Review: Dragonheart Is Close To Perfect.
- Apr 11, 2017
- 2 min read
Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Jason Isaacs and Sean Connery walk into a bar, get drunk and decide to make a Robin Hood movie with 100% more fire breathing lizards. I see nothing wrong with this.
A young king, corrupted by the heart of a dragon, rules with an iron fist. His mentor, Bowen (Dennis Quaid), makes a living hunting and slaying dragons, in hopes of finding the one whose heart now beats in the kings chest. But when circumstances change an unlikely alliance is formed between Bowen and and the dragon Draco, voice by Sean Connery, a rebellion is set in motion and the stage is set for a war that will change the kingdom forever.
I couldn't tell you when I first saw Dragonheart but what I can tell you is that it very quickly became one of my favourite movies , and it still is. It's got a great story, excellent characters ,some of the best visual effects of it's time, often surpassing even the revered Jurassic Park and features my personal favourite film score to date.
How Dragonheart has fallen to obscurity, particularly amongst the visual effects world, beggars belief. While not perfect, the CGI of Draco is top notch and unlike the more popular Jurassic Park, take place almost entirely in broad daylight, avoiding darkness and rain to hide any flaws (not to take away from Jurassic Park's achievements but the effects aren't as good as you remember). While he occasionally looks out of place in the environment he looks great, fluidly animated and an excellent combination of practical and digital effects. Being voiced by Sean Connery doesn't hurt with the big lizard becoming the greatest character in the film.
The other characters are great as well. Bowen is relate-able and relatively well written, though Quiad's performance can be a little bland at times. David Thewlis is great as King Einon, chewing scenery and being generally entertaining, often accompanied by the snivelling Lord Felton, played to near perfection by Jason Isaacs. Pete Postlethwaite's Brother Gilbert provides and strange combination of piety, comedy and badassery, something that only he could pull off.
There's a number of solid action sequences including one excellent climactic battle, all accompanied by Randy Edelman's stellar score. They're often creative, always exciting and are some of the best fantasy sequences ever put to screen.
Dragonheart is, in my opinion, the closest one can get to a perfect movie. It has action, emotion and one of my favourite endings to a movie ever. The characters are real, the effects are great and now it sounds like I have nothing but praise for it. And I do have nothing but praise. It's great, I love it and I'll keep watching it for as long as I can.
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