Dragonheart: A New Beginning Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

 

With my love for the first “Dragonheart” now known, it is time to see how its legacy has been handled. The year 2000 saw the release of “Dragonheart: A New Beginning”, a direct-to-DVD sequel- which, of course, means a much lower budget, shoddy special effects, and clunkily choreographed action. Do the filmmakers hide the dragon as much as possible to save money on CGI? Is there still fun to be had?

 

The plot is ambitious, but predictable:

Near the end of his life King Bowen went back to the cave of Draco, where he was gifted with a dragon egg. In order to properly teach the dragon, and keep it safe, it’s bestowed upon Brother Gilbert, and his order. Twenty years later (so for those interested, this is roughly sixty years after the original), we meet young stable boy Geoff (Chris Masterson), who dreams of becoming a knight- which is an impossibility, thanks to not being able to transcend one’s inherited station. His only friend is Mansel (Matthew Hickey), a young monk tasked with feeding the dragon, Drake (voiced by Robby Benson). Geoff and Drake soon meet, and become good friends, meanwhile Lord Osric (Harry Van Gorkum), just named chief adviser to the king- so you know, he’s evil, because all royal advisers in every fantasy movie ever are evil!- uses talk of the Old Code to impose outlandish rules, such as only wearing tunics the color of your station. As a two-tailed comet approaches, Master Kwan (Henry O) and Lian (Rona Figueroa) came to the monastery to test a prophecy. Is Drake the dragon the prophecy references? Will Osric’s evil plans come to light? Does Drake fart fire? The answer to that last question, is you bet; it’s that kind of movie.

 

This movie looks rather abysmal- obviously fake sets, grainy footage at times, as if they filmed using two different kind of cameras, one an actual prosumer grade camera, the other an off- the-shelf camcorder, awkward use of slow motion during the fight scenes, painted backdrops that look straight from a high school play, just cheap all the way around. Aside from the weird slow-mo, and the occasional odd blocking, I don’t blame the director for this, just the money and resources available. Though whenever the movie gets bogged down, all of this makes for a good laugh or two.

 

Director Doug Lefler has a good sense of comedic timing, and since there are a fair number of jokes throughout the movie (this isn’t a very serious affair), that is a plus. On the other hand, he is very bland stylistically, seemingly just going through the motions, never enlivening or elevating the material in any meaningful way. Cinematographer Buzz Feitshans IV is hampered by the cheapness of what they were filming on, but the shots are clear, in focus, and it seems like he was trying his best. Editor John Taylor probably tried less hard, especially during the hand-to-hand combat moments, as the edits are often too fast to make sense, and sometimes, it seems the moment wasn’t quite done and we jump to an odd angle. Composer Mark McKenzie did an excellent job, as the score is a very bright spot throughout the movie. Randy Edelman’s iconic and amazing theme from the first movie is used, but sparingly, and the rest of the music is quite rousing and enjoyable.

 

Shari Goodhartz’s screenplay is lots of fun, even if it is full of cliches (see evil adviser above)- of course the king is being drugged, of course that girl disguised as a boy is obviously a girl, of course the Asians know martial arts (casual racism?), of course there will be mishaps as Drake fails at dragon-y things (Master Kwan teaches him, since Drake is the last dragon)- see fire fart-, and other such commonplace tropes. However, it incorporates the first movie and its legacy well into the story, there is a lot going on for such a small budgeted movie, and a lot of the smaller things work nicely- an ongoing gag of what are the seven deadly sins never failed to amuse, and everything about the two-tailed comet and the prophecy was very interesting.

 

Which brings me to the spoiler-filled paragraph. This paragraph will discuss some of the cooler moments near the end of the movie, which involves spoilers. Turn away now, if you don’t want to read spoilers for a fourteen year old movie!

     So, it turns out that Osric is the dragon Gryphon, cursed to walk the rest of his (comparatively immortal) days as a        human- the form he loathes the most- for breaking the sacred dragon pact made a millennia ago. This leads to him      transforming back into his original form, as the two-tailed comet passes overhead, and trying to convince Drake to        join him. Drake refuses, and there’s an aerial dragon fight! All the dumb character moments, cliches, and bad               editing are totally worth it for this fight alone.

End spoilers!

 

Trevor Neighbor, Jason Armstrong, and their special effects team do a respectable job with Drake himself. Looking quite a bit like Draco (for obvious reasons!), there is a sense of weight to him, he interacts with the other characters fairly believably, and has a nice amount of detail on his scales and musculature, etc. Unfortunately, it seems that is what the entire budget went to, as the greenscreen work is some of the absolute worst I have ever seen. Simple things like sundown are just poorly painted and badly lit backdrops that seem to be from a cheap high school play. Every non-dragon related effect is shoddy at best, and hilariously bad at worst.

 

Chris Masterson is a likable lead, easy to root for and relate to, thanks to natural charisma. His line readings at times though, especially when he is meant to be more of a bully (after becoming a knight thanks to his friendship with Drake, he kind of gets a big head), aren’t all that convincing. His chemistry with Matthew Hickey, and rapport with Robby Benson, is also quite good. Hickey as the goofy, slightly bumbling monk is very funny. The script requires him to be in a few unflattering situations, and Hickey gives it his all. Benson, best known as voicing the freaking Beast in Disney’s “Beauty And The Beast”, brings an authentic naivete and innocence to the role of Drake. The three of them make for enjoyable leads, and help keep the viewer enticed.

 

Rona Figueroa, on the other hand, is awful. In her very poor disguise, she makes no attempt to ever sound like a male, and her line readings are lifeless. You are seeing a dragon, show some awe or something other than perpetual boredom. Henry O fairs only slightly better, but his character is so stock, I am unsure anyone could have done much more with it. Harry Van Gorkum is pretty fun to watch as he chews scenery, as the most obvious bad guy ever. His overacting reaches a crescendo at the end, and it is quite enjoyable to behold.

 

The cheap look of the movie, the weird slow mo, overacting, and bad greenscreen all lead to some nice laughs, and offer a solid diversion until the plot really kicks in (about halfway through). Everything about Drake, the prophecy, and how it ties into the first movie works very well. As a movie it is terribly fun, in all the best ways, and as a sequel, it is really good, so this comes fairly highly recommended.