twins Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (Justin Rupple). But, as Hiccup’s father once said, “With love comes loss, son; it’s part of the deal.” Adapted from Cressida Cowell’s children’s book series by writer-director Dean DeBlois, this is an enchanting, endearing, and bittersweet coming-of-age conclusion to the popular series. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by writer-director Dean DeBlois, producer Bradford Lewis, and head of character animation Simon Otto, deleted scenes with an intro by DeBlois (13 min.), an alternate opening with intro by DeBlois (4 min.), the DreamWorks shorts “Bilby” (8 min.) and “Bird Karma” (5 min.), the production featurettes “Creating an Epic Dragon Tale” (5 min.) and “How I Learned from Dragons” (4 min.), and the behind-the-scenes segments “Birds and Bats Are Awesome” (4 min.), “Animal + Animal = Dragon” (4 min.), “A Deck of Dragons” (4 min.), “Growing Up with Dragons (4 min.), “The Evolving Character Design” (3 min.), “Drawing Dragons” (3 min.), “The Dragon Sheep Chronicles” (3 min.), “How to Voice Your Viking” (2 min.), “Welcome to New Berk” (2 min.), “Epic Villain” (2 min.), and the brief “Astrid’s Whole Dragon Trilogy in 60 Seconds.” Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this conclusion to the popular franchise.] (S. Granger)