DRAGON KINGDOM * USA 2019 Dir: Simon Wells. 86 mins
Do you like LORD OF THE RINGS? Or GAME OF THRONES? What about literally any other fantasy series ever created? If yes, then you’ll recognize a lot of DRAGON KINGDOM.
Princess Elizabeth (Rebecca Dyson-Smith) is on the run. Because she was named heir to the realm by her father, King Xalvador (Mike Mitchell), her jealous brother Favian (Jon-Paul Gates) tries to have her killed by attacking her castle with a dragon and his undead army. She, along with a group of warriors, must find a way through the dangerous Dark Kingdom to warn her father of Favian’s misdeeds.
DRAGON KINGDOM brings nothing new to the fantasy genre whatsoever and a lot of the story feels half cooked, like there’s a bigger world the writers were trying to immerse us in but they didn’t have the time. The movie is definitely camp as hell—it’s got cheesy CGI dragons and over-the-top villains (Favian might as well be twirling a moustache for the entire film he is so ridiculously evil). It’s got monsters with latex masks and poorly made body suits. It’s even got a princess who escapes her home with nothing but a dragon egg (I mean come on) who has the love of a loyal knight named Jorah. Sorry, I mean George (Ben Loyd-Holmes, who also co-wrote).
Although I tried to find word of a sequel there is none, which is odd because it ends with a cliff-hanger after a tediously long fight to the death. But even so, maybe (just maybe) DRAGON KINGDOM is so stupid it almost works—if only because it’s like watching a batshit crazy version of all your favourite fantasy movies.
Review by Julia Lynch