A group of fugitive Knights Templar attacks a pirate ship and they are cursed to turn into hideous monsters. To fight the curse and ultimately save the world, they must defeat the wizard-dragon who is determined to destroy it.
Director/Writer: Mark Atkins
Here we have an offering from Asylum Entertainment. You know, the guys who bring you such wonderful movies as Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, and Meteor Apocalypse. They are also responsible for bringing low budget versions of some Hollywood flicks. I won't bag on them too much though, because at least they will make movies in the fantasy genre, even if they are generally not very good.
Dragon Crusaders is another flick that could be considered Syfy quality. But, to be honest, I've seen a few Syfy flicks that are superior to this one. I'm struggling a bit giving one of my short reviews of this movie, because there were some small portions I did enjoy. But overall, this is not a very good movie at all.
The story itself is straight-forward. A curse is put on a group of ex-crusaders by accident (whoops!). They must kill the big bad in order to break the curse. It's hard to put a finger on what is bad in this movie. The editing is pretty terrible. The characters seem to jump scenes out of nowhere. Props appear out of nowhere. Characters appear out of nowhere.
The acting overall is not very good. I had a hard time figuring out who was supposed to be the main hero here. I decided on Cecily Fay who is pretty kick-ass. Apparently she did all of her own choreography and stunts here, so I give her a lot of credit. She's not the most attractive woman, but her presence gives her a strange appeal that I can't quite put my finger on. Shinead Byrne is adorable and so makes me wish this movie was rated R. As for the men, the only stand-out here is Feth Greenwood who apparently has never acted before. I found him quite amusing and really good.
The effects are what you would expect. That is, not good at all. I've seen Syfy oringals with better effects than this. Although Dragons are in the title, you don't see much of them til the very end. Which is good, because they don't look very good.
The action is where this movie steps it up. Most of these actors are not actors. They are fighters, stunt men and riders and I think it shows. Most of the action scenes are well done and pretty entertaining.
This movie could definitely benefited from an R rating. A good amount of nudity could have enhanced this to something a lot more enjoyable. Overall, I can't really recommend this unless you are a completionist like me. Try to look for the few good things this film offers and enjoy those, but I don't think you'll like this movie overall.
Verdict: Not recommended unless you just have to see every fantasy flick available, like me.
The Cast
Dylan Jones ... John the Brave
Cecily Fay ... Aerona
Feth Greenwood ... Eldred the Strong
Shinead Byrne ... Neem
Tony Sams ... Sigmund
Simon Lloyd-Roberts ... Maldwyn
Kathy Francis ... Witch of Caer'lo
Carys Eleri ... Witch of Caer'lo
Nia Ann ... Witch of Caer'lo
Christian Howard ... Calvain
Steve McTigue ... Faolon the Wizard Dragon
"A good amount of nudity could have enhanced this to something a lot more enjoyable." Isn't that true of most films? ;)
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow completionist, I'd agree that it's only really the fighting that can be recommended here. And the Welsh scenery looks very good as well.