REIGN OF FIRE [2002] Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey ; 12

Descent dragon movies are hard to come by these days, so Reign Of Fire for me was met with open arms. The film is set in the year 2020 where dragons rule all and mankind is fighting for it's very survival. Bale plays the leader of one of the last British communities alive, who is determined to out live the now starving beasts which haunt the skies. McConaughey plays it well as the American army troop leader turned dragon slayer. The first hour, will have you riveted at the whole concept and the obviously original action sequences, however it is the last half of the film which disappoints. At the half way point the story has the option of going in several different directions, the one I would have liked to have seen would of been a constant entourage of battles to kill every last napalm breathing beast till the films close, unfortunately that doesn't happen. Instead, the film trundles off like Alice did in wonderland and suddenly becomes everything we've seen before, with the exception of the dragon thing of course. Saying that though the last half of the film isn't a total loss, it's just not as good as the first 60 minutes. The first half alone though does make going to watch this strangely compelling flame grilled movie worth while. There are plot holes and there are tiny spatters of bad dialogue, but with a supporting cast of the likes of bond girl Izabelle Scorupco and the always watchable Alexander Siddig (Star Trek : Deep Space Nine) the film turns out pretty good. It's not the fire breathing masterpiece I had hoped for, but it's certainly not bad. If you're in the mood for a bit of fantasy, which ain't Lord of The Rings, then this film is for you.

3/5