Fantasy Flix: Dragons

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Dragon (II) (2006)

Director: Leigh Scott

Writers: Leigh Scott, Eliza Swenson

In a desperate attempt to save her kingdom from an advancing army of dark elves, Princess Vanir must traverse the haunted forest of Sidhe. With the help of loyal adventurers Cador and Artemir, they encounter the army of elves, a mysterious sorceress, and the powerful dragon that stands in their way. Bring the Dragon into your home from December 12th at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video... and let the adventure begin!

This is a movie called Dragon. While, there is a dragon in the movie, and the characters are looking to kill it, don't you think a more descriptive title would be better? Or at least one that separates it from all the other movies out there named "Dragon".

Title: 3

The story itself is one that you have probably played in one of your D&D campaigns. Which wouldn't be bad if this movie was not so boring. There is a lot of talking here with little action overall. The action scenes are pretty poor as well. There is no blood or gore, this is a family-friendly movie.

Plot: 4

Death Scenes: 3

The acting is definitely nothing to write home about. There are some awful moments, Shaky accents, and little range presented here. If I were to pick some stand-out, Matthew Wolf and Eliza Swenson are not half bad.

Acting: 4

There are not a lot of special effects, but the ones that are here are pretty terrible. The dragon is one that you have seen before on many Syfy originals, which means awful.

Special Effects: 2

I can't even add a "it's so bad it's good" title to this. It's just bad. The movie take's itself very seriously and I can't help but think it would have been better served with a little comedy or cheese.

Cheese level: 1

If there's any upside at all it would be Eliza Swenson who is pretty damn hot. As I said, however, this is pretty family-friendly and there is no skin to be had. There's barely even a bare shoulder. Eliza is pleasant to look at, skin or no.

Eye Candy: 7

Rewatchability: 1

Verdict: Skip it

Cast

Amelia Jackson-Gray ... Princess Alora Vanir

Jon-Paul Gates ... Lord Artemir

Matthew Wolf ... Sir Cador Bain

Jeff Denton ... Gareth Morholt

Jason DeParis ... Sogomo

Rachel Haines ... Naga

Eliza Swenson ... Freyja

Jessica Bork ... Damara

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Dawn of the Dragonslayer (2011)

Directed by
Anne K. Black

Writing credits
Anne K. Black
Kynan Griffin
Justin Partridge

When Will's father is killed by a dragon, he embarks on an epic journey filled by vengeance that leads him to an ancestral home which he stays at and works for the tyrannical Sterling in order to learn how to slay the beast. While he is training, he befriends Sterling's daughter Kate, and Sterling becomes increasingly suspicious of and threatened by Will. He orders his men to kill him but Will escapes. Now Will must evade Sterling's men whilst trying to avenge his father.

I'll just start by saying that I really enjoyed this movie. A lot of people will dismiss this as just another Syfy original, but it's not. This movie is much higher quality than any of the Syfy movies. There is real heart here, as well as nice cinematography and direction. It is a love story at heart with a fantasy background. That's not to say there is no action, because there is.

While the action and adventure is not the main portion of the movie, it is nicely interspaced within. I suppose if I have one complaint about the movie, it would be that the fighting and swordplay seem a bit stiff. This movie could have greatly benefited from a good fight choreographer.

The acting is very good and I have no complaints here. I enjoyed Richard McWilliams as an actor and thought he was pretty good, although he needs to work a bit on his physical skills. Someone who does not need to work on her physical skills is Nicola Posener, who is simply adorable. Although, I would like to work on her physical skills... ahem..

The special effects here are very good for an independent, low budget film, and in my opinion, better than anything you normally see on Syfy. The dragon itself is not big-budget Hollywood quality, but I think it was nicely done, especially when seen at a distance looming overhead.

Overall, this is a very nice and well made action/adventure/romance set in a fantasy world. I look forward to the other movies of this ilk coming from this company.