Dragon Pearl

Indiana Junior and the Temple of the Pearl!
I didn't exactly grow up in the 1980's (truth is I'm a bit older than that), but I really discovered my fascination with the movie-houses during that era. The twin geniuses of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were really at the height of their powers, producing the final two STAR WARS films of the original trilogy, the INDIANA JONES films, E.T., and the like. Of course, once they got going, other filmmakers jumped aboard that `family friendly' train, and so many other outstanding feature films were produced in that same vein of entertainment. Sadly, flicks of that variety are in pretty short supply these days, and who wouldn't embrace a welcome throwback to a time when pictures were more about bringing folks together than they were tearing them apart?

Fortunately, THE DRAGON PEARL revisits most of the sentiments of those features, and I have to guess that's by design. It feels like a direct copy of so many scripts from that bygone era - not in a crash, quick, or cheap...

Kid Friendly Dragon Tale
This Australian-Chinese collaboration offers kids the chance to be the heroes in a mystical land.

An Austalian boy comes to stay with his archaelogical father(Sam Neill) in China, while equally, a Chinese girl visits her mother at the dig site. At first the kids are put off by each other but soon join forces at the discovery that the girl has a ancient calling with an emperor and a dragon.

They follow an odd man(Jordan Chan) with a flute that only the girl can hear and unearth the lair of a dragon, much to the disbelief of their respective parents and cross paths with some bad guys set on obtaining the powerful pearl of the title.

It's a bit slow in parts. Humor provided by famous Chinese actor/dancer, Chan, not Jackie, made our kids giggle; the dragon is a Chinese dragon, no wings, more noble and elegant looking than our western versions; the stunts and special effects are ok. I liked the scenery, the story was putting me out, but the kids(6 & 9)...

NOT CHINESE DRAGON
Josh (Louis Corbett) visits his archeologist father (Sam Neill) in China. He plays the victim of his parents divorce for some reason that was never developed. Here he meets Ling (Li Lin Jin) and if you read the title you know there is a dragon and a pearl they are tasked with reuniting.

I imagine the idea was to combine the beauty and artistry of the Chinese cinema and give it a plot that won't confuse westerners who don't understand the real complexity of good and evil. The film did not do as well of a job as I had hoped. The artistry was only in a few scenes and the plot was western formulaic. The on screen chemistry never happened. It was forced. Wu Dong (Jordan Chan) the temple keeper was the only one with on screen personality.

I can't imagine a lot of kids wanting to see this more than once. I did like the drumming at the end during the credit roll. Might make for a rental on family night.

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