CNN - Connery scores amid medieval messiness

Connery scores amid medieval messiness

May 31, 1996
Web posted at: 8:30 p.m. EDT

From Carol Buckland

(CNN) -- It takes a very special kind of star to steal a movie without ever appearing on screen.

Sean Connery is that kind of star. He's also some kind of actor.

"Dragonheart" is a medieval mishmash that borrows liberally from the Arthurian legends and a bunch of other ancient myths. The lengthy setup involves a tyrannical king who is killed during a peasant uprising. His son, Prince Einon, is gravely wounded during the fight. His mother, Queen Aislinn (Julie Christie), seeks aid from a dragon, who gives Einon half his heart.

All Images Courtesy Universal Pictures

Einon lives, assumes the throne, and turns out to be even rottener than his old man. His former mentor, a knight of the "old code" (truth, justice, etc.) named Bowen, assumes the prince was corrupted by the dragon's heart. He sets off on a crusade to rid the world of the flying, fire-breathing creatures.

The story gets into gear (in a fashion) when Bowen faces off against the world's last remaining dragon -- voice courtesy of Sean Connery, visuals thanks to the wizzes at Industrial Light & Magic. These two natural enemies end up forming an alliance. At first, it's a money-making scam. Then they get sucked into an incipient rebellion against the evil Einon. Eventually Bowen discovers his dragon buddy -- dubbed "Draco" -- is the same dragon who shared his heart with the prince. There's a life-or-death link between the two ...

Connery is great as Draco, spinning some lame lines with remarkable style. The on-screen dragon was designed to reflect some of his facial expressions, which adds to the illusion.

Dennis Quaid is okay as Bowen, although he affects a gruff, artificial-sounding voice that never quite convinces. While Quaid holds his own in most of his scenes with Connery, his command of the screen is iffy in other sections of the film.

David Thewlis ("Naked," the upcoming "Island of Dr. Moreau") sneers his way through the role of the evil Einon. He makes a good bad guy ... but he's so-o-o-o-o-o obvious! He's also very modern in his actions and inflections.

Pete Postlethwaite ("Usual Suspects," "Last of the Mohicans," "In the Name of the Father") turns up as a poetry-spouting monk who seeks to immortalize the story of Draco and Bowen in verse. He's amusing, but wasted. He disappears about three-quarters of the way through the film. One suspects the rest of his performance is somewhere on a cutting room floor.

Wasted, too, is the wonderful Julie Christie. She glows in her brief time on the screen but is given very little to work with. She's also dispatched off camera -- a definite act of cinematic disrespect!

Dina Meyer is athletic but wooden as a rebel girl named Kara who joins forces with Bowen and Draco in an effort to avenge her father's death. She's one of those unfortunate actresses whose hair compels more attention than her performance.

Charles Edward Pogue's screenplay is both cobbled together and overly complicated. The dialogue is inconsistent in tone, shifting from pretentiously epic to anachronistically casual in the same scene. Rob Cohen's direction has similar problems, although his use of special effects is dazzling.

While "Dragonheart" engages on occasion, thanks to Connery, it's not exactly fire-breathing entertainment.

"Dragonheart" is rated PG-13. There's a fair amount of violence, but the gore is less graphic than in a lot of other adventure fantasies. There's an attempted rape involving Einon and Kara; Thewlis' perverse characterization is probably too adult for the younger set. The film's ending is likely to distress dragon-loving little kids.

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Universal Pictures - Dragonheart

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Connery scores amid medieval messiness

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