Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

 

I guess the popularity of the first movie has proven quite durable, as this past February saw the release of a third “Dragonheart” movie- “Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse”. Much like the second it was released DTDVD, but it is actually a prequel. Minor complaint time- since the second flick didn’t have a number attached, and because this is a prequel, why have the ‘3’ in the title? Wholly unnecessary! Anyways, is this as cheesy fun as “A New Beginning”? Does it work as a standalone movie? Is the old code mentioned? Well, the answer to that last question is an obvious and resounding duh!

 

Set some 500 years or so before the events of the original “Dragonheart”, this movie is about the return of dragons to our world:

Hadrian’s Wall has been up for a century, but the war between the knights and native picts continues to wage on. Young squire Gareth (Julian Morris) is attempting his damnedest to get promoted into knighthood, but Sir Horsa (Dominic Mafham) keeps toying around with him. One night, a comet smashes into the forest on the other side of the wall. Gareth goes to investigate, and discovers Drago (voice of Ben Kingsley), a dragon tasked with protecting seven eggs- which are to bring dragons back to Earth’s populous. After Gareth is gravely injured trying to save one of the eggs, Drago shares his heart with him. They then team up with fiery Celtic Rhonu (Tamzin Merchant) and druid apprentice Lorne (Jassa Ahluwalla), to stop the evil sorcerer Brude (Jonjo O’Neil) from taking full control over Drago.

 

Director Colin Teague doesn’t have too many feature titles under his belt (but he does have quite the array of TV shows), but he did direct the rather fun actioner “Shooters” with Ioan Grufford, Melanie Lynskey, and freaking Gerard Butler! Even with that in mind, he still managed to do a better job than I was expecting. The movie just feels epic, and is dripping with atmosphere- the sequence where Gareth is gathering some supplies to scale down the wall in search of the crashed comet, and ends in a fight with some of the douchiest knights there (more on that aspect in a bit), and then explores the woods looks amazing. A rescue of captured Celts is intense, and that is in no small part thanks to the wide scope used for shooting that bit. The attention to grimey detail really helps sell the time period, with the costumes all looking excellent and well designed.

 

Director of photography David Luther keeps everything looking fresh and crisp, with the lush settings- the movie was filmed on location in Northern England- and vibrant colors of the costumes and dragon (and eggs) just pop off the screen. Editors Fiona Colbeck, Charlene Short, and Eric Strand keep everything moving swiftly, and there’s only a scene or two that is edited too quickly to properly make out (mostly during the ending battle). Randy Edelman’s iconic theme is used a few times throughout- during the opening title sequence, the emergence of Drago, during its equivalent of the Avalon bit from the first, and at the very end, which is just enough times to not be considered an over reliance. Mark McKenzie, returning composer of the second film, does an excellent job with the score nicely underlining each moment, but never being too on the nose or oppressive.

 

But this is a “Dragonheart” flick, which means that special effects play a massively important role, what with having to create a character that can believably interact with the humans and all. Lucian Iordache and Gary Oldroyd’s visual effects team have succeeded, and stunningly so, in that regard. Drago, from his angular, spiky design, to sense of scale, to weight, to how he interacts with our protagonists, to his ghostly form (from the titular curse), to his colorization, just everything about Drago looks freaking incredible. Draco might still look better, but this is absolutely the best looking effects for a DTDVD movie possible.

 

Of course, the special effects workers had quite a bit of help in fully fleshing out Drago, with Sir Ben Kingsley voicing the character. Delivering a very refined and regal performance, Drago is patient, kind, and understanding, but with a pretty fun snarky side, and all that works thanks to Kingsley. Julian Morris believably portrays Gareth’s longing- to be better than he is, to elevate his station, etc- and remorse over the cruel things the knights are forced to do. He makes for an appealing and likable lead, and his chemistry with all three of his costars is quite good. However, it is Tamzin Merchant that just runs away with this movie. With just a fleeting glance, she goes from irate to lovelorn and protective, and damn if she doesn’t sell every single one of those emotions. Her quips and one liners sound natural, as does her devotion to saving her people. She’s equally convincing during the action beats, seemingly comfortable with a bow and arrow and swords. If this movie, which has garnered mostly positive reviews, doesn’t bring her big lead roles, I’ll be quite surprised.

 

Jassa Ahluwalia has great comedic timing as the druid apprentice, and his constant bungling of the two spells he knows off of the top of his head is a fun ongoing gag. Dominic Mofham is quite excellent as the sleazeball captain, commanding his knights to shakedown the poor for ‘protection money’. Christopher Fairbank is serene in an extended cameo that is crucial to the story. It should be noted, that all the actors/ actresses interact well with the all CGI Drago.

 

Screenwriter Matthew Feitshans does a nice job of keeping the dramatic and action moments fairly even handed, never letting things go too long without an action beat nor letting any looming action overtake and interrupt the dramatic scenes. One of my favorite things about the lean script is how corrupt the knights are. I have no idea if that is accurate at all (I mean, there just had to be asshole knights, due to sheer probability), but it works very nicely within the story, and given how often pop culture portrays knights as the exemplar of human decency and awesomeness, it is nice to see a new spin. He also has a great knack for snappy dialogue, which helps the pace of the movie immensely. However, Feitshans does adhere rather strictly to the formula for leads laid out in the previous two entries-

• Male lead must be a knight (or some sort of knight-in-training) that can rally folks easily.

• Female lead is a badass warrior, whose people are being oppressed in some manner; usually a redhead.

• Sidekick is very comedic in nature, absolutely believes in the knight, even when the knight doesn’t, and has some type of religious afflilation.

 

Also, the old code gets some backstory about Merlin making a pact with dragons way back in the day, but given how many years before the first movie this takes place, I think seeing the code get written throughout would have been really interesting; happily, the old code is actually a fairly major plot point, and is utilized well throughout.

 

The only other issue I have is harder for me to describe, and I don’t think it is an issue most people will have- Jonjo O’Neil portrays Brude, the main bad guy, in a weird manner, but I do hesitate to call it a bad performance. He moves in a purposefully slow way, and I found it oddly distracting- raising his hands to the full moon, just before the climactic battle would be more impactful if every other gesture were not also so slow and calculating. When each movement is a grand gesture, the truly grand gestures get lost in the fray. I think I understood what was going on here, but for me (I totally understand if others find his performance to be good) it is never quite crazy enough to be over the top, and it’s too over the top to be really dramatic. However, his strong line deliveries and creepy stare are too good to be ignored.

 

Those few, and very minor, complaints don’t detract from the fun of this movie. Drago sets a new bar for DTDVD CGI creations, the leads are all excellent, with Tazmin Merchant stealing every scene, all the while Colin Teague is adding a great sense of wonder to the proceedings. Whether you’re a fan of the original, just love fantasy films, or are looking for an enjoyable Friday night watch with friends, this movie absolutely hits the mark.