How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ★★ 

Rounding out the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy is The Hidden World, an artfully designed yet poorly written finale to one of DreamWorks’ most beloved franchises. One year after the death of his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), in How to Train Your Dragon 2, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is settling into his role as the young chief of the island Berk, with his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera), mother Valka (Cate Blanchett) and dragon Toothless by his side. But, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown: Berk is overpopulated by dragons, and hunter Grimmel the Grisly (an excellent F. Murray Abraham) really, really wants to kill Toothless. From that point, the film begins to weave together so many different threads—including dragons falling in love, a quest for the titular hidden kingdom and Hiccup’s continued self-doubt as a leader—that it loses sight of the tapestry as a whole. The film’s logic is often unclear, and its insistence on some rather regressive jokes about marriage, sex and body type is disappointing and pedestrian, especially when compared to the comedy of the competing Lego Movie franchise. Something is also a bit creepy about how much time is devoted to watching two dragons try to mate. While the animation and direction of The Hidden World is as beautiful as that of its predecessors, and the Viking art is as well-researched, the script leaves much to be desired—even with a fairy tale ending that will undoubtedly make you smile. Watch it at Assembly Row, Boston Common, Fenway, Seaport, South Bay and in the suburbs.