Dragonheart A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1996 By Michael Redman
** (out of ****)
Dennis Quaid is a knight of 1000 years ago disillusioned with his vows who teams up with Draco, the last of the dragons to run a scam on the local villagers. Draco attacks a village and Quaid collects the gold while pretending to kill him.
Later he has a change of heart and the two of them lead a peasant revolution against the nefarious king.
Owing as much to the James Garner 1971 "Skin Game" as to the fantasy genre, this could have been a wonderful movie. Close but certainly no cigar.
Draco's voice is done by Sean Connery. Connery has a grand sound, but it is impossible to ever hear the dragon speak without thinking "Oh yeah, him!" (Just like I always expect James Earl Jones' "This is CNN" to be followed by "And I'm your father Luke.") This continually pulls you out of the story into the reality that you are in a movie theater. Not a good thing.
There are too many plot lines that don't make sense. Quaid is a fierce dragon killer, so skilled that he dispatches one in 10 seconds. But watching Draco in action, it is impossible to believe that any one man would be much of a match for the flying lizards.
Equally implausible is the dragon's dialog. Lines like "Yikes!" and irrelevant unfunny humor get in the way. Every story element meanders.
Nothing remarkable here except Julie Christie's (as the Queen Mother) few screen moments and a very visually convincing dragon.
[This appeared in the 6/6/96 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bvoice.com]
-- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman
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