I think I prefer the Japanese title of this movie: Salamander. Reign of Fire (2002) takes place in the near future (2020), after dragons re-emerge from hiding and destroy the world. (Oops, am I spoiling this for you?) You gotta wonder about the evolution of mammoth fire-breathing dragons, how they stayed dormant for centuries, how they had a population boom, then fall off in 20 years. And, I’m not even spoiling the most preposterous aspect of dragon reproduction. Evolution may make mistakes like this, but they don’t dominate the planet (unless you’re thinking of humans).

I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing Christian Bale and Gerard Butler together, and they were quite enjoyable as buddies. I figured I’d turn the movie off when Matthew McConaughey showed up, but he didn’t look or sound anything like MM, so, I stuck with it. Not that I’m recommending that to anyone else.