THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER (2016)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical, sociological*

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, when I sample some streaming movie I've heard nothing about, the best I can hope for is competently executed but unexciting formula-fiction. But THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER, adapted for British TV from a YA fantasy book by Jasper Fforde, is that one happy exception to the rule.

Preteen Jennifer Strange is liberated from an orphanage by a quirky but lovable magician, Zambini (Andrew Buchan) to become his assistant. Through Jennifer's eyes we see the higglety pigglety word of the Jasper Fforde series: a modern-day England in which magic is still practiced even though the people have cars, guns, and television, and people wear a wild melange of modern and medieval attire. Because technology is so much easier, magic users have fallen on hard times, and Zambini himself runs an employment agency that sets up witches and wizards with mundane jobs like rewiring electrical systems.

When Jennifer turns 16 (and begins being played by Ellise Chappell), Zambini mysteriously disappears. Jennifer suspects some magical scheme, but she has no leads, so all she can do is keep running her surrogate father's agency. Various seers begin predicting that the Official Dragonslayer is destined to slay Maltcassion, the last dragon. Ever since a long-ago pact confined all dragons to their own lands, totally separate from human dominions, the dragon-race has been dying out. If Maltcassion dies, all of the dragon-lands will become open for human colonization, which is great news to the realm's grasping king (Matt "THE IT CROWD" Berry) and all of his court-sycophants. The common folk of the town adjoining Maltcassion's realm are no better; one lady hopes to claim free land and put up a parking lot.

Jennifer suspects that if the last dragon dies, the power of magic, which is already behaving erratically for the wizards, will also perish, and she'll never find Zambini. She journeys to the dwelling-place of the Official Dragonslayer, intending to talk him out of killing Maltcassion. Instead, the fellow thrusts the Dragonslayer's sword into Jennifer's hands, tells her she's the destined heir to the office, and perishes. Now everyone, from the dotty king to the howling mobs to annoying TV newscasters, expects the young woman to enter the dragon-lands on the prophesied date and slay Maltcassion, even though the creature has done nothing to break the truce between human and dragon. Jennifer even attempts to communicate with Maltcassion, but the dragon seems to regard their impending battle as set in stone.

I've not read the original novel, but I tend to believe writer Tom Edge (co-scripter of the 2019 biofilm JUDY) must have faithfully adapted the many complicated subplots of the book, particularly one involving how the pact between dragon and human came to be. Edge's script keeps revealing interesting things about the world at a breakneck pace, sort of like BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA with an actual plot. Director Jamie Stone keeps things visually interesting, seeking to compensate for the inexpensive TV-CGI with strong visuals. I knew none of the British actors except Berry, but no one sounds a bad note, and that's partly because the script, unlike so many dull fantasy-films, gives all the actors defining moments. I suppose for some viewers it might be a minus that the telefilm ends with a few unresolved plotlines, which is certainly because the Jasper Fforde book was the first in a series of four novels. I'm sorry the same crew didn't get the chance to adapt the other three parts of the story, but at least the whole story is out there.

Though Jennifer only has two short fights, they're enough to make this a combative film. Still, the emphasis is on comedy: on the attempt of a noble young woman to navigate a society of fools and knaves. The dominant comic mood doesn't prevent some sad moments, but the ending carries a rousing HUNGER GAMES vibe.