This being the third movie in the franchise, it’s backed by a lot of history and lore. The franchise has also built up lots of fans over the years, so there was a high expectation on the quality of the movie. I’m glad to say that it didn’t disappoint. The movie starts off with our protagonists freeing captured dragons from the dragon enslavers, and they just happen to leave behind the rarest dragon in existence. The dragon they leave behind is a Light Fury, which looks like a white version of the Night Fury from the previous movies (but a different species).

When Grimmel the Grisly, the notorious Night Fury hunter, discovers that there is one night fury left on the Isle of Berk, he will stop at nothing to eradicate Toothless, our very own favorite dragon. Toothless became the Alpha Dragon in the second film, so if he died, the dragon who kills him will become the new Alpha dragon. This would throw the entire dragon world into disarray, which is why all the dragons had to disappear.

Hiccup, the protagonist, remembers something his deceased father once told him, about there being a lost, hidden world for dragons at the edge of the world. They decide to head off in search of the hidden world but are under lots of pressure because Grimmel is following them, and has vowed that he will kill the last Night Fury. To find out if they manage to find the hidden world and hide away, or if Grimmel catches them and kills Toothless, watch the movie!

I really enjoyed this movie, and I definitely recommend it to whoever is a fan of the series. If you’re a newcomer to the franchise, I would suggest watching the other two movies first, to add some much-needed context to this film. Critically, the film received above average acknowledgments, with a score of 7.7 on IMDb and a whopping 90% on the Tomatometer. It also racked in a lot of money at the box office, earning 509 million USD.

(Spoilers for the entire franchise!!!)

One complaint I have with the movie is that it doesn’t have the same kind of emotional portrayal as the other 2 movies (the editor who reviewed this article does not agree with this comment 😉 ). At the end of the third film Hiccup, along with everyone else from Berk, have to let their dragons go to the hidden world without them so that they can be safe. But at the very end of the film, Hiccup, and Astrid are married, and sailing a small ship with their kids, and they see a large rock formation up ahead. What they see on the rocks is Toothless, along with the Light Fury and their children. This reunion undercut the emotion from earlier in the film, because it made it seem like the goodbye wasn’t forever.

In the first movie, both Hiccup and Toothless lose something, with Toothless losing half of his tail in the first act and Hiccup losing his leg in the final battle. Both of these losses are permanent, which made them feel rawer. Another great example would be in the second film when Hiccup’s father dies. Hiccup throws himself onto his father’s dead body but then realizes he has to avenge him. The steely resolve Hiccup gains are produced by that scene, and it was probably the best scene in the entire movie, acting-wise.