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I remember (as a wee lad) watching the 90’s version of Kung Fu. Since then my default position is to like films or television shows that in some way involve David Carradine.  This is not to say that I like everything that David Carradine is in, but sometimes his presence alone is enough.  It’s a real shame David Carradine isn’t in more good movies…

It didn’t take me long to realize that Song of the Dragon simply retells one of the tales from Arabian Nights. The young thief posses as a prince in order to gain access to the castle and steal the treasure, to late does he realize that he has fallen for the Princess and is forced to find a way to win her heart.  This time the tale is set in ancient China, I can assume for no other reason than because David Carradine was cast.  It is an odd choice, and one that often clashes with the script itself. 

All of the characters have Chinese sounding names, Ting Ting, Lord Shing, Princess Li Wei, and so on; all of the main characters except the lead—the thief known throughout the land as D.B. “Devil Boy.” They couldn’t have come up with a Chinese name and told us it meant Devil Boy? That would be too easy.  The characters try to play up the fact that D.B. is notorious partially because he is a foreigner, which makes sense until they start to introduce characters who are supposedly Chinese but are portrayed by white actors. 

The dialog doesn’t help matters. Everything is written in Modern English, ruining any chance Son of the Dragon had of captivating me with a sense of mysticism.  I half expected D.B. to bust out with a “Damn son” or “Yippee Ki Aye.” Luckily it never got that bad, but the dialog still kept me out of the story.  I was too busy listening to how they were talking to care about what they were saying.

As I said, I like David Caradine, but I am still confused. Why did they put him in this movie?  He plays Bird, the adopted father of D.B., but Bird’s “Story” feels tacked on to the main story that follows D.B.’s quest for love.  We learn that Bird had a violent past that he has tried to put behind him, and that the second-in-command of the region has something to do with this past. It cumulates in a final showdown between the two that really doesn’t matter, the main story wouldn’t have been effected in the least if the character of Bird had been omitted. 

Son of the Dragon defines low budget, made for TV miniseries.  If you happen to be in dire need of a Chinese martial arts epic, find something else.  If you need a new version of a classic tale of magic and love, find something else.  In short, find something else. 

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