Overall I can't say much in the negative about it... but I LOVED how they made it clear that it's the bond between Rider and Dragon that triumphs, not the pure power of a Night Fury or Bewilderbeast. There are some battles only one or the other can fight, but by working as a team the other can aid in a fight that is not their own. Without a rider they have a strong bond with, a powerful enough alpha could force them to do things against their will without being able to block it out like Hiccup does with the rag and using his hands. That's what I loved - that Hiccup and Toothless would trade off near seamlessly once united, winning their battles but supporting each other throughout.
And... well, THIS is how you make a series move in a darker direction. Riders/Defenders of Berk was already doing it which I think helped the transition, but even without that bracing you the movie starts on the happy note and steadily introduces the darker notes until the wham. In the hands of an untalented team, they'd be milking Hiccup's angst for all it was worth and let it stay dark. Not them; they show what makes Hiccup, well, Hiccup. Even in despair he's still attentive - he notices the control of Toothless fading when the Bewilderbeast wasn't paying attention to him and used that to his advantage... even then, he ended up doing it THROUGH the Bewilderbeast's control, which is fucking impressive and shows why Hiccup was one of those able to bride the divide considering the wham that had lead up to that. They bring us through the wringer and show that Hiccup's high optimism (which, with the end of Defenders of Berk,
actually makes sense as noticed here), yet in the end... Hiccup doesn't hate Toothless and recognizes that Toothless was also a victim and in the end they got through it and the end result was... well, a more moderate view. Hiccup recognized he can't talk his way out of every situation, yet at the same time he was still going to stand for peace. In the grim Dark Ages, there may only be war... but there are those who are willing to stand for something greater, coming beyond war and casting back the darkness. Yet even they must contend with the darkness and the real wham of the movie.
Holy shit, I mean, damn, mind controlled Toothless finishing Stoick with a shot meant for Hiccup? They didn't pull any punches, did they? And that's the kind of wham that makes them revealing Hiccup's mother in the trailers palpable to me. They still had plenty of wham to go around. And the fact that Stoick just took it and died worked, I think. I mean, Toothless puts out some serious yields; I don't care if Stocik catches siege weaponry and throws it right back at Alvin's goons, he's not invincible and they reminded us that on a very powerful note. And showed why everyone feared Night Furies so much... yeah, we don't see why Toothless is scary most of the time because he's a cuddly pet, but we haven't seen the results of people who were on the receiving end in detail; they usually show people leaping clear when it happens.
I will say that Stoick's new dragon... honestly, I know it was a time thing, but it would of been nice if Thornado was back, though I guess he'd still be busy raising the little Thunderdrums. Though at least we did see plenty of Thunderdrums - heck, maybe the Thunderdrums at the beginning were Thornado and the others. Though, given that they only barely worked with the series that makes sense. At least they know well enough to make sure to tidy up all the messes, which is better than some EUs (cough, ForceUnleashed, cough). That said, I liked his dragon and the personality fit. But... eh, *shrugs*
As to Valka... I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed that she ended up being sidelined at the end, but then again pretty much everyone was for what was very much a battle of good versus evil as exemplified in Hiccup, Drago, Toothless, and Drago's dark alpha. Loyalty versus fear. Friendship versus subservience. Freedom versus Slavery. Yet... I liked her overall. I mean, she was introduced well, you could feel how she was struggling to become familiar with interacting with humans again rather than animal instinct, etc. I'll admit, I think the flashback was slightly forced with her stopping a Viking from taking out that Monstrous Nightmare, but that was a minor quibble and was probably just chosen for emphasizing the point quickly.
Overall... everyone was competent. Drago had a proven method and was confident in his power... for damn good reason as we were shown given it almost completely overrode the friendships the riders had. Hiccup was overly optimistic, but the moment he sees that it's not possible he dropped it and while he never outright said he was going for the kill I hold no doubts that had the two had a swordfight (well, flaming sword versus what's probably a gronkle iron spear), Hiccup would not hold back and would slash to kill. At the same time, any errors that were made all felt in character. Hiccup stopped a war, and if you take the series as canon he calmed down a powerful dragon that was compared fairly close to being something world ending and drops islands. Of course he's going to believe a peaceful solution is possible. And Drago lived in fear for so long it's not surprising that he lost sight of motives like loyalty and friendship over the years as he had raw power.
Also... the war scene. Holy fucking shit THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!
Mobius One, EAT YOUR HEART OUT! That was air support! The only thing that would of been more awesome was seeing Berk's own fighters on the ground, but honestly that I'm okay with given it probably wouldn't have the numbers. It was suitably epic and it felt like the mother of all shitstorms going on, but the riders blowing the everloving crap out of Drago's army (I think it's telling that he had no human troops to throw into the assault on Berk) really shows how strong they had grown to be since barely managing to hang on against the Red Death.
I did love the ending though. Hiccup and Toothless both rose to lead... but what works was that if you look closely, you see them learning the lessons they'd need. The Bewilderbeast at the glacial sanctuary never used his control on the dragons and fought hard. Stoick constantly goes on about the chief's responsibility being to protect the people. Toothless and Hiccup in different ways do JUST THAT. Obviously, they fight off Drago and his beast... but there's a more subtle fight, yet probably more important. Hiccup helped protect Toothless from Drago's beasts control and broke him out of that, and Toothless has been protecting Hiccup from his fuckups with the wingsuit (Also: HOLY SHIT THEY DROPPED A ROCK FORMATION BY CRASHING THROUGH IT?!) and generally worked together... and that let them beat the shit out of Drago's power. Both showed they would defend Berk as much as possible, all of it's inhabitants: Human and Dragon alike.
Essentially... Toothless became the alpha the way it was supposed to happen. Bewilderbeasts often just had an easy time by sheer size and power. Also, any idea what that plasma thing he did? Was Toothless like, overclocking with his plasma blasts there? I mean HOLY SHIT DID YOU SEE THE FIREPOWER HE SPAT OUT? He blew that tusk straight off!
And Hiccup... ironically, he became the hero that the Vikings would love because he was different. I mean, in a standard Viking saga his sword would probably of been forged by Thor or something but still be more or less the same. Hiccup did all of that himself.
Speaking of Hiccup's sword, I noticed that Drago's forces had a rather punk-ish appearance given they were actually firing cannons at the glacial sanctuary. That's awesome, and honestly I'd like to see Berk slowly develop their own 'punk' from Hiccup's engineering combined with the fire that dragons have. Figure out how to make Gronkle Iron and Berk could easily be the technological powerhouse of the Dark Ages... which would be pretty awesome, in a way, Berk evolving from wanting to be the best warriors to being the damn best warriors... because they prefer to be industrial, forge friendships, and search for peace.
And with Drago still out there and other threats awaiting Berk from Hiccup's narration... they'll be ready.
Hiccup's narration... I loved it. It's not a standard friendship, it's not him being a snarky smartass that he's lovable as. He's grown into a capable leader on his own, and that ending speech was practically a badass boast to anyone who wants to mess with Berk again. Let none doubt that Berk is defended, no matter how small it may be.
I also love how they brought the old themes back, excellent nostalgia, but they only used that as a base to spring from. Familiar characters, familiar setting... new era, new adventures.
Also... apparently,
Hiccup is 6' 1'' now... holy hell what do those Berk Vikings EAT?! That puts most of them at seven feet at least!
Honestly... I'd fucking watch it again in the theatre. It's a shame that it probably feel under the "oh must be a kid's movie"... it's really worth watching. I'd seriously consider it a contender with stuff like the MCU. Hell, it probably plasma blasted Frozen out of the water.
