Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon (2013)

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Blistering performances.

I usually like SCIFI movies & I like Dolph Lundgren movies like this & to me even at the end of the movie Dolph Lundgren character Harker was the good guy. Travis kept saying Harker just wanted all the glory but this creature was killing humans & he was hired to kill it to stop it from killing humans. The creature was extremely destructive & was taking human lives so it is obviously life threatening. Travis the idiot who must think humans dying as a result from this creature is worth those human deaths & wants to capture it alive no matter how many people get hurt. To me it's obvious Travis wanted all the glory without a doubt. Travis was the glory hound in this movie & not Dolph Lundgren character.

The primary purpose of any movie should be to entertain. The best way to accomplish that goal is to fulfill what is promised. "Legendary" fails on all counts to deliver a satisfactory viewing experience. The script is infantile, and borders on insulting. For example, instead of ducking into a cave crevice to avoid the rampaging "whatever it is?" the hero finds it necessary to exclaim "let's hide in here". The boating scenes are a complete joke as every time it is necessary to announce "it's at 400 yards, 300 yards, 200 yards, and closing fast". There is no suspense, no sensible science, and a creature that is about as scary as a basket of bunnies. In total, a complete disaster, that fails to deliver on it's promise. To be avoided. - MERK

I can't get my head around Scott Adkins, he's acted alongside some of the top action men of all time and in some big action flicks, but most of his work is straight to DVD, badly acted, throw away hokum. You only gotta look at his filmography, half of them you probably haven't heard of.I give you exhibit A: this time Adkins hangs up his martial arts skills and tries his hand at the Indiana Jones angle as a cryptozoologist (mythic creatures instead of mythic places and objects). After the failure to capture...errr a very large bear, its off to China to hunt down...errrm a very big lizard...oh OK a dragon then. Its Adkins and his goodie goodie team of kind scientists vs Lundgren and his baddie team of hunters. Yep you've guessed it, Adkins and co wanna find and study, Lundgren and co wanna hunt and kill!So a US accented Adkins leaps about in this really iffy low budget creature feature which doesn't really scare or thrill. Nothing much happens at all accept for the odd obligatory water sequence where faceless people get snatched by the monster. Its all very 'Lake Placid' like but with really bad attempted humour and some atrocious acting all round.The dragon in question isn't really a dragon naturally (shame), they go down the more realistic approach and merely make it an overgrown gecko type lizard...salamanderzilla. So no fantasy element just a stupid looking big lizard that doesn't really look threatening. The finale sequence in the caves really shows the creature in a bad light, hokey ass CGI. The moment Adkins wrestles the beast is fantastically crappy looking, even Harryhausen's dated work looks better.The only thing more hokey than the CGI lizard is the lurching Lundgren and of course this being a flick with the two action men they gotta fight. Amazingly though neither of them gets their shirts off, old fashioned fisticuffs for this one.The entire film is basically trash accept for the finale which is slightly more exciting, as said the lizard looks awful but at least you get plenty of eating action. It feels like a homage to those old Doug McClure fantasy flicks more than anything, then you could easily forgive the schlock on screen, problem is it isn't. Why would the Chinese hire Americans to search their countryside for a man eating amphibian?2.5/10

"Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon" was actually anything but legendary. But I will say that the story did initially have potential, but it wasn't utilized in any way. Especially because there were so many flaws in the movie.First of all, wouldn't someone notice that lizards bigger than cars were roaming the Chinese countryside? Especially because creatures of that size would have to eat a substantial amount of food in order to stay alive, especially when there is more than one of them around.Secondly, why would the Chinese government bring in American researchers, soldiers and freelancers? It just doesn't add up. Especially when one of the groups were running around armed to the teeth.Story-wise, then "Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon" was stale and predictable. It wasn't impressive in any way, and as such, it was a less than mediocre experience.But of course, with a movie like this you pretty much know what you are going to get.I will say the movie was nicely shot, and had some really beautiful scenery to work with. And the lizards themselves, well, they were actually rendered nicely enough.As for the cast of the movie, well, I will just say that you know what you are getting with these people, and they deliver. Just about so, nothing more, nothing less.This movie wasn't particularly memorable, and it didn't stand out in a genre of over-sized creatures. If you enjoy this particular genre of movies, there are far better choices available for your entertainment.