Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Alice Krige, Alexander Siddig
Director: Rob Bowman
Producers: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Lili Fini Zanuck, Richard D. Zanuck
Screenplay: Gregg Chabot & Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg
Cinematography: Adrian Biddle
Music: Ed Shearmur
U.S. Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
For some reason, any time Hollywood tries to make a movie about a dragon (or dragons), it ends up being laughable, absurd, idiotic, or some combination of the above. Consider, for example, titles like Dragonslayer, Dragon Heart, and Dungeons and Dragons, none of which represent pinnacles of cinematic achievement. So, the fact that Reign of Fire does what it sets out to do is a cause for celebration amongst those who like special effects-laden action movies featuring fire-breathing monsters and mayhem. This is the film that the American Godzilla could have been, but wasn't.
I'm not going to pretend that Reign of Fire is anything other than what it appears to be. There are no hidden agendas or camouflaged themes lying in wait for those in search of something deep and profound. Reign of Fire is a monster movie - probably the best since Jurassic Park. It doesn't offer deep character development, meaningful dialogue, heavy romance, or a solution to the current crisis in the Middle East. What it does provide is a lot of CGI enhanced action and a chance to enjoy a testosterone-and-adrenaline cocktail without turning the mental dimmer switch all the way down. Reign of Fire has plenty of little problems and plot holes, but I didn't feel like my intelligence was being insulted.
The film begins with a short prologue in modern-day London, where a construction crew working underground awakens a huge fire-breathing dragon. Skip ahead to 2020, where most of civilization is a blackened cinder - reduced to ashes by a scourge of countless flying reptiles. The few remaining humans have banded together into small refugee camps, trying to eke out an existence while staying out of the way of the dragons, who, in their hunger, are starting to feed on one another. Quinn (Christian Bale) is the leader of one such settlement, and his world is turned upside down by the arrival of Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), Alex (Izabella Scorupco), and their group of gung-ho American military men, who are hunting dragons. They have come all the way to England in search of the big prize - the lone male dragon, the most fearsome creature on Earth. Kill it, they reason, and the dragons will die out. With no means of fertilizing their eggs, they will disappear within a generation.
Director Rob Bowman, the man who helmed the X-Files movie after toiling for years in television, intends for audiences to take this story as seriously as he does. Bowman rigorously avoids anything that could be construed as camp. Reign of Fire's tone is downbeat - this is the story of a small group of humans struggling against impossible odds. That's nothing to laugh about, and Bowman doesn't even include a moment's comic relief. But there's plenty of eye candy.
The dragons look much more impressive than any of their past kin in other films. Sleek, deadly, and lightning fast, they strike quickly, then move on. There are times when the dragons, especially the bull, are imposing enough to be a little frightening. This is an instance when a filmmaker uses CGI to good effect. The visuals are not the least bit cheesy, and the dragons blend in well enough with the live-action actors that suspending disbelief is not difficult.
To say that the casting is a bit unusual is to understate matters. Christian Bale, the British actor who has had a smattering of success on both sides of the Atlantic, and Matthew McConaughey do not fit the mold of traditional action heroes, yet they acquit themselves admirably. Both have bulked up and tossed aside their pretty-boy images in an effort to get down and dirty. With his shaved head, beefy physique, and wild gaze, the cigar-chomping McConaughey is virtually unrecognizable, and entirely believable as a madman who will play chicken with a dragon. Bale's Quinn, scarred by horrifying memories, is more sympathetic and likeable, but hardly a milquetoast. Thrown into the mix is Izabella Scorupco (the Bond girl from Goldeneye with the less suggestive name) as the helicopter pilot who finds herself attracted to Quinn despite her fierce loyalty to Van Zan.
I certainly wouldn't want every movie to be like Reign of Fire, but this sort of picture has just as much of a place in theaters as an adaptation of a Henry James novel. The key to the success of either is for the production to be well done, which, in this case, it is. Reign of Fire has no pretentions (which is refreshing in a way). It's about kicking butt, killing big, ugly monsters, and saving the human race. Bowman believes in it, and, because of his conviction, so do we.
© 2002 James Berardinelli