This is a delightful fantasy adventure film. It has has enough dragons, wizards, villains, magic and mayhem to keep the kids enthralled, but it is all done in such a clever, quirky, tongue-in-cheek way that adults should enjoy it too. True, the special effects are not cutting edge, but they are quite adequate for the purpose and I didn't have a problem. Best of all, this movie boasts a cast of fine British thespians, all of them having a good time and all doing a good job and none of them taking it too seriously. They will bring many a smile to adult faces even as the kids are on the edge of their seats wanting to know what happens. You would be a real curmudgeon not to have a chuckle during this. I really didn't expect to enjoy this movie as much as I did, but I did enjoy it and I think you and your family will too.
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CabbageCustard9 November 2019
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scudder-5865028 May 2018Good 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.
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neil-4761 January 2019We are in rural Wales, in a world which is like th real world in many ways, except that magic exists. Teenage Jennifer finds herself appointed by accident as the official Dragonslayer. There is only one dragon left, and when it is slain then magic will end. This may well suit a supermarket chain.
This famiky film is nicely staged, with good sets, costumes and set dressing. CGI and effects generally show the low buget, but aren't bad. The setting and story are fun, and tge juxtaposition of present day and mediaeval magic adds a pleasingly unusual tone. The cast are mostly OK, with a little bit of overacting here and there.
This is quite a nice way for the family to pass a couple of hours. -
Kirpianuscus9 August 2022I do not know the series. So, I saw it as a nice fantasy about spirit of family, about magic versus pragmatism and nice arrow against consumerism and huge commercial chains.
Sure, it could be better . It deserved be better.
But for few scenes, a fist of humor, some touching moments, the young interpreter of Tiger reminding me Antony Yelchin, it just works. The special effects are far to be so bad and John Bradley gives a charming Gordon - yes, the memories about GOT are not very far by appreciation tottaly subjective -.
So, a brave girl, with a tough mission, lookink her master, rebuilding the fair order. Is it real not enough ? -
Lhexii25 December 2016For a "Big-Budget" TV Movie, The Last Dragonslayer has some interesting ideas but the narrative is vague with very little action. There are some visually stunning scenes but for the majority looks like a set built of Play-Doh. With a little work this could have been the Christmas drama worth watching, but with the hit and miss effects and mixed time periods, this gets a 3 star in my book. The acting is on- point but some of the British humor and bad dialogue through the majority of scenes continues to bring this title to a grinding halt. In conclusion this is a decent film if you have time to waste but not something that is on my watch again list.
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c-kelsall18 April 2020I thought The Last Dragonslayer was surprisingly good, considering the ridiculously mediocre average rating. Okay, it's obviously low budget for an effects film, and doesn't have any A-list actors in it, but it has wit and charm aplenty. I would much rather watch this again than a fairly long list of tediously average fare with much bigger budgets. Maybe I'm prejudiced because I'm British and so is this film (yes, I'm looking at you again, Hollywood), but I'm mightily bored of identikit LA feisty/angsty/hormonal teens dressed up with some special effects to let us all know we're watching a fantasy film, and The Last Dragonslayer at least looks and feels different from that. It feels like an adaptation of a children's book, with its bright colour palate, gentle humour and slightly pantomimish characterisation. The acting isn't outstanding, but it's perfectly acceptable for this type of film, and none of the characters jarred me out of the story. If you don't want to watch a 'family' film, then don't watch this; you're liable to slate it unfairly for not being what you want it to be. If, however, you like family films, I see no reason why you wouldn't like this one. It has a good pace as far as I'm concerned, but if you have the attention span of a goldfish and require something to explode every 5 seconds or so, or endless quick-fire dialogue and slick, snappy rejoiners, then maybe give it a miss. I note one reviewer in particular (not naming any names) who had a braindead list of supposedly unanswered questions pertaining to the plot (which is fairly simple and not entirely unpredictable, but that didn't bother me), all of which were, so far as I could see, answered by the conclusion of the film. Ergo, don't be a massive root vegetable and knock plot holes in a film you can't even be bothered to watch! :-)
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thefolenangel26 December 2016I manage to watch only 1/3 of the whole movie.
In the beginning I was saying to myself, OK I will take the bad acting and CGI, after all the movie is a TV MOVIE.
And the acting was bad, like so bad.... 10% of it was OK, 50 was mediocre, 30% was atrocious, and 10% was... I want to kill myself....
CGI was... cartoon like, no other way of describing it.
----- BUT I WAS SURE I WILL WATCH THE MOVIE!!!
then it came the story. I am an avid Sci-FI lover and dragon dreamer! But this story just didn't' make any sense!
Like a key point of the story was this girl, when she was young a magician and a king fought for who to take her, no one explained why. The magician took her, and taught her magic.
Then enters the dragon arc, I turns out that the dragons are related to magic and if they are all killed magic would die too. But wait... in this world magic is kinda dead, because people use technology?!?
Then the magician disappears and everyone is searching for him. But they don't find him.
Time passes and this girl grows up. Now there is only 1 dragon left and all the magicians in the kingdom get a vision that this Saturday, that dragon is going to get killed by the official dragonslayer.
That dragonslayer turned out to be this girl.
By this point in the movie (42 minute mark) I was like.... "X" button.
Watch this on your own recognizance :) -
SnoopyStyle11 March 2017Magical 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. -
Bestie5639 August 2018Ignore the overly pedantic critics, this is a very easy to enjoy movie. It's not meant to be anything special, just a good old fashioned family fantasy movie. If you go in expecting it to be a blow-you-away Hollywood blockbuster then you just won't enjoy it. It won't win awards for filmmaking but there is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie.
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gugu-troll20 June 2017This movie reminds that feeling of something wonderful is not made of expensive CGI or forced loud epic but of story itself and pure mastery of storyteller. I love everything here - living characters and non-flat humour spiced with bit of absurd, high dynamics and even touching drama. It is kind and not stupid movie, real brilliant among fantasy movies of last years. I strongly recommend it for fans of 10th Kingdom and Terry Pratchett. Also it is reminds me early Harry Potter movies.
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thomasrolfe28 December 2016I 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. -
timmoore-441722 January 2018This 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! :(
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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.
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EvylOverLord30 September 2023I haven't read the books this is based on, as I only even learned it was based on a book after watching it just now. As such, I can't say if it's good based on the book or not. I can only say that I did very much enjoy the movie. And I might try to read the books at some point, as there was definitely more to the story. I will have to see if there are other movies too, but I doubt it.
Anyway, the movie was entertaining, and surprising. The characters were well acted, and the main characters journey interesting and inspiring. I enjoyed the little twists and turns throughout the story. There was a nice balance of plot, humor, suspense, and action. I was engaged in the story, and as I get bored easily; that's actually saying a lot. I tend to be a bit picky too, so a rating of 9 from me is pretty rare.