By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
“How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World” is the third installment in the animated fantasy franchise that began in 2010, chronicling how teenage Hiccup (Canadian actor Jay Baruchel) befriended fire-breathing Toothless, breaking the Viking tradition of fighting with dragons.
In the 2014 sequel, Hiccup succeeded his late father, Stoick (Gerard Butler), as tribal chieftain, following the lead of his widowed mother, Valka (Cate Blanchett), a dragon-whisperer.
According to Hiccup, the island village of Berk is now “the world’s first dragon-Viking utopia.” But there are problems — like overcrowding at mealtimes and the unwelcome influx of dragon hunters, particularly a villainous poacher known as Grimmel the Grisly (F. Murray Abraham).
Along with his fiancee Astrid (America Ferrera), Hiccup watches as Toothless, thought to be the last of the inky-black Night Fury species, falls in love with a blue-eyed, alabaster-skinned female dragon, dubbed Light Fury by Astrid.
So they travel to the mythical Hidden World at the edge of the Earth, the ancestral dragon habitat, and Toothless courts Light Fury in a highflying mating dance.
Hiccup’s friends supply comedic relief, like Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and the birdbrained twins Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) & Tuffnut (Justin Rupple). Plus, the Hobgobblers — i.e. tiny, round, fanged monsters who multiply like Star Trek’s Tribbles.
But, as Hiccup’s father once said, “With love comes loss, son; it’s part of the deal.”
Embracing a commitment to diversity, trilogy writer/director Dean DeBlois, adapting Cressida Cowell’s children’s book series, previously had the blacksmith Gobber (Craig Ferguson) come out as gay and Hiccup has become an amputee.
“I was aware of so many veterans coming back from service in Afghanistan and Iraq having lost limbs,” DeBlois says. “The idea of heroism, sacrifice, and I wanted a character to reinforce that you’re no less a hero for having lost something.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World” is an enchanting, endearing 8, a bittersweet, coming-of-age conclusion.
Despite the title, “Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” is actually the fourth Lego movie, following 2014’s original with two spinoffs — “The Lego Batman Movie” & “The Lego Ninjago Movie.”
Set five years later, Dad (Will Ferrell) and now-adolescent Finn (Jadon Sand) are playing with the popular construction toys. But now Finn’s little sister Bianca (Brooklyn Prince) joins them.
But Bianca’s bedazzled Duplo-blocks create chaos for Bricksville’s inhabitants: Emmet (Chris Platt), Wyldstyle Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) and Unikitty (Alison Brie).
Bricksville becomes a chaotic Apocalpyseburg. When Captain Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) arrives, she’s ordered to bring five of them back to the Systar System for the candy-colored wedding of shapeshifting Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) to Batman.
So Emmet sets off on a rescue mission, aided by Rex Dangervest (also Pratt), to find his kidnapped friends before Mayhem or the Bin of Storage.
There are several cameos, including Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Channing Tatum as Superman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman, along with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Bruce Willis as themselves, among others.
Director Mike Mitchell continues the slapstick/visual gags/pop-culture concept, including a message about the power of friendship, created by co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who make it clear that Justice League prevails, since Marvel doesn’t return Emmet’s calls.
And there’s a new song “Super Cool” by Beck, featuring Robyn and Lonely Island, with Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone rapping that a movie’s credits are the best part.
On the Granger Gauge, “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” is a noisy, stumbling 6, indicating that, despite its plasticky shine, everything isn’t exactly awesome anymore.
Including “A Madea Family Funeral,” writer/director/actor Tyler Perry has made 12 films featuring the sharp-tongued matriarch Mabel “Madea” Simmons, but now he’s decided: “I just don’t want to be her age, playing her.”
This installment opens as family members in Georgia are planning a 40th anniversary party for their parents Vianne (Jen Harper) and Anthony (Derek Morgan).
When Madea (Perry), Uncle Joe (Perry), Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis) and Hattie (Patrice Lovely), who have been driven to the festivities by Joe’s attorney son Brian (Perry), arrive at their Atlanta hotel, they learn that Anthony has suffered a fatal heart attack while having an adulterous, S&M-tinged affair with his wife’s best friend, Renee (Quin Walters).
And there’s an extended ribald joke about Viagra and why the lid of Anthony’s coffin will not stay shut during the unnecessarily lengthy Baptist funeral, complete with a full gospel choir.
Observing the multitude of unknown women who suddenly appear at the service, Madea asks, “If you knew the deceased, raise your hand.” They all do. She then adds, “If you knew the deceased in the Biblical sense, raise your hands,” noting they all comply again.
So does Anthony’s wife Vianne know all the sordid details of her husband’s demise? And what’s this about Vianne’s older son, sullen A.J. (Courtney Burrell), shacking up with his younger brother’s (Rome Flynn) fiancee, Gia (Aeriel Miranda)?
In addition to the multitude of eccentric characters that Tyler Perry plays, he adds a new one: Madea’s Vietnam War veteran cousin, a lecherous amputee named Heathrow, a throat-cancer survivor who speaks through an electronic larynx. As usual, slapstick reigns supreme, peppered with sentiment, stilted melodrama and social commentary.
On the Granger Gauge, “A Madea Family Funeral” is a final 5 — or is it?
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
