Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon (2013)

I have enjoyed most if not all of Scott Adkins movies thus far except for this one. Dolph Lundgren is always hit and miss with his movies, more misses IMO. However, Adkins has reinvigorated the "American" martial arts audience and does it with both extreme seriousness and a little added tongue in cheek (something he may have borrowed from his pal and often co-star Jan Claude Van Damme). But in Legendary he seems so out of place, Not to say an actor should be stereotyped but be careful on the roles he chooses. The script was awful. The supposed humor was not funny and felt forced. Even Adkins smiles appeared fake. Lundgren almost looked Oscar worthy next to him, and I nearly choke saying that. The special effects were terrible. Like a cross between a teenager trying out some CGI and a guy throwing on a costume he found in the attic and pieced together. You can skip this one unless you just want to say you watched every Adkins or Lundgren movie. No other reason I can see to sit through it.

I can't get my head around Scott Adkins, he's acted alongside some of the top action men of all time and in some big action flicks, but most of his work is straight to DVD, badly acted, throw away hokum. You only gotta look at his filmography, half of them you probably haven't heard of.I give you exhibit A: this time Adkins hangs up his martial arts skills and tries his hand at the Indiana Jones angle as a cryptozoologist (mythic creatures instead of mythic places and objects). After the failure to capture...errr a very large bear, its off to China to hunt down...errrm a very big lizard...oh OK a dragon then. Its Adkins and his goodie goodie team of kind scientists vs Lundgren and his baddie team of hunters. Yep you've guessed it, Adkins and co wanna find and study, Lundgren and co wanna hunt and kill!So a US accented Adkins leaps about in this really iffy low budget creature feature which doesn't really scare or thrill. Nothing much happens at all accept for the odd obligatory water sequence where faceless people get snatched by the monster. Its all very 'Lake Placid' like but with really bad attempted humour and some atrocious acting all round.The dragon in question isn't really a dragon naturally (shame), they go down the more realistic approach and merely make it an overgrown gecko type lizard...salamanderzilla. So no fantasy element just a stupid looking big lizard that doesn't really look threatening. The finale sequence in the caves really shows the creature in a bad light, hokey ass CGI. The moment Adkins wrestles the beast is fantastically crappy looking, even Harryhausen's dated work looks better.The only thing more hokey than the CGI lizard is the lurching Lundgren and of course this being a flick with the two action men they gotta fight. Amazingly though neither of them gets their shirts off, old fashioned fisticuffs for this one.The entire film is basically trash accept for the finale which is slightly more exciting, as said the lizard looks awful but at least you get plenty of eating action. It feels like a homage to those old Doug McClure fantasy flicks more than anything, then you could easily forgive the schlock on screen, problem is it isn't. Why would the Chinese hire Americans to search their countryside for a man eating amphibian?2.5/10

"Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon" was actually anything but legendary. But I will say that the story did initially have potential, but it wasn't utilized in any way. Especially because there were so many flaws in the movie.First of all, wouldn't someone notice that lizards bigger than cars were roaming the Chinese countryside? Especially because creatures of that size would have to eat a substantial amount of food in order to stay alive, especially when there is more than one of them around.Secondly, why would the Chinese government bring in American researchers, soldiers and freelancers? It just doesn't add up. Especially when one of the groups were running around armed to the teeth.Story-wise, then "Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon" was stale and predictable. It wasn't impressive in any way, and as such, it was a less than mediocre experience.But of course, with a movie like this you pretty much know what you are going to get.I will say the movie was nicely shot, and had some really beautiful scenery to work with. And the lizards themselves, well, they were actually rendered nicely enough.As for the cast of the movie, well, I will just say that you know what you are getting with these people, and they deliver. Just about so, nothing more, nothing less.This movie wasn't particularly memorable, and it didn't stand out in a genre of over-sized creatures. If you enjoy this particular genre of movies, there are far better choices available for your entertainment.

I have to admit this movie did came as a surprised to me. Every time when there's a movie that involves either Scott or Doulph (doesn't matter separately or together) straight away most if not all of us start thinking that this was going to be a straight up action fight kind of movie involving the these two since it felt like it was the only type of genre Scott and Doulph are always involved in. Boy did they prove me wrong in this movieAlthough a B film, this movie is really great. I liked seeing actions actors get involved in something different for a change. It just shows how talented they can be. Scott Adkins really impressed me with his performance. I was really impressed to see him play a genius scientist role for a change compared to his usual tough brute strength character. Doulph Lundgren also played his normal usual style self which fitted really well for his hunting role in this film. The rest of cast did a good job and the plot was very simple and straight forwardThe creature effects as usual were a bit of a let down but what did expect from a low budget film. My final thoughts. If you watch this with an open mind and cast away all the usual expectations, then this is a worth watching B film