The Last Dragonslayer

This was available as a stream on a ROKU channel during the holidays. What a great movie and plot! Lots of subtle humor and it was appropriate for all of the ages in our house. I instantly went online to see if it was available to purchase as a dvd for my collection but sadly it was never released for the US, just the UK. Booo! :(

Good old fashioned fun. A pleasant romp that is nothing more than a yarn to be enjoyed. Not the best CGI but hey it's a kids fantasy film and they won't care.

Magical barrier stones protect and define Dragonlands. Dragons are dying out and so is magic. The Great Zambini recruits young orphan Jennifer Strange. He runs the employment agency Kazam that has two full time wizards. With magic fading, modern technology is often used as a replacement. Wizards used to do big magic but they've been reduced to fixing smaller problems like plumbing. One day, Zambini disappears and visions appear showing the last dragon soon to be slayed. Brian Spalding the dragonslayer shows Jennifer the sword which is marked with every dragonslayer's name including her. Brian turns to dust and Jennifer becomes the last dragonslayer. She is taken to King Snodd and pushed to take Sir Grifflon as her assistant. She refuses to kill the last dragon despite the public's demand. Everybody wants the dragon killed and take over Dragonlands. The dragon tells her that she has to fulfill the prophecy or else magic shall destroy her kingdom. Gordon shows up to take the assistant job. There's also somebody trying to shoot her with magical arrows. Stuffco is a supermarket conglomerate sponsoring the dragon slaying.

I don't know anything about the books. The concept of marrying the modern world with the magical medieval dragon world seems intriguing. There is also an attempt at social commentary. It does stray a little too far into camp which is not particularly funny and detracts from anything serious. The CGI is functional considering its TV movie use. The set design looks somewhat cheap. Any attempt at elevating the material is often pulled back. The lead Ellise Chappell looks to be a newcomer but she has good charisma. It may be unfair but any material of this nature is always going to be compared to Harry Potter. The comparison is not favorable. This movie struggles to start this franchise and may work better as a series.

I watched this with my family, aged six to eighty. We all enjoyed it. Rating it for myself I'd probably give it 7 or 8, as it was witty and warm-hearted and silly and great holiday viewing, but not as action-packed as I'd hope (though I imagine it had 1/20th of the budget of a Harry Potter or whatnot).

But its hard to please a whole family and it really felt like this was something we could all enjoy together, which is rare outside of those big Pixar animated movies.

The girl playing Jennifer was really great and the whole thing had a sort of riotous pantomime air that felt very English. I hope they make more.

Very clever, charming, amusing, funny and unique fantasy movie! There are fantastic beasts, wizards, but also technology and capitalism. The probably lower budget than most screened fantasy movies is no problem for creative minds and good taste: even not amazing special effects appear as charming and give the film a vintage spirit. The world created by Jasper Fforde is very interesting and well brought to screen by director Jamie Magnus Stone, writer Tom Edge and crew. Actors also do a good job and make their characters very alive. Art direction and locations are also appropriate for bringind the desired atmosphere. There are many references do Monty Python and Harry Potter, what is also quite funny.