Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn takes place in the magical land of Altera. Humans and Elves are at war, and while the two races squabble over territory, the Beasts gather their forces and await the return of the great black dragon. When the Beasts start attacking both human and Elf settlements, the two races for an alliance. They hatch a plan to defeat the black dragon. Lambert (voiced by Charlie Schaffer in the English version), a young human warrior, finds himself in the presence of the greatest adventurers in the land. They journey deep into the heart of Beast territory, hoping to sneak into the dragon's nest.
Dragon Nest is an animated film from China. It seems to take its inspiration from Japanese role playing video games, its cast of characters made up of various classes of adventurers tied together with a plucky, relatively normal hero. It's pretty rough around the edges, the production obviously cutting corners wherever it can. But it mostly has its heart in the right place. In moments, despite the clear flaws, the film actually manages to be kind of affecting.
The film's biggest problem is that the story is actually too big. There are a lot of things going, and not nearly enough time and resources to handle the scale of the story. It has to rush an excess of history and mythology in the opening minutes. It has an unusually large cast, and there isn't much of a chance for these characters to make much of an impression past their distinct visual style. It often feels as though the film is lurching ahead, the characters suddenly revealing big secrets, or gaining abilities that haven't been set up.
But anyone familiar with the tropes of the Japanese RPG will pick up on the story pretty quickly. And when it counts, the film is actually able to build a considerable measure of emotion. It does end up feeling kind of generic, but by sticking to the classical elements of the hero's journey, the film rarely heads down the wrong direction. With its upbeat and positive hero and moments of genuine sweetness, it manages to be winning in spite of some of the weaknesses of the narrative.
At the very least, it's committed to a tone. It keeps things consistent, even when the narrative goes awry. The production is a bit hit or miss. The animation is generally all right, though you can see when it frays around the edges. The movement gets choppy, or the textures get rough, or the image just plain starts getting fuzzy. But it's pretty watchable all in all. There's a strong enough sense of design to keep the visuals interesting.
Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn looks like a bad video game, but it's a mostly decent movie. It doesn't do anything profound, and the production values fall well below what one will get from your average Hollywood animated film. But it's clearly fueled for a love a certain kind of entertainment, and it gains something through that devotion. The filmmakers made do with a fraction of the resources, and the heart of it just somehow shines through. It's not great, but it's all right.
My Rating:
