21 - Reign of Fire

    I've come back to this movie a few times, and this might be the first time I've really recognized the flaws with it.  It's still a lot of fun, but it could have been a very good movie.

    In a future (2020) where dragons have been woken up, and have wiped out a lot of civilization, Christian Bale runs a refuge in a castle, where they try to survive.  Matthew McConaughey shows up as a military guy who wants to kill off dragons.

    The premise is fun.  The photography and direction is really good.  The effects are a little dated, but that's to be expected for a movie from 2002.  At least they aren't especially bad.  What hurts the movie is the script.  There's an extra polish of silly drama on top of most of it.  McConaughey tries way too hard to be intense, and Bale tries to match it.  Their performances wouldn't be bad at all, except that the script has that extra sheen on it.

    I find the ending of the movie a bit problematic.  The last act feels anti-climactic, and would have played better if they had explored the angle of finding the dragon egg rather than abandoning it.