Well, after many delays for who knows how long, the final film of Jason David Frank, Legend Of The White Dragon, finally saw release this year… and that is probably the best thing I could say about this film. Everything else is another story entirely…
What began as Jason David Frank’s attempt at launching his own superhero character before passing away in 2022 has evolved into what many perceive to be his lasting legacy and a fitting tribute to the man who has entertained generations of fans with his portrayal of (eventual Dr.) Tommy Oliver throughout various seasons of the Power Rangers franchise. Launching a Kickstarter to raise funds and not quite reaching that goal… but they launched a second one that turned out more successful, Legend Of The White Dragon was an effort to deliver a grittier, more mature version of what JDF had been known for portraying in the past, featuring a number of Power Rangers alumni and produced by Bat In The Sun, with whom JDF had something of a working relationship with.
Now those who have frequented this blog and my various channels are probably aware of this, but for newer visitors, I have never been the biggest JDF fan in the world, mostly because of his outlandish online endeavors and his insistence on feuds with other people over trivial things. I have no problem in saying that some of this behavior – whether it was for show or not – made him come across as a bit of a douchebag… and in some instances, I’ve been even harsher. Once news of his passing broke, I eased up on some of that stuff, but I didn’t back away from it either. I could have scrubbed it off, but I didn’t. It’s there in the archives for all to see.
I bring this up because when news initially broke of this White Dragon movie, I considered it something of a vanity project, which is to say another thing to bloat what I had considered to be an overinflated ego and an attempt to further cash in on his one, big success without piggybacking on the franchise that made him famous. They put a clip out to try and sell the movie and it was, to put it bluntly, not very good. It had a bunch of former PR actors in a bit that came across as laughably bad… and also had some faces who dropped out at some point, which is… eh.
Regardless, I did intend on seeing the film sooner or later and despite my initial misgivings towards the film, I did intend on giving it a fair shake because I am ultimately curious on how this would turn out. And I will say this right off the bat (in the sun): if you are a devoted or hardcore JDF fan, chances are you already saw this movie and nothing I say or do will change your mind on how you perceive this film. If you enjoyed it, great. If you thought it a fitting tribute to the man’s life, then hopefully, it’s lived up to whatever expectations you had for such a tribute. I’m not here to tell you what you should think. I’m here to tell you what I think of this film. And nothing I say should spoil your enjoyment of this film and if it does, that’s on you.
With that having been said, Legend Of The White Dragon is not a particularly good movie. I wouldn’t call it one of the worst things I’ve ever seen because it clearly isn’t, but it’s still pretty bad.
The biggest issue that I have with this film – and I might as well get it out of the way because it’s probably the main issue I have with Legend Of The White Dragon – is that it is boring. Yes, there is some semblance of a plot involving a hero on the run, trying to clear his name and reunite with his family, and a villain driven by vengeance to scrub the man he believes is responsible for the death of his wife and unborn child. There are some fight sequences that aren’t too shabby, but there are also action bits that are sabotaged by the low-budget tech. But at no point during the 97 minute runtime was I excited, enthralled, angered, or even feeling vibes at any of the dramatic moments. I was mostly laying on my small resting bed bouncing my attention between watching what’s on screen and staring at my pup who was largely asleep until she heard some knocking from outside.
There is a core emotional story that the movie is trying to tell, but it’s undone by the largely pedestrian performances on display. These are folks doing their jobs, acting out their roles, doing what could be charitably described as the bare minimum. There is a considerable focus placed on the film’s villain, played by director and Bat In The Sun head Aaron Schoenke, who is not entirely convincing as a vengeful person. He tries too hard, but is unable to sell me on the goods. Jason Faunt and Rachelle Brook Smith are passable, David Ramsey (with an “e”) is just okay until REDACTED, and everyone else is just kinda, sorta there.
Which leaves us with the main star himself for whom this entire film was built around. And for whatever it’s worth, the best thing I could say is that JDF tried his damnedest to give this movie his best showing. I can criticize his recent Power Rangers spots as being half-assed and just playing himself, but here, Jason actually makes an effort in presenting Erik Reed (the titular White Dragon) a man struggling with so much baggage between his troubled family life and the big incident that has been the driving force behind this plot. It doesn’t always come through and that’s not entirely on JDF alone because he’s not quite featured as often as one would like – likely due to his passing preventing further reshoots – but if you want to make case for this being his best showing as an actor, I wouldn’t entirely disagree. A pity that he isn’t featured enough in it.
The film also suffers from a bit of an identity crisis. It’s no secret that JDF and Aaron Schoenke wanted to do a Green Ranger solo movie and that fell through. So they made a movie that is somewhat stealthily pushed as a more grown-up PR film, but not related to PR. You have a number of Power Rangers alumni featured here, from former Rangers Jason Faunt and Cerina Vincent to even Ron Rogge of Lightspeed Rescue fame. For a deeper cut, the movie also features Mark Dascascos, who was part of the original Bioman pitch from Saban. That said, don’t expect a Power Rangers-esque production or bootleg feature because that’s not what this is.
