My Take: Special effects are the driving force of this pedestrian, workmanlike Medieval adventure.
DRAGONHEART is a big budget, special effects-laden epic with some very neat CG the likes of those in JURASSIC PARK, perhaps even better. Thanks to CGI, the dragon here is no longer a clumsy puppet or a stop-motion animated character. The special effects creation here shows how fast special effects can progress over years and years of development. In terms of plot and characters, DRAGONHEART is only partial developed. The characters here lack more interest and the whole plot can't make it all good in the 103 min. running time.
Ironically, the most interesting character in the film isn't any of the human characters. It is the character of Draco, the CGI dragon which also features another great leap in special effects, it's voiced by Sean Connery. Given Connery's voice, the character is very interesting and screenplay gives him more interest than any of his human counterparts. His sparing with the human character Bowen (played by Dennis Quaid) is amusing, even if his counterpart isn't exactly as interesting as he is.
Other than Draco, the humans aren't very fancy. The hero, Bowen the dragon hunter, although played finely by Quaid (planting his tongue firmly in cheek), the script has not much to offer to him. The villain, played with a sly tongue by Brit David Thewlis, is practically an interesting character, but the script gives him less to do later. The great cast also includes Julie Christie, Jason Isaacs, Dina Meyer (from STARSHIP TROOPERS) and Pete Postlethwaite, all pretty good. The story didn't hold my attention for the entire running time. Perhaps its my lack of interest in the story that prevents it from getting into me.
DRAGONHEART isn't unwatchable, not to the very least, but I must say I didn't actually enjoy most of it. It has a number of fun scenes with Connery's voicing of Draco as well as some pretty neat action scenes, but it ain't perfection.
Rating: **1/2 out of 5.
DRAGONHEART is a big budget, special effects-laden epic with some very neat CG the likes of those in JURASSIC PARK, perhaps even better. Thanks to CGI, the dragon here is no longer a clumsy puppet or a stop-motion animated character. The special effects creation here shows how fast special effects can progress over years and years of development. In terms of plot and characters, DRAGONHEART is only partial developed. The characters here lack more interest and the whole plot can't make it all good in the 103 min. running time.
Ironically, the most interesting character in the film isn't any of the human characters. It is the character of Draco, the CGI dragon which also features another great leap in special effects, it's voiced by Sean Connery. Given Connery's voice, the character is very interesting and screenplay gives him more interest than any of his human counterparts. His sparing with the human character Bowen (played by Dennis Quaid) is amusing, even if his counterpart isn't exactly as interesting as he is.
Other than Draco, the humans aren't very fancy. The hero, Bowen the dragon hunter, although played finely by Quaid (planting his tongue firmly in cheek), the script has not much to offer to him. The villain, played with a sly tongue by Brit David Thewlis, is practically an interesting character, but the script gives him less to do later. The great cast also includes Julie Christie, Jason Isaacs, Dina Meyer (from STARSHIP TROOPERS) and Pete Postlethwaite, all pretty good. The story didn't hold my attention for the entire running time. Perhaps its my lack of interest in the story that prevents it from getting into me.
DRAGONHEART isn't unwatchable, not to the very least, but I must say I didn't actually enjoy most of it. It has a number of fun scenes with Connery's voicing of Draco as well as some pretty neat action scenes, but it ain't perfection.
Rating: **1/2 out of 5.