Summer Cinema: ‘Reign of Fire’
It’s pretty sad when a post-apocalyptic, self-rated B movie dealing with dragons and the extinction of humans is a better movie than a super-charged scum of the universe sequel. What I’m trying to say is that the movie I went to in order to write a negative review (“Reign of Fire”) was overall a better flick than “Men in Black II” could ever hope to be.
“Reign of Fire” tells the story of a young boy (Quinn) who discovers an ancient dragon buried under the streets of London and unwittingly disturbs him, unleashing him on the world. The dragons multiply and burn everything in their path. The film then jumps forward to the year 2020 where Quinn (Christian Bale) now leads a compound of people living in an old castle. They are met by a group of Americans led by Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) who are on their way to London to kill the only male dragon thus putting an end to the species. The group specializes in hunting dragons and includes Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco) a helicopter pilot who uses sky divers as dragon bait.
The film was like most futuristic movies in that it shared a bleak, animalistic existence for the few humans left alive. Most had reverted to tribalistic behaviors and lived with the bare necessities when it came to the technologies available. All cities were ash and twisted metal, and danger was a way of life.
It also, with the exception of Quinn, did nothing to develop or give motives to any of the supporting characters. They existed to either be killed by the dragons or run around screaming in fright from the computer-generated terrors.
Unlike most futuristic movies, this one didn’t thrive on violence and sex, which was a nice change. Instead it tried to subtlety upgrade its status from a B-flick to at least an A-minus movie with some credibility to its name. It almost succeeded.
Perhaps its biggest success was its ability to help us identify with the hero. Quinn lost his mother, and the world he knew in one fateful day. He tried to replace it by adopting an orphan and protecting the group of people who looked to him as leader. It was his hope to survive the onslaught of terror and come out on top. The agony at having to face the pain of the past or failing to protect the future was skillfully evident in Bale performance.
McConaughey was disgusting in his role as Zan. Maybe he was meant to be utterly repulsive and disdained. If so it worked. Otherwise he and Scorupco, the new queen of B-movie thrillers (see her performance in “Vertical Limit”), were mindless characters mechanically performing their assigned tasks devoid of any emotion or past.
Maybe it was because “Reign of Fire” didn’t purport to be more than it was that I enjoyed the show. Or maybe it was because “MIB2” was such a bitter disappointment. Either way, “Fire” is a fun flick—not a great one—but if post-apocalyptic thrillers are your thing you won’t be disappointed.
Grade: B-