Reign of Fire (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
Christian Bale & Matthew McConaughey star in director Rob Bowman's fun but flawed 2002 post-apocalyptic action/fantasy movie, 'Reign of Fire'. It's the year 2020 in Northumberland, England and a large amount of enormous, fire-breathing dragons - accidentally reawakened from hibernation 20 yrs. ago during construction of the London underground - have annihilated most of society & decimated planet Earth. In the ruins of an outlying castle, Quinn Abercromby (Bale) is the ruler of a ragtag, motley band of English survivors who are simply trying to get survive.
With the help of his friend & confidant, Creedy (Gerard Butler), Quinn & others have taken in orphans including Jared (Scott James Moutter), but must cope with renegades such as Eddie (David Kennedy) who want to harvest the latest crop before it is ready. In time, American Denton Van Zan (McConaughey), helicopter pilot, Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco), & Van Zan's gung-ho army arrive at Quinn's compound seeking supplies & asserting that they have slain dragons.
Quinn is highly suspicious of these protestations, but when the Americans not only fend-off an onslaught from the dragons, but also slay a hostile one, they start to believe them & consider their theory about how to kill the bloodthirsty creatures. Apparently, one male dragon is responsible for fertilizing the eggs of the plethora of female dragons and have deduced that if they vanquish him, the species will be wiped-out for good. Provided with this knowledge + the belief that the dragons cannot see well just before sunset ...Van Zan & the rest then venture to London with hopes of achieving this. Mayhem ensues.
'Reign of Fire' is somewhat amusing and contains both interesting production design & nifty visual effects as a sort of Mad Max/Dragonheart hybrid. Christian Bale is solid at the center of it all; and always wary of Van Zan's convictions. On the flip side, Matthew McConaughey is a bit over-the-top as the cocky, muscular Van Zan. As for the dragons themselves, well, they're deliciously evil monsters. The rest of the characters don't leave a strong impression one way or the other.
For spurts of this film, the action is exhilarating & badass. Having said that, plenty of plot points and/or action sequences don't make the grade. As mentioned above, the look of the film {along with a cool music score} is aces. But the overall story gets too silly, sloppy, dull & ridiculous to be considered a resounding success. The fact that it was a box office bomb doesn't help the film's legacy, either. And so, 'Reign of Fire' is a mixed bag.
With the help of his friend & confidant, Creedy (Gerard Butler), Quinn & others have taken in orphans including Jared (Scott James Moutter), but must cope with renegades such as Eddie (David Kennedy) who want to harvest the latest crop before it is ready. In time, American Denton Van Zan (McConaughey), helicopter pilot, Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco), & Van Zan's gung-ho army arrive at Quinn's compound seeking supplies & asserting that they have slain dragons.
Quinn is highly suspicious of these protestations, but when the Americans not only fend-off an onslaught from the dragons, but also slay a hostile one, they start to believe them & consider their theory about how to kill the bloodthirsty creatures. Apparently, one male dragon is responsible for fertilizing the eggs of the plethora of female dragons and have deduced that if they vanquish him, the species will be wiped-out for good. Provided with this knowledge + the belief that the dragons cannot see well just before sunset ...Van Zan & the rest then venture to London with hopes of achieving this. Mayhem ensues.
'Reign of Fire' is somewhat amusing and contains both interesting production design & nifty visual effects as a sort of Mad Max/Dragonheart hybrid. Christian Bale is solid at the center of it all; and always wary of Van Zan's convictions. On the flip side, Matthew McConaughey is a bit over-the-top as the cocky, muscular Van Zan. As for the dragons themselves, well, they're deliciously evil monsters. The rest of the characters don't leave a strong impression one way or the other.
For spurts of this film, the action is exhilarating & badass. Having said that, plenty of plot points and/or action sequences don't make the grade. As mentioned above, the look of the film {along with a cool music score} is aces. But the overall story gets too silly, sloppy, dull & ridiculous to be considered a resounding success. The fact that it was a box office bomb doesn't help the film's legacy, either. And so, 'Reign of Fire' is a mixed bag.