It's Moby Dick, with dragons instead of whales, and a love story thrown
in for good measure. I've seen many renditions of Moby Dick before,
from an abridged Reader's Digest version to an illustrated children's
book. From The Simpsons to a one man play at The Royal George Theatre
in Niagara on the Lake. I haven't liked them all, and I certainly can't
say I've enjoyed them all, but I can say that this is a bold new take on
this classic whaling tale. They've kept the character's names the same,
only changing Moby Dick's moniker "The Great White Whale" to "The Great
White Dragon", since now all whales are dragons. And Ahab's daughter as
a first mate is something I just don't remember in the old story.
The ship is a great lumbering beast of an armoured waggon, that runs on
the "vitriol" (am I spelling this right?) or flame juice that the
dragons use to spit fire. In it's purest form it explodes with contact
to air. It's a fine replacement for whale oil in the plot line. But
the addition (so I think) of Ahab's daughter just didn't do anything at
all for me. It seems the only reason they stuck her in there was so we
could have a teary moment near the end of the film. I do however like
how closely Ahab's plot line carries through, and I especially like the
job Danny Glover did playing him.
I think that even through all the flaws, the portrayal of the Moby Dick
story is strong enough to warrant this film to pass mustard!
No comments:
Post a Comment