Dragon Wars

Starring: Jason Behr, Amanda Brooks, Robert Forster

Director: Shim Hyung Rae

Runtime: 100 Minutes

Rated: PG-13

Opened: September 14, 207

Dragon Wars opens at the scene of an explosion. When reporter Ethan Kendrick (Cody Erens) arrives, a mysterious object is uncovered and we enter a rather lengthy flashback to when he was a boy. A mysterious shop owner named Jack (Robert Forster) explains to him in a flashback within a flashback, about the prophecy. There are powerful serpents on the earth and every 500 years the heavens place the essential energy that will allow one of the serpents (Imoogi) to transform into a Celestial Dragon into a woman. The woman and the Imoogi join together mystically. Usually this is good, but in 1507 an evil Immogi raised an army in order to take the chosen vessel for himself. Things do not go the way anyone expects them to do and five hundred years later the stage is set for the rematch between good and evil.

When we finally return to the present we find that Ethan is the reincarnation of the warrior-apprentice who has a chance to redeem his past failure if he can find the reincarnation of the woman intended to celestialize the good Immogi. The only thing in his way is the evil serpent Buraki and an army of dragons and their armored trooper allies.

D-Wars had a decidedly Godzilla feel to it, with the film throwing in mostly pointless scenes - filled with B-movie dialogue - inbetween model-destroying appearances of Buraki as he pursues the Ethan and Sarah (Amanda Brooks) throughout the city. We can tell it’s time for our heroes to go because each time they run out of room to run, a vehicle conveniently throws itself in their path. Eventually the army arrives to battle the dragon forces, providing one of the more entertaining elements of the film.

The only real plot elements are developed in the opening flashback. Because of that it happens to be the most engaging portion of the film as far as story-telling goes. While in the flashback I wished they would get to the present day story and when they did I regretted that they had. The action scenes were fun and I especially like the clash between modern and ancient fantastic armies.

This may not be a film appreciated by all audiences. My suggestion is to wait for it to release as a rental then watch it with the sound off and supply your own story line. - Randy Lindsay