How to Train Your Dragon was a wonderful film, animated or otherwise, DreamWorks' best since The Prince of Egypt and one of the best animated films of the 2000s. The sequel was great and almost as good with even better animation, a darker tone and a good amount of depth to the characters, though Hiccup and Toothless' friendship was done a little better in the first(which I also preferred for its simplicity). Dragons: Riders of Berk compliments How to Train Your Dragon very well indeed and is a terrific show in its own right, though understandably not quite as good. The animation may not be as incredible as that in How to Train Your Dragon and the sequel, but that's inevitable because this is a TV show and they feature-length films. That is not knocking the animation though, because the animation still has much beauty and detail with all movements nice and smooth, and the flying sequences and action still exhilarate, Dragons: Riders of Berk is for me one of the best-looking computer-animated shows out there and it's also true to the style of that of the film. The music has parts where it's rousing and others where it's sensitive depending on the mood, it's fitting, it has a pace and most of all it's memorable. The use of some of the themes from the film was welcome too. Dragons: Riders of Berk has great writing, the show is very thoughtfully written with some jokes that are actually funny and balance well with the emotional and suspenseful parts. Like the film the show gives us plenty of time to get to know the characters and relate to them just as well as we did in the film. Hiccup and Toothless' friendship is genuinely endearing. The story lines are always easy to follow and maintain the simplicity of the tone/spirit of the film, which will please fans, the comedy doesn't feel at odds with anything else and the conflict is convincing while never getting too dark. With how the characters interact and how you really feel the friendship of Hiccup and Toothless the show definitely has heart as well. As said the characters are still engaging, I've always loved how Toothless is so lovable and touches and warms the heart without even speaking, and most of the voice actors return and do typically fine jobs, even the new voice of Stoick courtesy of Chris Noth (although Gerard Butler's voice suits the character far more). Alvin is a fun adversary with a good amount of menace about him and Mark Hamill's voice fits perfectly. All in all, terrific show, the films are a little better but compared to most animated shows now and other shows airing on Cartoon Network Dragons: Riders of Berk compares more than favourably. 9/10 Bethany Cox
