BEFORE: From a sea monster (?) to dragons - keeping the movie monster FX theme rolling. Linking from last night, Hector Elizondo was in "Valentine's Day" with Jennifer Garner, who was in "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" (I didn't say they had to be movies I've seen...) with Matthew McConaughey (last seen in "A Time to Kill"). Hey, there's another positive to the project, I've learned how to spell "McConaughey"!
Played team trivia last night, the venue's been moving around lately, and happened to land in my favorite NYC barbecue restaurant, Hill Country, so that was an added plus. Best time to eat fire-grilled meat, in the hottest days of the summer.
THE PLOT: A brood of fire-breathing dragons emerges from the earth and begins setting fire to everything, establishing dominance over the planet.
AFTER: Well, that's not exactly the plot summary, because the movie skips over the part where the dragons take over, going from the first dragon emerging from beneath London, to a time where the human population is decimated, and they live in small groups in fortified castles. That would have looked really cool, seeing the dragons destroy London - was it too expensive to depict on film? Or was this a conscious story-telling decision?
McConaughey arrives on the scene with a dwindling band of soldiers, Texas regulars, or perhaps "irregulars" is more appropriate, and they've developed techniques to battle and kill the dragons. Some of them seem to work, others, not so much. Also, he's got a plan to take the dragons out for good, and give Ireland back to the Irish (or something).
Of course, you have to take a lot on faith to enjoy the film - namely 1) dragons exist. And then 2) they (or at least one) was asleep beneath London for hundreds of years. And that 3) one dragon can repopulate the species in a very quick period of time. Was it pregnant? Must have been...
BUT was the dragon in hibernation? Or just living in isolation in the sewers? If so, what did it eat - mice? Lost children? And are dragons magical, or descendents of dinosaurs, or what? The movie doesn't even think to ask these questions, let alone provide the answers. So that was a little disappointing, in addition to leaving the best FX scenes to the viewers' imaginations. I liked what I did see in terms of effects, but compared to something like "King Kong", there could have been a lot more.
Also starring Christian Bale (last seen in "Rescue Dawn"), Gerard Butler (last seen in "300"), Izabella Scorupco, with cameos from Alexander Siddig and Alice Krige (two "Star Trek" veterans, nice!).
RATING: 5 out of 10 crossbow bolts
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