I am dragon
Language : Russian
Year of release : 2015
Run time : 1h47m
Genre : Fantasy / Romance
The movie known as “He is dragon” , “He’s a dragon” or “Dragon : Love is a scary tale”, is produced by Timur Bekmambetov through his production company, Bazelevs, and was released in 3D.
The movie was written and directed by Indar Dzhendubaev, and is based on the 1996 book “The ritual” by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko.
The movie opens with the dragon telling the tale of people performing a ritual in which they gave their daughters to the dragon, so he would let them live in peace. The last time, a knight didn’t let his beloved one be taken by the dragon, and went after her. Unfortunately, his beloved one was dead, but he found the dragon, and k1lled it, becoming known as the dragon slayer.
Years later, the grandson of the dragon’s slayer, Igor, was to marry princess Miroslava. He has the amazing idea of asking the people to sing the summoning song on their wedding day, as the ritual was turned into a wedding script.
Princess Miroslava wakes up in the dragon’s layer, alone. A man tells her about the dragon. Mira thinks the man was imprisoned by the dragon, especially since he tells her there’s no escaping the dragon. Asking her why did her people sing the summoning song, he tells her they summoned the dragon. He gives her something to heal her wounds through a crack in the cave wall, and she is surprised he doesn’t look dirty.
Mira names the man Arman, since he tells her he doesn’t remember his name, being there, alone, for so long. She asks him to help her escape, but he tells her there’s no escaping the dragon, so she cuts her long hair, trying to escape.
When touching Arman, the dragon awakes, and she thinks it k1lled him.
Trying to get out, and hitting the cave wall, it collapses, and she gets out of the cave pit.
Arman comes after her, after the dragon tried to catch her, and falling off the cliff, Arman turns into a dragon, to rescue her.
Finding Arman unconscious on the shore, and about to drown, she wants to k1ll him, but decides to rescue him because he rescued her.
She tends to his wounds, and looking through the wreckages by the shores, she starts turning the cave into a home, with fabrics and items found from the shipwrecks (amazing, in perfect condition!).
Arman tells her if she loves Igor, he will find her because love guides the men through the fog protecting the island. But she doesn’t love him.
Spending time with Arman, she starts to like him, especially since he opens up to her ,and tells her about his father, and how he was trying to make him turn into a dragon, as they have to turn willingly. He refused until the dragon slayer k1lled him, and he turned, centuries of dragon memories flooding him, knowing what his ancestors did to the maidens they kidnapped, and what the babies did to their mothers when born. He promised himself he’d never turn into a dragon again, and he almost succeeded in keeping it at bay until they sang the song which summoned him.
Arman shows her how the wind “looks”, and the fireworks he has, Mira asking him if anyone can see or find the island.
Realizing that all this time she was trying to get clues on how to leave, Arman gets angry.
Although the movie started well, and had a good premise, it somehow bored me. It felt it didn’t actually go anywhere, and nothing was actually happening. The two spend time together, but I don’t see their romance blossoming.
I liked the world created, the set design, it was all very beautiful.I liked the clothes, but, where did the lead have so many dresses, considering the last woman there was there 20 years prior, and she probably only had the clothes on her, and they are burnt by the baby when it’s being born! Speaking of the clothes on her, she was dressed for a wedding when she was taken, with a lot on her head and on her, like a winter coat, but when she woke up she was in a sort of nightgown.
I suppose the acting was good, because I watched a dubbed version, and the voice actors weren’t that amazing. The leading actor had a beautiful body. The leading actress looks like actress / singer Natalia Oreiro.
The soundtrack was good.
The visual effects were great.
Although the movie flopped in Russia, it was a box office success in China, being the highest grossing Russian movie in China, and the highest grossing Russian movie at the international box office in 2016.
Viewer discretion is advised, as the movie contains nudity from the leading male in the scene in which he’s unconscious on the shore. It’s not much, but still.
You can watch the full movie for free, on YouTube, in Russian, or dubbed in English.
Rating : Could have been a contender !