Redheaded Jill

I had never seen an advertisement for this movie, or read the novel so I had zero expectations beyond the cover.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

This movie starts out with a medieval feel. Two dragons are fighting and some advisers tell a king that it’s a bad omen. There is a queen who gives off a wicked vibe and a young prince. The king seems kind and just, wanting to save his people from plague and famine.

Next the prince stabs his father, steals his sword and runs away. It is assumed that the king is dead. The boy is caught by a pack of wolves running across a desert and is saved by a wandering wizard. They travel together to a town where the prince saves a girl from slave traders. Eventually he himself is captured by the traders and has to be rescued by his wizard friend. The wizard (Sparrowhawk) takes the prince to his friend’s farm, where they find the girl who was recently rescued.

Sparrowhawk has an old enemy who is trying to take over the land. An androgynous villain named Cobb. Cobb gets a hold of everyone on the farm, trying to lure Sparrowhawk to the castle. He learns the prince’s true name and uses it to take over his mind.

Cobb is trying to open the spirit realm, to abolish the door between life and death. The prince and his girlfriend meet up and reveal their true names, summoning a dragon. (Though I it’s a metaphorical dragon…) I think it’s implied that the prince killed his father because he was being tricked, spelled, haunted? There’s a graphic scene where they cut off Cobbs hand and he ages decades. Cobb morphs into a sludge monster and steals the girl. The girl reveals to be a dragon who cannot die. The entire battle here is life/death, fearing death and how we all succumb to it in the end.

The story leaves off with the prince returning home to take responsibility for killing his dad. It is implied that he’ll return someday. Sparrowhawk and his gf survive and live to fight another day.

This movie is based on a series of books, although I think the author complained that the movie was different from her story. So I’m not sure if that makes the plot better or worse.

The things I like best about this movie…

• Sparrowhawk is like a blend of Gandalf and Aragorn. (It definitely helps that his voice is Timothy Dalton ❤ )
• Knights, wizards, castles, magic, dragons…
• The music is excellent. Very haunting. Gives a High Fantasy Arthurian Legend feel.
• The use of true names in magic.
• Farming. I love everything farm related.
• The animals they ride are like bison horses and llama horses. Very strange but amusing creatures.
• Nobody of importance dies (except the villain, and maybe the king.)

Things I didn’t care for…

• Cobb. Not just because they’re a villain, but because I don’t understand the stylistic choices made.
• The dragon girl’s funny haircut. I get a cartoon is a cartoon, but they give the heroines the worst hair in these movies.
• Surprise! The girl has been a dragon all along. I was hoping they’d befriend dragons or something.

I would give this one 3.5/5 stars. I think I’d enjoy seeing it again, looking for answers that I missed the first time around.

The villain is really creepy by the end, so I’m not sure I’d show this to kids under 12. Overall it was a good movie.