There are some nods and winks to JDF’s former glory years, but Erik Reed is no Tommy Oliver; the White Dragon is no Sixth of a larger team. There are no giant robots or spandex costumes other than the Dragons featured; Erik and friends were treasure hunters by trade. There is no tongue-in-cheek humor; there’s an attempt at a more serious tone and yet there’s also a couple moments brought about by a certain character of a holographic nature that tries to bring in that Marvel-esque comedy that simply doesn’t work. Flashbacks are used to give our two main characters (Erik and Jai) some development and motivation, but none of these worked in making me care about these characters.
As for the fight scenes? They’re fine, with some top-notch stunt work in places, but none of it feels particularly important or vital. The final battle between the White Dragon and Dragon Prime – the big climax of the film – feels like another generic battle in a series of them with no real heft or stakes. Even within a low-budget mindset, you want your big final fight to feel like the big deal that the whole movie was building towards and the only thought that came to mind is two friends playfighting with each other. Not exactly the kind of feeling you want to evoke.
But the other thing that got to me was the overall cheapness of the film. Now granted, this is a low-budget endeavor and expectations aren’t high… but with a movie, you would expect something that is slightly above the usual fare that you’re putting out on your YouTube channel and Legend Of The White Dragon’s overall video production looks no better than what would be featured on a typical edition of the Super Hero Beatdown thing that Bat In The Sun would put out for free. This is just an extended version of that behind a paywall and without your favorite characters crossing over in copyright infringing endeavors.
In a strange way, Legend Of The White Dragon gave me new appreciation for the Angry Video Game Nerd movie that came out in 2014 – a small, independent feature film starring James Rolfe as his Angry Video Game Nerd character from the popular online series of the same name – one that was also crowdfunded and garnered a bit of buzz among fans. And while I wouldn’t call that film anywhere within the realm of good – in fact, I’ll go so far to say that it’s pretty fucking awful – at the very least, I can call that a movie. It may not be a good movie, but I can look at that film and I can say that it doesn’t look like an extended version of a typical AVGN video from 2012-2014. It is much more higher end quality than what you would get on Youtube.
I cannot say the same about Legend Of The White Dragon, which comes across as a slightly longer Super Hero Beatdown thing. It has more in common with those old Channel Awesome movies in that it’s got a bunch of familiar faces doing a thing together, but it’s not as good as their individual outings in smaller bursts. Even then, I don’t think higher production values would have fixed the film’s biggest sin in that it is simply a dull, lifeless, and unexciting movie that does its main attraction a huge disservice. Again, there’s something there that wants to evoke some emotion out of the viewer, but for ninety-seven minutes, I was largely unmoved and uninterested.
Ironically, the best part about this feature comes after the credits, which is a behind the scenes highlight reel showcasing the cast and crew clearing enjoying themselves and wanting to put out the best possible movie. If only some of that passion had come through in the final product.
Ultimately, the best thing I can say about the Legend Of The White Dragon is that it actually got released… probably not in the most timely manner, but it’s available for viewing. The same cannot be said for the MMPR Fan Film that was crowdfunded and went nowhere, nor the Karan Ashley-led project of PR alumns called The Order (unrelated to that other The Order movie that actually saw release), nor did the Michael Copon attempt at a Time Force fan film that few people know about and thus barely gets mentioned. At the very least, it’s nowhere near as bad as that Last Ranger “parody” film I’ve sampled a couple months back or as egregiously horrid as the Skankar parody film that I had dubbed Power Rangers For R_t__ds.
One would have wondered how far this White Dragon thing would have gone had JDF not killed himself. It was clear from the ending that they wanted to turn this into a franchise that they could market and develop sequels. Who knows what happens now that he’s gone? Some have suggested they give the role to Jason’s daughter, Jenna, who does appear in this a couple times and… well, I hope she got paid is all I will say.
Like I said, JDF fans have already seen this movie and declared the greatest tribute to their fallen hero and woe to those who dare criticize this film. I can understand the sentiment; this is JDF’s last film and you’d naturally want to protect it from scorn since it can be seen as his epitaph of sorts. To say that you can enjoy something despite its many flaws is one thing, but please don’t try to use a man’s death in shielding this thing from criticism. People can like this film and people can think it sucks. Just because it’s someone’s last film doesn’t mean it’s immune from criticism. That’s more demeaning than any action you’d accuse the so-called haters of.
I like to think that I’ve been fair in my assessment of this film and that they would have been the same whether JDF was alive or not. Certainly had he stuck around, it’d be interesting to see where they’d go from here, but without the main star of this franchise, what would be the point? You may as well go in a different direction altogether. Either way, I didn’t think it was a good movie, but I can at least applaud it for seeing release after many delays. That is its best accomplishment.
That, and the end credits.
That alone serves as a better tribute to the legacy of JDF than the ninety or so minutes that preceded it.
