REVIEW: John Powell / "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"

A very action oriented end for the trilogy

John Powell How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World

Rating: (4,5 / 5)

Back Lot Records

01/02/2019

TT: 75:51

John Powell’s score to “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” is a pretty spectacular finale to his mind-blowingly-good musical trilogy. The fantastic themes, swashbuckling tones and the composer’s uncanny ability to, just, go all out with the orchestra made the first score in the trilogy one of the best film scores of all time. Now it is time to see how he has been able to close the trilogy.

We are just starting, and we can appreciate how the score has a slightly darker and more complex tone (in comparison to the previous two films). On “Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk” can be felt, pretty much right away, as the opening notes sound out. Usual over-the-top brass, that Powell is famous for, and his action element shifts into gear. Then, his main and flying themes from the first film arrive, returning us to previous chapters. So, if there are things that we loved from the previous two entries, rest assured that you are going to find them again… in spades!

However, there is also some new stuff. In “Legend Has It / Cliffside Playtime”, we get a new main theme for this score – the Hidden World theme. Is just a short and sad woodwinds-based rendition that serves as an introduction to the piece. But this new theme appears frequently throughout this score. Although a very dramatic one with a hint of sorrow. When we get to “The Hidden World” the new theme shows up in a rather spectacular and dramatic form; sounding out in a combination of Jonsi’s fantastic vocals, loud brass and epic percussion. A truly amazing cue.

A closer contender could be “Once There Were Dragons” – the final track of the trilogy. A cue filled up with emotions – joy, sadness, hope, dramatic flair, melancholy... All the themes get very emotional and spectacular farewells here. However, the only reason why this track is not the standout cue of the score is that the next one is “The Hidden World Suite”. It’s a digital bonus track, a suite containing elements from “Exodus”, “Raider’s Return To Busy, Busy Berk”, “Furies In Love” and “The Hidden World” (among others), and is essentially a collection of all the best new bits from this wonderful new score. It does not contain any of the older themes, but it is an excellent showcase for the soundtrack.

Overall… John Powell’s score to “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” is just marvelous. He introduces a number of great new themes, as well as the old ones from the previous movies, and intertwines them expertly with his contagious over-the-top action scoring. The score, not only serves as a very solid third entry to the trilogy, but also as an epic and absolutely brilliant conclusion to it. The first film score still (just) edges this one, but it is a superb score on its own, and one that was, most definitely, worth the wait.