Dragons: I paladini di Berk

DreamWorks, in its decision to make Dragons into an animated series, branched out on the plot, delving into the details of Berk from ground level. Coupled with various mini-feature specials, including 'Gift of the Night Fury' and 'Book of Dragons', the power of this show never ceases to amaze.

The excellence of the animation alone is mind-blowing. From every movement of Hiccup and the gang, to every plasma blast, spine shot and sheep "baaa" feels real enough to reach out and touch. The art of the Vikings brings a sense of reality to a fantasy story that will be remembered for decades to come.

I'm a huge fan of How to Train Your Dragon. In fact I would rate it as my favorite animated movie, even more so than anything Pixar can come up with. I love the feeling of magic it gave me, and the interesting characters and setting. So of course I was worried about Dragons, considering the show for Kung Fu Panda was disappointing. I expected the same amount of great character development and heart touching story lines from Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesome, but didn't get those. I was expecting Dragons to suffer the same fate, and I was wrong. Right away, I notice that the animation quality is just better than other Dreamworks animated shows. then there's the plot. No little 15 minute stories here, instead we get 30 minute plots that show a problem, involve character development followed by the solution to the problem. Most of the voice actors have returns and the music sounds incredibly, so the sound quality of the show is amazing. The writing is pretty much on par with the movie as well, and the jokes are funny and witty. Its a truly great show that CN should be glad that they picked up.

This show adds a little bit of story that you could miss during the movies, they incorporate everything nicely. The art and animation is good despite it being ~10 years old. I sometimes go back and rewatch the series since the music and characters are amazing!

This show may be suitable for your kids, but as an adult and a real fan of the movie, this series destroys the spirit and feel of the original.

Of course they didn't have the same budget as for the movie to make this series, you can see the CGI is less polished, which isn't that big of an issue for me. Worse is the fact, they didn't get all the original voices(i watched this in German, may be different for other languages) The story lines are a little uninspired and lack the deepness of the movie. This of course is inevitable in 20 minute episodes. They are nonetheless okay, as why i would still recommend this for your kids.

Overall i'd say, stick to the movies :)

After binge watching both seasons over the course of three days (Never do this), I can honestly say that this is among the best children's shows currently shown.

Unlike most kid's fare around these days it doesn't pander to random humor and trying to be "cool". It instead uses plausible situations and character development to drive a narrative forward, the way kid's shows used to be until the late 2000's. It carries on pretty much exactly where the first film leaves off and portrays Hiccup's difficulties in assimilating dragons into Berkian life and facing off against several different villains. Of these three, Dagur the deranged is the best written, and even I find myself smiling at some of his lines and mannerisms.

The score to the show is surprisingly well done, with John Ceazarone taking Powell's themes and implementing them quite well in each episode. The animation is certainly not on par with the film's themselves, and as a result Hiccup and Toothless can look a bit strange at times, but this is understandable and shouldn't impede the viewing.

The writing and plots are mostly predictable for the aged and educated viewer, but still has a surprise every now and then that redeems it. The jokes, while occasionally repetitive and catering to a young audience, still keep the show interesting, and there is occasionally a particularly good one that will stay in your head a while.

If you loved the first movie and now the second I would advise seeing it. You will certainly not be disappointed and it will give the fix of dragon you'll need to hold you over until the third film.