BERK — This week sees the release the third and presumably final installment of the “How to Train Your Dragon” series.

The franchise has been a part of the rare group of movies that has managed to produce up extremely good films throughout its run.

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” picks up with the same cast from “How to Train Your Dragon 2” as they continue their lives on the island Berk.

Not long into the film our protagonist Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), his people and their dragons find their way of life threatened and must adjust to the coming changes or face death.

The plot line is nothing groundbreaking or new, but it does offer a solid platform to finish the series with a strong showing.

There is a lot to like about this film and a few things that could have been done better:

The good:

The details are impressive

I am always impressed with the level of detail in the “How to Train Your Dragon” films, and this movie is no exception.

The world we get to peek into during these movies is rich and immersive. Everything about these films is designed to keep your head and heart surrounded by this imaginary place for the duration.

Not once was my head taken out of the movie because something felt incomplete or out of place in the environment or story. Little details such as the way dragons played like puppies in the background of a scene give viewers a sense of life happening in the periphery, but never distracted from the main action.

In another detailed scene, we see an ingenious corkscrew landing perch designed to help a big group of dragons land in a small space. This was a solution that had to be invented and thought through by the movie's creators to solve what would be an imaginary problem in our world, but a very real problem in the world of this movie.

The story is solid

Just as the animators and visual creators of this film built up the fantasy, so did the writers.

The story is compelling and keeps the action going. The big lessons it is able to convey all come through clearly. By the time you walk out of this film, you will believe in yourself and trust in your team members, whoever they may be.

The story even manages to pull at your emotions in some areas to remind us that we are living and compassionate creatures.

The bad:

Not enough dragon action

My favorite part of these movies is the mystique of Hiccup's rare Night Fury dragon, Toothless. The dragon is a great character that still holds a lot of mystery.

Much of the plot of "The Hidden World" revolves around Toothless, but we don’t really get to see what he can actually do in a battle. There are some new powers that he begins to discover, but we don’t get to see enough of it.

Of course, Toothless is preoccupied with a new female "Light Fury" dragon, which may explain why he was off his game. However, the Light Fury dragon held a lot of promise that didn’t play out as much as I would have liked to see.

The characters feel a little stale

I shouldn’t complain too much about this because most of these characters in "The Hidden World" have been with us from the beginning and it has been fun to watch them grow.

For Hiccup’s friends, it just seems to be more of the same with them never really maturing or becoming more interesting. There are a couple of new characters introduced who had promise, but they were limited to minor roles and little screen time.

The best was Grimmel the Grisly (F. Murray Abraham), a cold-hearted dragon hunter. The way he was written made me want to see more. He always seemed to be two moves ahead of everyone else and his dialogue was compelling.

Conclusion

"The Hidden World” ties up the "Dragon" trilogy in a nice and tidy bow.

There is nothing about this film to diminish everything the first two films spent so much time building. This film is every bit as worthy as its predecessors. We are left hoping for at least one more film but content if this is the last.

*"How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" is rated PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor. *

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