Reign of Fire

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale

RS: Not Rated

2002 Sci-Fi

I enjoy a big, dumb dragon flick as much as the next guy. And this one, about flying fire-breathers ready to wipe out mankind in 2020, doesn't take itself too seriously. There's even time for a Star Wars joke. And Matthew McConaughey chews up all the scenery the dragons don't chow down first as Van Zan, an American nutjob come to London to show the Brit wimps, led by Quinn (Christian Bale), how dragon slaying is done. You shave your head, wear tattoos, chew an unlit cigar and try to look as butch as Vin Diesel. Gets the buggers every time. Van Zan even totes along a hot chopper pilot (Polish model Izabella Sccorupco). So what's not to like? There's the bad CGI, the choppy pacing, the comically intense acting, the repetition, the dullness and mostly the idiot plot about how there's only one male dragon and everything will be fine if they kill the Big Dick. Wha? Somebody get a hose and put this Fire out.

PETER TRAVERS
(August 22, 2002)