Walking into "Reign of Fire," I thought I was gonna see a big time action movie loaded with fire-breathing dragons, and lots of ass-kicking sequences where humans were at war with them. But no, "Reign of Fire" is actually a very talky movie with only a few minutes when the dragons are onscreen, and a resolution that's somewhat preposterous. Then again, the whole movie is pretty damn preposterous, especially when it's explained how the dragons came to be, and how the spend the last few thousand (million?) years.
Though I wanted nonstop action, some of the quiet moments were very cool. The people living in the post-apocalyptic world have to survive, live their lives, and keep themselves entertained, and the movie does a good job of showing that. They spend way too much time doing so, but the general idea was very well done. One sequence in particular shows two men performing a play to entertain the kids, and the play is a rinky-dink version of a certain movie (or series of movies) that... well, I won't give it away, but the scene made me smile. That kinda thing I liked, but as I said, I wanted action. I wanted dragons.
When the dragons DO show up, they're spectacular. The computer animation for the dragons is awesome, and when they breathe their fire, it looks great. The movie offers an interesting biological explanation of how it is that the dragons can breathe fire, and when you look closely at the dragons doing so, you can see that the biological explanation was considered when animating the dragons. Very cool stuff. I just wish that there was more of it. The previews to the movie made it seem like the movie was wall-to-wall action, wall-to-wall dragons, but that's not the case. Unfortunately.
Though the movie, as a whole, didn't impress me, the CGI dragons did, and so did the cast. Matthew McConaughey stars, and to be honest, I never thought of him much as an actor. Then I saw him in "Frailty," and I thought he was pretty good. Now in this movie, I thought he did another good acting job. Also, the guy musta taken some serious vitamins, 'cause he's RIPPED! If he keeps that physique, I can easily see him playing the roles that Arnold Schwarzenegger is now too old for. Also in the movie is Christian Bale, a Brit who starred in "American Psycho" and played the villain in the recent "Shaft" update. In this movie, he plays an extremely intense, brooding character, and he's very good. Rumor has it that he may play "Batman"/"Bruce Wayne" in the "Batman Vs. Superman" movie that's currently in pre-production. I can totally see him playing "Batman." And given that "Batman Vs. Superman" was written by Andrew Kevin Walker (he wrote "Seven," "8mm," and "Sleepy Hollow"), you KNOW it's gonna be a dark movie, and I think Christian Bale would nail the role. There's a woman named Izabella Scorupco (hot Polish chickie who was in "Vertical Limit") who's also in this movie, and she's great. She plays a tough badass who also happens to have some intelligence. I love her character, and Izabella Scorupco did a good job with it. And she's really hot.
"Star Trek" geeks will see a couple of familiar faces. Alice Krige, who was "The Borg Queen" in "Star Trek: First Contact," plays Christian Bale's mother in the film. Also, Alexander Siddig, who played "Doctor Julian Bashir" in the best out of all of the "Star Trek" TV series, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," is also in the film. This is also the second time he was cast in a movie with Izabella Scorupco, because he had a small role in "Vertical Limit."
"Reign of Fire" was directed by Rob Bowman (directed lots and lotsa TV shows, but it was directing "The X-Files" that made him big, especially when he got the chance to direct the feature film version, "The X-Files: Fight the Future"), and he does a pretty good job with the movie. The problem isn't the acting, nor is it the director. As is often the case, the problem with this movie is the writing. The story was by Gregg Chabot & Kevin Peterka (this film is the debut for both), and the screenplay was by Gregg Chabot & Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg (helped write "The Prophecy II" and "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later"). The fact that the movie was marketed as a certain kinda movie and it didn't deliver isn't the fault of the writers, but the fact remains that there are plot holes that a truck, a train, a space shuttle, a plane, and the Miami MetroRail can go through... at the same time. Also, logic is completely thrown out the window. I completely understand suspension of disbelief, but you can only suspend so much.
This movie coulda been something great, but it was a missed opportunity. But it did have some great acting, and the CGI dragons were incredible. If only they were all in a better movie...
Scale of 1-10: 5