Reign of Fire

A team of tunnellers led by Karen Abercromby are working on an extension of the London Underground when they suddenly come across a colossal underground cave. There they awaken an unknown species of dragon that has lain dormant for thousands of years. Karen's 13-year-old son Quinn is the only survivor.

20 years later all life is in danger of being wiped out, after the dragons have multiplied and become the dominant species on Earth. Quinn leads a group holding out in an old fortress. Just when things look blackest, the American dragon hunter Denton van Zan arrives with his men. Unlike Quinn, van Zan is of the opinion that attack is the best form of defence. He therefore wants to go to London to find and kill the original dragon, the only male, in order to wipe out the entire species.

Quinn has to put up with the indignity of van Zan poaching his best men and exposing them to unnecessary danger. And van Zan's mission does indeed go horribly wrong, but in the meantime Quinn has realised that mankind's days on Earth are numbered if they do not get the male.

Reign of Fire is a frightening science-fiction film that entertains handsomely from start to finish. When it comes down to it, though, the film is a B-movie in A-movie packaging. It looks great and is impressive, but the sparse dialogue is heavy-going, and in the end the perpetually panting, cigar-chomping Matthew McConaughey no longer seems tough as van Zan, but rather ridiculous.