This is going to be one of those short, straight to the point
film reviews, the kind the lists the basics about the plot,
followed by short analysis of the plot, concluding with overall
opinions of the film, as a whole. So, let's get started.
After a tunnel cracks open in London, once dormant fire
breathing dragons are released and, before long, have destroyed
most of mankind, except for a few people hiding out underground.
Along comes Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), the dragon slayer,
who proposes that he, along with a group of undergrounders (led
by Christian Bale), try and destroy the dragons so that Earth
may return to normal. Sounds easy, eh? Wrong.
These dragons are mean as hell, pretty ornery, and not ready to
go down without a fight, thus proposing quite the dilemma for
the humans.
This
film's script is rather weak, with McConaughey and Bale taking
on the roles of the stereotypical macho 'save the day' warriors,
i.e. "Mad Max" and "Waterworld", to which
this film was quite similar. Christian Bale continues to
disappoint me, as I now fully believe he is a pretty bad actor
(as if "American Psycho" wasn't enough of a wake-up
call). Matthew McConaughey looks more like Lou Ferigno
with his huge arms and towering physique--he is enormous.
And, McConaughey has fun with his role of the dragon slayer,
despite his cheesy dialogue and predictable ideas.
The
tagline for this film, featured on the poster, is "Fight
Fire with Fire". Well, thanks for giving the entire
climax of the film away. I wonder how they try to kill the
dragons? Freeze them? Beat them to death with rocks?
Alas, despite numerous flaws, this film was pretty entertaining.
It is nothing but a testosterone driven popkorn flick, but it
offers it's share of thrills and chills for the viewer, though
many of them are, indeed, as cheap as they come.
Director Rob Bowman is more famous for his television credits,
including episodes of "The X-Files", "Alien
Nation", and "MacGyver". This is his first
feature film, and it could be his last, though his talent for
directing cheesy action flicks may elevate him to the level of a
Michael Bay or Tony Scott.
In
conclusion, this is not an awful film, nor is it a brilliant
film. It offers just what it boisters and nothing more.
Don't go expecting to see an epic of monumental proportions, or
you might be just as disappointed as you were with "Ishtar".
This is the summer movie season, and this is a traditional
summer flick--mediocre acting, bad scripting, but a few thrills
and chills. And, that's all I have to say about that.
