Yet another action packed film that sees the Americans leading the way and helping to win the War.  At least this time it is not a real one.....  The only thing about this film that bugged me is the lack of the dragon.  Huge detail was given about it, but you only see it in very very small helpings...    The cinematography is often commanding, although the quality of the special effects varies widely from scene-to-scene. The dragons when you do see them often look very realistic, but in parts when the do look a bit like the dragon from Brave Hart, a bit fake and unconvincing.   

 

The plot is of course about dragons, a fire breathing dragon is set free from its slumber thanks to workers digging a tunnel for the London Underground.   Bizarrely the film cuts direct to the last part of the story after the dragon has multiplied and set fire to everything, establishing dominance over the planet.  Geographical relevance is also lost as the plot takes us to Scotland, where a band of survivors.  The band includes the first one to ever see the dragon. But the Americans come and show them the way to roast the dragons into extinction. 

 

Despite my negative start this film is well worth a view, 4 stars yet again!   As most people who know me, I hate special effects for the sake of effects, this one is lacking in them but makes up for it with strong acting and a good sense of humor e.g.:- "One think I hate more than anything...  Americans." ,  just one of the classic lines in the film that is full of well timed tension backers.   Even the tag lines are well thought out for a change, some are a bit cheesy but most are very cleaver....  e.g.:-    "The Battle Ignites July 12"   "Fight Fire With Fire"  "They're extremely intelligent. Highly evolved. And they don't like sharing the planet."   I have to say though I was expecting Talking Heads to be played...... but alas they never did a tie with that tag line. 

Film Review by Patrick Trollope

Cast credits. First credits only:- 

• Christian Bale as Quinn, Matthew McConaughey as Van Zan, Izabella Scorupco as Alex Jensen, Gerard Butler as Dave Creedy, Scott Moutter as Jared Wilke, David Kennedy as Eddie Stax, Alexander Siddig as Ajay, Ned Dennehy as Barlow, Rory Keenan as Devon, Terence Maynard as Gideon, Doug Cockle as Goosh, Randall Carlton as Burke, Chris Kelly as Mead, Ben Thornton as Young Quinn and Alice Krige as Karen Abercromby. 

Photos by Patrick Dowling:- ©Spyglass Entertainment Group, LP. All rights reserved.