Rating- * * * (3/5)
Because of the often cynical and pessimistic moods of most American film critics, many American moviegoers have been instilled with the idea that realism should always be the standard for good movies. The more realistic something looks the better it is; the more real the dialogue sounds the better the movie must be. In all this realism, we sometimes miss the point of the great institution known as The Summer Movie: escapism. We go to summer movies to escape the troubles and hassles of realism and to venture into the realms of our imaginations. We see fantastic things, meet unbelievable, yet somehow familiar characters, and witness amazing events. You shouldn’t care if it’s realistic as long as it involves you and takes you somewhere other than the world you are used to. We certainly get that with Reign of Fire, a fantasy/action flick about a near future world in which ancient dragons have been awakened and are wreaking havoc upon the world. We are shown Time Magazine covers depicting the destruction of New York, Paris and London and by the time we rejoin the action, humans have been driven into hiding in caves, castles, and underground bunkers to avoid the fiery wrath of the dragons. Food and water are precious and the communities live a very simple, militaristic existence led by Quinn (Christian Bale) who was the first human to see the dragons awaken when he was a boy. The humans are beginning to lose hope and confidence in their leader when suddenly and American Marine squadron shows up led by a bald Kentuckian named Van Zandt (Matthew McConaughey). The Marines have figured out a way to catch and kill dragons and the quest begins to find the one male dragon and kill him to end the species. Now I will admit that the whole premise sounds a little hokey, like something you might find in an old B-movie but it is really a rather entertaining movie. There are some great action sequences and the dragons are pretty terrifying looking. Also, McConaughey is great as the stereotypical Marine “killing machine” who really seems to have no personality outside of being a dragon killer. If you like campy monster movies with a good amount of action involved, you will definitely be entertained. Many critics dumped on Reign of Fire because they claimed it was totally unrealistic and unbelievable. I argue that it is supposed to be unbelievable and, yes, a little cheesy, but fun nonetheless. I recommend this movie to fans of good action and those who just want to escape from their mundane world for a few hours and have some fun.