Shadow of the Dragon: A dusty, snake-filled trek

Is it worth your afternoon?

If you like old travelogues where the scenery matters more than the plot, you'll probably get a kick out of this. If you need tight pacing or characters that actually feel like real people, skip it. You will absolutely hate this if you get bored by silent-era pacing or thin scripts.

Shadow of the Dragon is basically a postcard come to life. We jump from Mongolia to Chinese boat towns, and it feels less like a narrative and more like a trip through a dusty photo album. Tom Terriss is doing his best to anchor it, but the film is constantly distracted by the next cool location.

Snake Trouble

The temple scene with the snakes is the highlight, mostly because you can tell everyone on set was genuinely nervous. One snake just sits there looking bored, which honestly made me laugh out loud. It’s a bit of a departure from the grittier stuff like Wolves of the Border, which felt a lot more focused on its own misery.

Bits and Bobs

• The Great Wall looks huge, even in low resolution.
• The boat towns look like they were a nightmare to film in.
• The editing feels like a knife was taken to the middle of several scenes.
• I swear the background actors are just trying not to trip over the camera cables.

It’s not trying to be The Stranglers of Paris, and that’s a good thing. It’s just a weird, disjointed little adventure. It doesn't have the emotional stakes of En lyckoriddare, but it does have plenty of atmosphere. 🐍

Sometimes the movie just stops. It cuts to a shot of a wall or a boat and just stays there. It’s weirdly hypnotic. Maybe they ran out of film? Who knows. I kind of liked it.