Dragons, explosions, motorcycles, guns, tattoos; sounds awesome. That's what I thought anyways after seeing the trailer for Reign of Fire, Rob Bowman's 2002 post- apocalyptic thriller about dragons and the humans that fear them. Christian Bale and Mathew McConaughy, who play the lead roles, went on to have successful careers after this movie.
First off, Rob Bowman deserves substantial credit for agreeing to direct this movie, considering the riskiness of such an endeavor. Bowman, who produced many of the X-Files episodes, was no stranger to the sci-fi thriller genre when he signed onto this. However, the prospect of making a high budget special effects film about the dragon apocalypse must have seemed a little far-fetched.
After all, how would a bunch of dragons manage to defeat the world's military and burn the entire surface of the earth to ash? Why couldn't they be stopped? Most importantly though, why dragons of all things? Certainly a unique premise, it appears as though the film did not come together as well as it could have.
Reign of Fire does succeed however in creating a great post-apocalyptic atmosphere, which bears significant resemblance to the world seen in the future sequences of James Cameron's Terminator movies. The trench-coat clad gunmen coupled with the burnt out English countryside help to establish a similar feeling of impending doom and gloominess to that of John Conner's future war against the machines. Copious amounts of ash and fog, ever present in the film, help to intensify this effect.
Bowman also made a great decision to stray away from the typical Godzilla-style monster movie by sacrificing the over-the-top scenes of carnage that the genre is notorious for in order to leave room for character development.
The problem is that the people responsible for this movie forgot to include character development. Perhaps they were too excited about the dragons. Much of the plot revolves around Christian Bale, who plays a thirty something year old English man named Quinn. Quinn, who accidentally woke up the original dragon that started the whole mess, now protects a group of survivors by not wearing his shirt. Sadly, Bale's character is an insult to his talent. Quinn spends much of his time on screen being depressed and shouting at people without having any revealing dialogue.
We never really get to learn too much about Quinn however, because Mathew McConaughy shows up about thirty minutes in and steals the show, although you'll wish he hadn't. McConaughy, who inexplicably goes by the name of Van Zan, rides up to Quinn's fort straddling a tank gun and quickly establishes himself as the film's leading source of phallic imagery. A full-bodied yet empty character, Van Zan, or Thrust Meat-Chunk, looks as if he had just stepped out of an Unreal Tournament game. He also claims to be an expert dragon slayer.
Somehow, Van Zan, has managed to pilot a huge cargo jet full of American stereotypes over to England to save the day because hey, that's what America does, right? He plans to do so by defeating the original dragon that Quinn unwittingly released at the age of eight. Van intends to accomplish this feat through the use of motorcycles and a helicopter. Unfortunately, Van Slam-Chest quickly proves himself to be one of the most incompetent action heroes in film history, leading one to wonder how he's survived so long without being eaten. Van's habit of knowing nearly everything about the dragons leads one to doubt whether or not the film-makers knew how to resolve the movie.
By the end of the film, the audience will likely be rooting for Van Zan's death and wondering why it hadn't come earlier. Essentially, it's McConaughy's character who ruins Reign of Fire, which otherwise may have been a decent sci-fi thriller. While Van appears to have good intentions, his arrogance and destructive nature prevent him from being a suitable protagonist.
Despite Van Man's excessive screen time, Reign of Fire does contain some redeeming qualities. In particular, it does a good job of capturing humanity's pitiful state in the post industrial era. Most notable is the the light saber duel that Quinn and his friend put on in the decaying church for the children's amusement. It is moving to see the adult generation's efforts to preserve the culture of a bygone age of human history. Overall though, Reign of Fire fails to be a successful thriller. The moderate special effects do not make up for the fact that this film lacks the exciting action sequences, quirky dialogue and fun character's that define its genre.
First off, Rob Bowman deserves substantial credit for agreeing to direct this movie, considering the riskiness of such an endeavor. Bowman, who produced many of the X-Files episodes, was no stranger to the sci-fi thriller genre when he signed onto this. However, the prospect of making a high budget special effects film about the dragon apocalypse must have seemed a little far-fetched.
After all, how would a bunch of dragons manage to defeat the world's military and burn the entire surface of the earth to ash? Why couldn't they be stopped? Most importantly though, why dragons of all things? Certainly a unique premise, it appears as though the film did not come together as well as it could have.
Reign of Fire does succeed however in creating a great post-apocalyptic atmosphere, which bears significant resemblance to the world seen in the future sequences of James Cameron's Terminator movies. The trench-coat clad gunmen coupled with the burnt out English countryside help to establish a similar feeling of impending doom and gloominess to that of John Conner's future war against the machines. Copious amounts of ash and fog, ever present in the film, help to intensify this effect.
Bowman also made a great decision to stray away from the typical Godzilla-style monster movie by sacrificing the over-the-top scenes of carnage that the genre is notorious for in order to leave room for character development.
The problem is that the people responsible for this movie forgot to include character development. Perhaps they were too excited about the dragons. Much of the plot revolves around Christian Bale, who plays a thirty something year old English man named Quinn. Quinn, who accidentally woke up the original dragon that started the whole mess, now protects a group of survivors by not wearing his shirt. Sadly, Bale's character is an insult to his talent. Quinn spends much of his time on screen being depressed and shouting at people without having any revealing dialogue.
We never really get to learn too much about Quinn however, because Mathew McConaughy shows up about thirty minutes in and steals the show, although you'll wish he hadn't. McConaughy, who inexplicably goes by the name of Van Zan, rides up to Quinn's fort straddling a tank gun and quickly establishes himself as the film's leading source of phallic imagery. A full-bodied yet empty character, Van Zan, or Thrust Meat-Chunk, looks as if he had just stepped out of an Unreal Tournament game. He also claims to be an expert dragon slayer.
Somehow, Van Zan, has managed to pilot a huge cargo jet full of American stereotypes over to England to save the day because hey, that's what America does, right? He plans to do so by defeating the original dragon that Quinn unwittingly released at the age of eight. Van intends to accomplish this feat through the use of motorcycles and a helicopter. Unfortunately, Van Slam-Chest quickly proves himself to be one of the most incompetent action heroes in film history, leading one to wonder how he's survived so long without being eaten. Van's habit of knowing nearly everything about the dragons leads one to doubt whether or not the film-makers knew how to resolve the movie.
By the end of the film, the audience will likely be rooting for Van Zan's death and wondering why it hadn't come earlier. Essentially, it's McConaughy's character who ruins Reign of Fire, which otherwise may have been a decent sci-fi thriller. While Van appears to have good intentions, his arrogance and destructive nature prevent him from being a suitable protagonist.
Despite Van Man's excessive screen time, Reign of Fire does contain some redeeming qualities. In particular, it does a good job of capturing humanity's pitiful state in the post industrial era. Most notable is the the light saber duel that Quinn and his friend put on in the decaying church for the children's amusement. It is moving to see the adult generation's efforts to preserve the culture of a bygone age of human history. Overall though, Reign of Fire fails to be a successful thriller. The moderate special effects do not make up for the fact that this film lacks the exciting action sequences, quirky dialogue and fun character's that define its genre.