I half-surprised myself with this choice. The movie didn't tempt me even when new (and I was more in the target age range), and it's not particularly esteemed or widely discussed. Nevertheless, it won some lesser-known awards, it's had enough of a cult following for multiple sequels, and a late online acquaintance of mine used the dragon's face as an icon. Besides, I felt like watching a dragon.
In an alternate medieval England, an English-speaking dragon with a name unpronounceable to humans (the only voice role I've known for Sean Connery), who later answers to Draco, donates half his heart to save newly crowned young King Einon (David Thewlis) from a lethal wound, on the condition that Einon stick to the old code of honor in contrast to his despotic dad. Alas, all he took to, eheh, heart from mentor Sir Bowen (Dennis Quaid) was sword fighting, so he becomes no kinder a king. Since Bowen hadn't noticed this side of his charge before, he mistakenly assumes that Draco corrupted Einon and swears to kill every dragon he can.
Twelve years later, Bowen finally re-encounters Draco, now the last known dragon, but they don't recognize each other right away. Bowen agrees to a scheme similar to that of Tuco and Blondie in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: simply pretending to slay Draco so he can keep making money. They develop a friendship, which gets strained when they meet Kara (Dina Meyer), who hopes to start a successful uprising against Einon. Bowen would just as soon have Draco eat Kara, but Draco still cares a little about honor (and would find actually eating a human repulsive).
This points to the most distinctive thing about this plot: Unlike in traditional family-friendly high fantasies, the protagonist spends most of the time as an antihero. Heck, the opening scene, in which Bowen spars with Einon, led me to expect that Einon would be the hero and Bowen would die by the climax. Not many stories from the Middle Ages proposed that royal assassination was the one solution to peasant suffering, favored even by the king's mother (Julie Christie). Nor did they have many halfway-good dragons, of course, but that's pretty common nowadays.
Frankly, it's a bit hard to relate to characters herein. I kept thinking I had a handle on them only to be surprised if not confused by a new action. It makes me wonder about the writers' own honor code. Perhaps the most understandable character is Brother Gilbert (Pete Postlethwaite), a scribe and poetaster who follows Bowen around, making him out to be a living legend. Gilbert is mostly comic relief, albeit with a knack for archery.
Having half a dragon heart gives Einon the advantage of rapid healing, probably extending his life expectancy by centuries. The downside is that any injury to him also happens to Draco and vice versa. You can guess what this means for the resolution. Draco, missing his kindred, doesn't have much to live for anyway, so why not die at his first opportunity? Because he fears that his sacrifice for Einon may have cost his place in dragon heaven, and he wants to either make up for that or put off his fate as long as possible. I'd hate to have the kind of faith where results mattered for the soul more than intent. Again, I wonder about the writers.
DH got an Oscar nod for visual effects. I'm afraid the CGI hasn't aged as well as that of the slightly older Jurassic Park, but it is adequate. Draco's pretty expressive, thanks to photos of Connery (before motion capture as we know it), and sometimes amusing. He's just not as daunting as Smaug or as cute or lovable as Toothless.
I won't watch any more of the series, nor do I particularly recommend DH even to dragon fans. But as a way to kill 103 minutes without engaging my brain much, it was OK.
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