PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I was 7 years old when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first premiered on Fox. I was a huge fan of the series growing up and Jason David Frank’s Tommy Oliver, the Green/White Ranger was always my favorite. I remember a couple years before Jason David Frank died, Legend of the White Dragon being announced and being really excited about it, as it promised a grittier more adult take on a Power Rangers-esque story.
It’s been 5 years since the film has finished initial filming and the film has finally been released. Was Legend of the White Dragon worth the wait?
Synopsis
Three years after hiding his White Dragon alias, Erik Reed emerges from the shadows to reclaim his stolen identity and clear his name. But as he seeks to reunite with his secret family, a mysterious villain known as Dragon Prime rises with a relentless vendetta to see the White Dragon fall for good.
Legend of the White Dragon was directed by Aaron and Sean Schoenke from a script by Aaron Schoenke and Alex Kellerman from an idea created by Aaron Schoenke and Jason David Frank. The film stars Jason David Frank, Aaron Schoenke, Rachele Brooke Smith, Jason Faunt, Michael Madsen, Andrew Bachelor, David Ramsey, and Mark Dacascos.
Enter The Dragon
Unfortunately, Legend of the White Dragon is a bit of a mixed bag. The costumes for The White Dragon and Dragon Prime are really fucking cool. I love the way they look and the detail that went into them. The action scenes are very well done and a lot of fun to watch, unfortunately, they are few and far between. We really only get a couple big action scenes and a couple minor ones and we only get one action scene, at the very end, with The White Dragon in costume.
I enjoyed a lot of the supporting characters, with Rachele Brooke Smith’s Iris and Jason Faunt’s Connor being the high points for me, though their history with Erik isn’t significantly developed. I thought Aaron Schoenke’s Jai Katua/Dragon Prime made a good villain. He had an understandable motivation for doing what he was doing and I was able to sympathize with him. Less successful is big bad Ashtagor. We are told what his endgame is but we don’t get an explanation for why.
We get a couple big names such as Michael Madsen and Mark Dacascos in small roles. Michael Madsen is extremely underutilized, appearing in only one scene as Erik’s father and not leaving much of an impact. Mark Dacascos appears as a monk named Xang and he gets a couple of my favorite bits in the few scenes he’s in.
One of the worst parts of the movie is The White Dragon himself. There is little bits of lore peppered through the film, but we never get a true feel for what The White Dragon is or how powerful it truly is. We never even get to see him truly in action before he goes into exile. Another big problem is the character of Erik Reed. Despite significant flashbacks, he’s severely underdeveloped and not all that sympathetic. He’s shown to be a not great husband and father before he goes into hiding, and then he disappears without so much as a word for 3 years, so why should we care if he gets back to his family or not?
Jason David Frank does his best, he’s just not given much to work with.
Final Thoughts
I wanted to love Legend of the White Dragon, unfortunately, so much of the film is underdeveloped or lacking. Despite that, there are some fun moments, a few solid action scenes and the joy of seeing Jason David Frank on screen again after his untimely death. If you’re a fan of Power Rangers or Jason David Frank, then I would say it’s worth a watch. If not, there probably isn’t much you’ll appreciate here.
