Composer Bob Mithoff's opening theme really bops, and hearing George Buck Flower provide the opening (and any subsequent) narration is an unexpected joy. The fact that James Hong's is one of the first faces we see, three minutes into the runtime, is also softly encouraging, even if we have no expectation otherwise that the movie we're committing to will be any good.
And, well, then 'Dragonfight' starts in earnest. Beautiful landscapes, on the one hand, and on the other hand, additional filming locations to which access was clearly granted on a Saturday with help from a connected friend. Quizzical costume design. Writing that is at once direct, brusque, blunt, unsubtle, inchoate, and meager, providing only the most useless, empty foundation for any scenes of fighting and action. Soft, seemingly inexperienced direction has a deleterious effect on the acting in turn, though the cast do try, and some meet with fair (relative) success. Poor pacing and sequencing even in the fundamental course of events. Camerawork that ranges from surprisingly adept to amateurish; inelegant or overzealous editing at the most inopportune moments. Some of the rest of Mithoff's music is quite alright, and some of it is just bland; most all of it is repetitive.
This picture is weakly written, and weakly made, to the point that sometimes even the apparent movements of characters from A to B, as we see them, are all but senseless. Storytelling is all but right out. The premise is clear: a future in which people are induced to kill each other for the gain of powerful people. With scant exceptions, nearly everything beyond that basic premise - and I do mean, nearly everything - is up in the air, questionable, unclear, ill-conceived, murky, flimsy, vague, meek, and unconvincing. Who are any of these characters in the first place? Save for those first three minutes, which (a) include the opening credits and (b) are up for debate, the most that the feature probably has going for it is a small but hilarious exchange of dialogue a little after the half-hour mark. To the rest I can only say, "what?"
To come across this title in any way, even sights unseen no one could have any illusions about what they're getting into. 'Dragonfight' is low-budget, low-grade slop, and it's incredible that it somehow got made, and that some recognizable folks somehow became involved. I suppose it's possible for someone to genuinely enjoy it, but the whole construction is so desperately thin from top to bottom that I don't know what there is to get from it. I don't know what anyone here thought they were doing, but the end result is just perplexing. Even if you're a huge fan of someone involved, whatever it is you think you're going to get out of this flick, in good conscience I must recommend against it. These are eighty minutes with no meaningful redeeming qualities, and if you accidentally stumble onto it, I suggest you keep looking.
