Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer Blu-ray Movie Review

Or: Caroline in the City, The Reunion Episode.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 24, 2011

The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy is alive and living and has cloned himself. He is fully on display every Sunday in Portland at a local game store emporium where they hold weekly Magic tournaments. For those of you without kids, or at least kids who are addicted to this latest in a long line of games whose sole purpose seems to be to divorce parents from their hard earned cash, Magic is a card game, not the mere practice of prestidigitation. When I drop my 12 twelve year old son off at these weekly get-togethers, I am struck by a number of things. First of all, the sheer number of people who show up is quite striking. Also, the fact that my 12 year old son is one of the youngest players there—the bulk of the group is semi-rotund twenty- and, dare I say, even thirty-something men, most of whom don’t exactly seem to have wives, girlfriends or children of their own. What this bodes for my own youngest son is beyond my ken, and I have wisely shut it out of my mind. But having weathered Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh with my older boy and now Magic with my younger one, I can personally attest to the seemingly inexorable pull of these semi-interactive card-related games on kids of all ages. Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer plays on the sensibility rather well with a slyly satirical look at a game called Elixir Quest, which seems to combine elements of Magic with an online game called Adventure Quest that both my sons have had an on-again, off-again infatuation with. In the world of Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer, it turns out that the supposedly mythical world encased in the universe of cards (and expansion decks, of course) of the game are actually based on a semi-forgotten reality, a reality which is now impinging on the otherwise relatively quiet suburb where 12 year old Arthur (Hunter Allan) finds himself more likely to encounter the horrors of neighborhood bullies and a despotic school Vice Principal (Wendie Malick) than he is to come in contact with magical trolls and evil dragons. At least for a little while, that is.

The Knights of the Square Table.

Do you remember when Thursday nights were NBC’s semi-iconic “must see TV”? Tucked into the lineup of hits which included fare like Seinfeld, Friends and ER were frankly second-string series which nonetheless managed to become significant hits in their own right, if for no other reason than that they were sandwiched between shows which were in fact “must see.” One of these shows was Caroline in the City, a slight but enjoyable sitcom based around the exploits of a female cartoonist (think Cathy Guisewhite of Cathy fame) and her wacky adventures with a coterie of friends and lovers. Lea Thompson played Caroline, and among the many people who traipsed in and out of Caroline’s apartment over the several seasons the show ran were actors like Eric Lutes, Amy Pietz, and Andy Lauer, all of whom show up in Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer. In fact Lauer is the director of the film, and it’s not hard to imagine that he cashed in some favors to bring in actors of at least television fame (and in Thompson’s case, more than that) to a relatively miniscule-budgeted feature that evidently was shot in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Thompson here portrays harried single mother Laura, Arthur’s mom, who is struggling to keep house and home together against the comically inept incursions of her ex-husband and his bizarre soon to be new wife (Pietz). Adding to her troubles is the fact that Arthur is the victim of the Vice Principal’s bully son, and of course the Vice Principal is convinced it’s Arthur, not her progeny, that is the problem. Arthur escapes into the fantasy world of Elixir Quest with his two best friends, Tim (Ryan Bradley Norris) and Natalie (Abigail Victor). Elixir Quest sends its players into dark and dank environments, incuding the city’s sewer system, which is one reason Laura wants Arthur to stop playing the darn thing. But of course Arthur won’t listen, and in one of his Elixir Quest missions, when he’s best upon by the crowd of bullies, he finds himself rescued by a strange blue creature named Bart (Richard Sellers), who turns out to be a real life character from the world of the game Arthur’s been playing.

