Dragonheart Vengeance (2020)

Directed by: Ivan Silvestrini | 96 minutes | fantasy | Actors: Joseph Millson, Jack Kane, Arturo Muselli, Carolina Carlsson, Tam Williams, Richard Ashton, Ross O’Hennessy, Fabienne Piollini-Castle, Helena Bonham-Carter, Ioachim Ciobanu, Laur Dragan, Tatiana Gurin, Cameron Jack, James Longshore, Edouard Philipponnat, Diana Vladu

Young farmer Lucas has to watch with sadness how his family is murdered by three cruel looters. His epic quest for revenge brings Lucas into contact with the reckless, free-spirited swordsman Darius and the mysterious ice-breathing and exile dragon Siveth. As the illustrious trio’s mission progresses, secrets are revealed that will shake King Razvan’s empire to its foundations.

‘DragonHeart’, in which the only real 007 Sean Connery for many Bond fans lent his voice to the noble dragon Draco, was quite a nice mix of fantasy and medieval swordsmanship. The film’s message was also sympathetic and hopeful: in the long run, heroism, chivalry and self-sacrifice triumph over tyranny, cruelty, selfishness and greed. However, a series of failed sequels followed. Those prints were especially notable because of mediocre acting and sometimes very lousy computer effects. The expectations for ‘Dragonheart: Vengeance’ were certainly not high.

Still, this new chapter in the dragon saga stands out positively from the previous few films. The CGI dragon Siveth, given the not overly generous budget, still can’t match the scaly fire eaters from productions like ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ or ‘Reign of Fire’, but see nevertheless very acceptable. Moreover, Helena Bonham Carter (she voices Siveth) gives the mythical creature a soul and humorous character. The story is fairly standard, not too deep and exactly what you would expect from a fantasy epic that also competes for the favors of older children (the age group from about twelve years old) and young adult viewers.

What’s nice: ‘Dragonheart: Vengeance’ harks back to an intriguing story element that is largely missing in the other sequels. The dragons in the Dragonheart universe have the ability to split their hearts in half and save a human’s life with half. This makes for interesting moral considerations: who deserves salvation? Do you only look at the goodness of the recipient or also at the importance of his social function or role? The dragons thus become more than flying, fire and ice-breathing creatures: they are also the (unfortunately often misunderstood) conscience of the medieval world portrayed in ‘DragonHeart’ and ‘Dragonheart: Vengeance’.

Is ‘Dragonheart: Vengeance’ an absolute high-flyer within the fantasy genre? Not that. The story, acting and effects rarely rise above average. Still, it is an entertaining film with momentum that maintains a pretty good balance between humor, action and suspense. Not as good as the original that started the franchise, but clearly better than the other films that followed the first Dragonheart epic.