Dragonheart Reviews

An engaging combination of light-hearted fantasy and magical drama, DRAGONHEART benefits from solid talent on both sides of the camera. In the Dark Ages, seasoned knight Bowen (Dennis Quaid) trains the king's son, Einon (Lee Oakes), in the ways of the old code of King Arthur. During a peasant revolt, the king is killed and Einon gravely wounded, and the latter can only be saved with the help of a nearby dragon (voice of Sean Connery), who donates part of his heart to restore the young man. Twelve years later, Einon (now played by David Thewlis) has become an arrogant, vicious ruler, and Bowen, believing the dragon's blood to be responsible for the boy's cruel demeanor, has devoted his life to slaying the magical beasts. He encounters the dragon who saved Einon — the last of his species — and they fight to a standoff. The two end up making a deal: Draco (as Bowen names him, after the constellation) terrorizes local villages, and Bowen pretends to slay him for a price. Their scheme is soon revealed by Kara (Dina Meyer), the peasant girl who originally wounded Einon and who is now mounting another revolt against the king. She convinces Bowen to join the cause, although Draco reveals that the sharing of his heart with Einon links them; if Einon should die, so will Draco. Breezier in tone than the gloomier and more visceral medieval adventures of the 1980s and 90s, DRAGONHEART is a film of many pleasures. Chief among them is Draco the dragon himself, who represents yet another striking advance in computer effects work. Not only is he completely convincing as a physical being, he has been given a completely convincing personality, too, as if someone taught one of the JURASSIC PARK dinosaurs how to act. It doesn't hurt that said personality is that of Connery, who does a wonderful job voicing the beast, and whose mannerisms have been skillfully transposed onto his fire-breathing on-screen alter ego. Overall, this is an entertaining and occasionally quite funny and dazzling fantasy. (Violence, adult situations.)