Arthur and his pals are soon engaged in a sort of E.T.-esque caper to keep Bart hidden from parental units (and the prying and suspicious eyes of the Vice Principal), while also trying to figure out what the contraption that Bart is constructing is for. They learn that Bart was once held prisoner by the evil bad guy at the head of the pack in the Elixir Quest deck, Darksmoke, and the big baddie, who can evidently take any form, has designs on Arthur’s world. (How could it be otherwise?) That sets Arthur and his friends, who dub themselves Knights of the Square Table, off to find Elixir Quest’s creator, Shane (Eric Lutes), who has half-buried memories of Bart and an evil laboratory. Initially under the spell of a love potion that Tim inadvertently gives Shane, Shane falls for Laura, but soon a real romance develops. (How could it be otherwise?). Soon Shane, Laura and the kids are all ensconced in a funny-scary battle with a dragon and various minions who turn out to be people they already know and despise. (How could it be otherwise?).

Yes, parts of Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer are undeniably corny and cliché-ridden, and even within the confines of its own insular world, several plot points simply make no sense. And there’s also no denying that the CGI in this film is barely entry-level competent. Some would also add that the kid actors aren’t exactly ready for prime time either. And yet the film manages to rise above these faults with a surprisingly spry and sly sense of humor that spills out in some deliciously over the top performances (especially by Malick and Pietz, who are hilarious both separately and together) and some nice, natural work from Thompson as the put upon mother who isn’t exactly sure whether or not her kid is crazy. There’s some very smart wordplay throughout Jamie Nash’s screenplay which helps elevate the film above its very lo-fi, almost made-for-TV ethos.

This is a film which no doubt could have benefited from a much larger budget and, perhaps, a more seasoned director. While Lauer seems to have a firm hand on the tone of the piece, from a technical standpoint there’s a bit to be desired in the final product. Setups and framings are not always well handled, and, as mentioned, the CGI is woefully inadequate. If you’re willing to look past these problems, however, there’s a great deal of charm and some laugh out loud moments in Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer. Plus it’s that long sought after chance you Caroline in the City fans (and you know who you are) have been waiting for to see the show’s stars reunited.

Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer's arrival on Blu-ray can only do so much with its low budget source elements, so don't expect—ahem—magic from its AVC encoded 1080p transfer (in 1.78:1). This film bears a very obvious lo-fi look that makes it the equivalent of a quickie made for television movie, at least in terms of image quality. Things are decently sharp most of the time, but never really pop the way they do in better hi-def offerings. Colors are also muted, even in the bright blues of Bart's face and body. The CGI, aside from being fairly basic looking, also suffers from softness, and some of the post-production effects aren't sparklingly clear, either. A lot of the film is set in the sewers and other dark environments, and unfortunately blacks crush here quite a bit of the time, and contrast is often underdeveloped, robbing the image of fine detail.

Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Luckily the film's lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is quite winning, especially from the very creative use of poppy underscore tunes, some evidently courtesy of bands the music coordinator for the film manages. There is also good, if inconsistent, use of the surrounds, including the many sewer sequences, which feature a lot of discrete channelization and good echo effects. The best overall sound effect is toward the end of the film when Darksmoke and Arthur have their final showdown. That sequence bristles with awesome LFE and the sound design is very effective. Overall, dialogue sounds great here, and the music is especially well done throughout.

Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Commentary. Though the disc menu states the commentary is with director Lauer, it turns out its actually with Co-Producers Ryil Adamson and Gavin Gillette. It's a fairly chatty, passingly interesting commentary that perhaps spends too much time telling us whether things were shot on-set or on-location, and not delving enough into some of the backstory of how the film got financed and greenlit.
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (SD; 7:48) has some more Elixir Quest role playing segments, though all of these sequences suffer from poor audio quality.

Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This film could have been a blockbuster with a higher budget and a more experienced director. As it stands, it's hobbled by some production design deficiencies, notably lackluster CGI, and some directorial missteps. Balancing those shortcomings is an often very funny screenplay, full of winking insider jokes to those acquainted with the often bizarre world of role playing and card-infused games. The adult cast is unformly great, if often cartoonish to the point of self-parody. I was able to overlook the faults of Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer and enjoy it for its admittedly small scale charms, and so this Blu-ray comes Recommended.