REIGN OF FIRE

[MARCBLEE]

REIGN OF FIRE

Synopsis: In present-day London, twelve-year-old Quinn watches as his mother  wakes an enormous fire-breathing beast from its centuries-long slumber. Twenty years later, much of the world has been scarred by the beast and its offspring. As a fire chief, Quinn (Christian Bale) is responsible for warding off the beasts and keeping a community alive as they eke out a meager existence. Into their midst comes a hotshot American, Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), who says he has a way to kill the beasts and save mankind

"Only one species is getting out of this alive," we are warned, early in Reign of Fire.

Set mainly in a neo-medieval, post-apocalyptic future, this dumb thud of an action flick chronicles the winner-take-all battle between the dragons that have all but destroyed civilization and a handful of surviving humans.

The dragons, in their grotesque beauty, look like they deserve to win. With their serpentine torsos, long, pointed tails and grand, scalloped wings, they swoop through the smoke-clouded skies as bright jets of flame flash near their treacherous jaws.

On the ground, in what's left of England, are the humans, a rag-tag troupe led by the soulful British Quinn (Christian Bale in a thankless role) and a brash, bald newcomer, the cigar-chomping, heavily tattooed Kentucky boy known as Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey).

Quinn and Van Zan don't get along because they have clashing views on how to defeat their winged foes. That's about as deep as character development goes in this thick-headed production.

That and McConaughey's rasp of a voice, borrowed, perhaps, from Clint Eastwood.

In this kind of movie, it's common for the creatures to take on convincing personalities. But in this one, not even the humans do.

Directed by Rob Bowman (the X-Files movie), Reign of  has a certain bleak visual distinction (especially those dragons). But the narrative is so consistently unimaginative that probably the only way to have saved the film is with the aid of those wisecracking Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys.

Oh, there's a small joke or two. The film elicits a few laughs when the adults in this low-tech, presumably movie-free world entertain the children by acting out the story of Star Wars.

It's a tough life for these folks, for sure. But at least they don't have to watch Reign of Fire.

My Score: 5 out of 10.