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| Monday, October 13th
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| Movie Forums :: Reviews :: Reigned Out: "Fire" Not So Hot |
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Posted on 7/13/02
Reigned Out: "Fire" Not So Hot
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We're all quite familiar with the American Film Institute's various lists. "The Top 100 Films of All-Time," "The Top 100 Comedies of All-Time," et cetera. It's unlikely that their brainstorming will run dry enough to sufficiently produce "The Top 100 Dragon Movies of All-Time" as a seemingly viable effort. Therefore, even though Reign of Fire would indeed top that imaginary list, it still isn't much to write home about.
Reign of Fire is a rare movie in the sense that its sum is inferior to the value of its parts. The "skydiving scene" (you'll know which one that is when you see it) is without a doubt one of the most breathtaking sequences within any modern film. It is exciting in a completely unique way, features a Matrixesque "cool" factor, and is altogether one of the more original concepts I've seen in any recent action flick. Unfortunately, this scene, while nearly worth the price of admission on its own, is head-and-shoulders above its brothers. The rest of the film cannot live up to the expectation the skydiving sequence creates. It spoils all proceeding action scenes.
The scene introduces us to what I think most moviegoers will assume is the theme of the movie: man's incredible innovativeness and technology against the dragon's superior size, strength, and speed. The beginning of the film induces one emotion (aside from fear): hopelessness. The skydiving sequence gives the audience hope, as it introduces the concept that maybe man's intelligence stands a chance against the dragon's more obvious advantanges. The film takes this concept nowhere, however, and as a result, the final battle (if you can even call it that) is highly anti-climactic. Rather than treating the audience to an intricate plan to take the dragons down, we're fed a boring, simple solution.
The acting is impressive, as this is light work for Christian Bale. He handles the role of Quinn Abercromby without blinking. Matthew McConaughey's work is more impressive, however. His character (known as Denton Van Zan, if you can believe that), while as gritty and gruff as can be, never comes off as cliché. McConaughey presents us with a believable (and admirable, even) persona, even though I suspect he was handed a stereotypical tough guy. He portrays Van Zan's cold, hard realism wonderfully. It's hard to believe this is the same man we watched flap his arms up and down in Angels in the Outfield.
The effects are nearly without peer. The dragons are, as far as our eyes are concerned, completely flesh-and-blood. Soak it all in, because it'll be quite some time before we see dragons this cool looking again. The flick isn't stingy about showing them off, either, as we're given numerous looks at the things in action.
It's a pity, however, that the humans are never really seen battling more than one dragon at a time. When you see them combat a single dragon early in the film, it stands to reason that later in the film, a larger battle will take place with multiple dragons. This battle never comes. One can't help but wonder why we're expected to accept a final showdown under significantly less exciting circumstances than the film's earlier "fight scene."
This film had a very large amount of potential. Several scenes throughout the movie give off the undeniable signal that, despite the quality of the finished product, those responsible for this flick's creation had some very good ideas to base their story around. Unfortunately, these ideas were surrounded by clichés and lags in the film's pacing, and the end result is a disappointment. The highlights of this film will probably be ultimately lost, as it's not plausible for anyone else to build off of them; dragon movies are too gimmicky, and come out rarely. This one is the best of the lot so far, but that's not exactly saying much.
The Bottom Line: Dragonheart meets Deep Blue Sea
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