The Legend of the White Dragon

For a generation of fans, martial arts were always cooler with helmets and jump suits. They were raised on the Power Rangers, so it makes sense that one of the most popular Rangers would pursue a more mature Rangers-like project for more grown-up fans. Tragically, Jason David Frank (a.k.a. Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger) died prematurely, under heartbreaking circumstances, during filming of his passion project. Four years later, a sort of coherent film has been assembled. The final results definitely reflect some of the Power Rangers’ aesthetics, but the weird vibe will probably throw much of the target audience when Aaron & Sean Schoenke’s The Legend of the White Dragon, which releases today on VOD.

Everyone thought Erik Reed, not so secretly known to be the White Dragon, was a good guy until what became known as the “Dark Day.” First, his nemesis, Ashtagor, kicked his butt. Then he somehow convinced the media all the carnage and destruction were Reed’s fault, including the 1,263 lives lost. Honestly, that never makes much sense, since survivors presumably witnessed the two-sided battle. Whatever, asking such questions regarding this film is a fool’s errand. Regardless, Reed subsequently went into hiding to protect his family.

Unfortunately, too many people want payback from Reed, including Virtuo City Mayor Trevon Sterns and tech billionaire Jai Katua. They will find him eventually, so his old comrades, Iris Maine and Conor Frost, want to reach him first. However, Katua will sacrifice his body to extract his revenge. While Reed’s power derives from a crystal, Katua’s come from his mad scientist super-soldier experiments. They transform him into Dragon Prime, but at great personal risk.

It is hard to describe the strangeness of the film’s tone and mysticism. Perhaps some of that is a function of the sudden emergency re-writes, but a lot of the New Age mumbo jumbo feels baked in from the start. Regardless, it should be noted the budget reaped a lot of Kickstarter money from everyday fans, so the Schoenkes (son and father) probably felt duty-bound to complete the film as best they could.

In fact, viewers can see flashes of electric screen charisma from Frank, even though his performance as a whole is somewhat uneven, because it is literally, sadly, unfinished. Of course, it is jolly fun to watch Mark Dacascos in his significant yet too brief portrayal of Xang, the monk guarding the last surviving recharging well for Dragon crystals. David Ramsey (formerly John Diggle in Arrow) nicely plays against his Arrowverse-type as the scummy Mayor.

Plus, Power Ranger fans will enjoy seeing Frank’s fellow Rangers, Jason Faunt, Ciara Hanna, and Cerina Vincent, co-starring, as Frost, Katua’s late flashback wife Vanessa, and Reed’s wife, Rebecca. Faunt probably fares the best, because he gets most of the jokes and his fair share of the fight scenes. However, the late Michael Madsen’s appearance as Reed’s flashback jailbird father simply makes no sense whatsoever.

There are a number of strong martial arts sequences, which were surely the whole point of the film in the first place. For Power Rangers fans, it is probably gratifying to see Frank and Faunt, back in action, in a bittersweet kind of way. The film is definitely somewhat jagged around the edges, but we would all surely jump at the chance to see a comparable reconstruction of London After Midnight. Recommended for fans who can forgive its roughness, The Legend of the White Dragon releases today (9/22) on VOD.