An excellent set up with a completely satisfying if slightly inadeqaute payoff. The post apocalyptic B movie epic Reign of Fire maintains a sense of genuine danger, anguish and dread. Even whilst assuring the audience not to take any of it too seriously, I found myself thinking that it really was the end of everything. That's an achievement for a film with this many logical flaws and laughable ideas. But essentially what's really needed to make a film about doomsday survivors slaying dragons work is decent CGI creatures. The visuals are in fact stunningly eye popping and look like the real deal. There's also some great cinematography and a handful of strong performances not normally found in an action film. Matthew McConaughey in particular is energetic, believeable and engaging as the bizzare and irrational antihero. So much that Christian Bale is almost overlooked. But not quite, his acting and his believeable Scottish accent is a surprise. As is the script which is a lot less cringe-worthy than I was first expecting. But I can't say the same about the odd lack of dragons shown on screen. There's only ever one dragon on screen with the exception of a single long shot with a whole wing of them. As for the expected explosive ending. It's a lot less fiery than it needs to be and therefore gives us a fairly dissapointing finale. Nevertheless you can't really hate the film unless you're totally immune to any form of cinematic charm, or the spectacle of watching great flying beasts breathing fire and destroying massive landscapes. Overall, the film doesn't explore the potential of it's jaw droppingly exciting premise. Still, it really engrossed me, and I enjoyed the experience of watching it.