Watching Dragon Movies

The only really unusual thing to comment on about life today is that I realized that I've watched three dragon movies this weekend...which is weird, because I'm generally not one to watch dragon movies.  I picture dragon-movie-lovers to be the Dungeons and Dragons players who engage in a little larping on the weekends (live action role-playing.  I know that term from a TV reference, not from personal experience).

Of these three dragon movies, I really enjoyed two of them.  The other I only watched incidentally, because it was on TV and I "watched" it while doing other things, but didn't really watch it.

Here are some thoughts on my excursion into the dragonesque cienema.

Film #1: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader



Although there are not actually any dragons in that trailer, I swear there is a dragon in the movie.  In fact, the whole dragon thing is a major plot point and important means of character development.  This is my absolute favorite of the Narnia books (which I read in their entirety last semester), and therefore my favorite of the Narnia movies...the only one I felt was worth owning, if that tells you how much I love this movie.  I watched it on Saturday, and I feel that I will likely watch it again very soon...it makes me cry every time (I weeped like a baby reading several scenes in the book), and it's an amazing commentary on skeptic's perception of the Christian faith.  That's what's so great about the Narnia series, they're simple stories that carry vast undertones  and thought-provoking messages.  You should read them.  And you should watch this movie.  Preferably in that order.

Film #2: Eragon



This is the movie I only watched because it was on TV and there was nothing else on.  I did see enough to be amused by John Malkovich being cast in a villainous role, since I shall forever associate him with Athos from The Man in the Iron Mask.  There's also something about his voice that makes him even less intimidating...something about the timbre of it, it has a sort of sing-song-y quality that makes it hard for me to take him seriously as a villain.  Regardless, I do remember liking this movie when I saw it in high school...those fantasy movies tend to pull you in, and they're always filled with exciting near-death escapes and what have you.

Film #3: How to Train Your Dragon



We watched this movie for my life group tonight (we're doing this thing for the summer where we watch movies one week and discuss them the next), I actually liked it!  I remember when this movie came out a couple of years ago I thought it looked like a horrible movie, but then everyone who saw it kept saying that it was good, but I still never saw it.  I understand now why they liked it, though...it has all those universal and timeless themes of going beyond appearances and challenging hate and fear as a social norm and working together instead of working against each other and an outcast becoming a hero.  All good things.  And the dragon was all adorable (one of the girls pointed out how it looked like her cat, and it made it all the more adorable because all it's cat-like mannerisms came out).  It was a good little movie, and I enjoyed watching it.

So there you have it.  Three dragon movies that all crossed my path this weekend.  You'd almost think I planned it this way.  But no.  Sometimes, my life just coordinates itself around some bizarre theme.  And this weekend, it seems that the theme was dragons.  Weird.