Review of The Dragon Pearl (2011) by Richard D — 15 Jul 2016

An admirable attempt to make a Spielberg family film. The story is straightforward and thus predictable but the exploration of a Chinese legend is still interesting enough. Biggest problem are the characters and the acting by the two child leads. They aren't given much to work with and their lack of experience shows. Sam Neil is the only decent actor and he more or less plays the same character from Jurassic Park.

There is a Jackie Chan type character in a supporting role. He's fine, but no Jackie. He's mostly there for comedy and the comedy in this film is all over the place. Would have been better if they plaid it straight.

But the film was bold enough to make fun of the Mummy 3.