How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy Ranked
The How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy was one of the most celebrated movie trilogies of the 2010s. The average Rotten Tomato score for the trilogy is 93%. It is arguably Dreamworks’ best franchise. In today’s blog post, I’m going to be ranking the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. Let’s start talking!
3. How to Train Your Dragon: This is a very good movie, it has elements that you want from an animated movie. The best part about this movie was the score, it has one of the best scores in any animated movie ever. It makes the dragon flying scenes very engaging and it makes you feel like you are there with these characters. Toothless is one of the most loveable creatures in movie history, he just steals every scene he is in. And he forms a great friendship with Hiccup that is very sweet and heartfelt. And there can be some emotional weight in the third act of the movie. BUT on re-watch I did have quite a few issues with the movie. First up, the Stoick character is very unlikeable for 90% of the movie. He talks down to his son, so you don’t want him to succeed. And I was watching it, wanting Stoick to get taken out. Stoick is more of the villain in the movie than the actual dragon in the finale of the movie. And when he realizes what he is doing is wrong, I just wonder “why didn’t he believe his son earlier?” Also, I don’t think the animation style is as great or colorful as the two sequels. There are a lot more darker colors that can put a drabness on the entire thing. And I feel like they needed to explain as to why Hiccup is such a genius, but they don’t so it’s very unclear as to why and how he became so smart. Even though the other vikings aren’t very smart. So I know a lot of people love this movie, but honestly I have never loved it. I’ve always liked it, I’ve always had fun with it.
2. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World: The third and as of now final movie in the trilogy, is a very solid way to end the trilogy. This is the only one of the movies that I saw in the theater, and I remember tearing up as you move into the final 5 minutes of the movie. That’s really the best thing about this movie, it closes out the trilogy so well and it’s emotional as you see what goes down in the final moments. I mean it’s one of the most satisfying endings to any trilogy or franchise of all time, and like I said it’s what the movie does the best. Another nice touch is I think this movie has the best villain of the franchise by a good bit. He’s somebody that has connections to Hiccup’s family and tribe and they give him more of a backstory and an interesting motivation. And I feel like he was given something extra, for whatever reason I think that he’s easily the best villain of the trilogy. Once again, the animation style is gorgeous. This might be the best looking of the movies, where I think it’s the most colorful and most gorgeous to look at, where as you go The Hidden World is filled with so many bright and beautiful colors. And the score for the movie is once again very well done. On the negative, Hiccup’s friends in this movie feel a bit underwhelming and aren’t used as well as they were used in the previous movies. Also, the movie set up that The Hidden World is a difficult place to find, but Hiccup finds it super quickly just so the plot can move forward. But in general, a very solid conclusion to the trilogy.
1. How to Train Your Dragon 2: For me this has always been a movie that I’ve loved, and it has always been my favorite of the trilogy. What I love about this movie is that it went down The Empire Strikes Back route where the stakes, action, and emotions are bigger. I think Drago poses a bigger threat than a big dragon introduced 10 minutes before the finale, like they did in the first movie. And his plan with building a dragon army is a great way to do a sequel for a movie. So there is a better sense of forward momentum as you move through the story. The action is bigger and better and seeing dragons fight other dragons is a lot of fun. And the emotions are I think at their best in this movie. When Hiccup’s mom returns, Hiccup’s journey to king is continued and explored in this movie. And the introduction of Hiccup's mom is nice, and a new parenting dynamic. And with what they do with Toothless in a fight scene towards the end of the movie is really emotional. So this is what I want from this franchise, the first movie was more character based. And this movie is more action based, and I like action movies with character moments. So easily without question, the second movie in the trilogy is the best one. It balances everything so well. I haven’t watched a number of the movies, but this would be my favorite Dreamworks animated movie. And it’s one of my favorite animated movies of all time.
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