Loading ...Dragon Wars
Dec 9th, 2007 by Jack
Dragon Wars also known as “D-War” is a fantasy drama based on a popular Korean legend.
Hmmm, exposition. O.K. Centuries ago in Korea there were giant serpents called Imoogi. A bad one, Buraki, had armored troops. A girl, Narin, had this glowing bubble, the Yuh Yi Joo, which turns Imoogi into dragons. But she and her lover-protector, Haram, sacrificed themselves without giving it up.
Deep breath. In Los Angeles an eruption suggests something big has awakened, something cranky. When Ethan Kendrick (Jason Behr) finds out, he recalls being taught as a child by the mystic Jack (Robert Forster) that he is Haram reincarnated. Narin is now Sarah Daniels (Amanda Brooks). Exhale.
Got all that? Good, because once Baraki starts to boogie, “Dragon Wars” rocks. Bulcos, winged carnivores, munch on iron-rich helicopters. References to Ray Harryhausen and Toho productions fly. One sequence evokes “King Kong,” but with heat-seeking missiles. The seams in effects and dialogue glare, but lend charm.
Baraki eats elephants, but he can’t outrun cars, which lets Ethan and Sarah reach New Mexico for a “Godzilla”-like rumble between Imoogi. “We’ll see each other again,” says Sarah to Ethan after the bout. Hoo-boy. Batten the hatches.
If you’ve been missing Japanese monster movies, take heart. “Dragon Wars: D-War” (from South Korea actually) proves the genre quite alive.
Now this movie starts off in the right track with a good explanation of the legend, but right after the explanation the story takes a wide left turn and starts getting off the beaten track. I hate when they get all into it and then for some reason or other, it begins to look and feel that the writers leave go take a nap and never wake up and then crap gets placed in so that a movie can be made & finished with. The movie becomes lost after they decided in the boy with girl love crap that has no strength in the core of the legend that was explained. I could of though of a million different ways this movie could have been improved. Anyway since I like the first half of this film in the explanation of the evil vs good legend I will give this a 2 1/2 out of 5. It is such a breathless, delirious stew, it’s impossible not to be entertained, provided — this is crucial — you have a sense of humor and love fantasy.
