“Legend of the White Dragon” owes so much of its storytelling to its cast’s previous work. The movie borrows (if not flat-out steals) its look from the CW’s Arrowverse, and the writing is on par with an episode of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” with the production value of a Bat in the Sun Productions YouTube video. All that to say, the movie is never as good as the franchises it homages.

The movie opens via narration telling the audience the mysterious Ashtagor has destroyed all but one of the White Dragon’s recharging pits. Ashtagor lays waste to Virtuo City to ascertain the location of the final recharging pit in a battle with Erik Reed AKA the White Dragon. Erik is blamed for the carnage and destruction of what is referred to as Dark Day and finds himself on the run. He now must embark on a quest to clear his name, restore his powers as the White Dragon, and reunite with his family.

This movie’s premise is straightforward, but the movie wants to infer a lot of what’s happened without setting up the context. Why do the people of Virtuo City only blame the White Dragon? Ashtagor is hellbent on destroying the recharging pits, yet the movie never addresses the White Dragon’s need to recharge. If Erik’s identity has been revealed to the public and they blame him for the deaths of 1,263 people, shouldn’t his family be hiding? These are simple questions that help create and sell the obstacles for our character(s) to overcome, but the movie can’t be bothered to handle them.

What’s frustrating is White Dragon has a decent foundation to tell its story, but it prioritizes style over substance. Characters lack personalities, chemistry, and proper motivation. Aaron Schoenke wears many hats on this production, including co-starring as pharmaceutical mogul Jai Katua. The character is as flat as the Schonke’s acting style. He just never seems comfortable in front of the camera.

Jai is motivated by revenge for the death of his wife Vanessa Katua and unborn baby Lily. A fact the character must declare in literally every scene he’s in. The character’s construction seems to be rooted in a sense of arrested development. His lair/lab mirrors Batman’s “Dark Knight” industrial Batcave, he dresses like John Wick and is usually seen making out or having sex with his wife in flashbacks. Despite recounting the death of his wife and unborn child for the audience, we never have a tender moment between the two discussing names of their unborn child or dreams of the future. We only know Lily’s name because of a shot of the memorial wall built to remember the victims of Dark Day.

At some point during Erik’s three years in exile, his former associates Conner (Jason Faunt) and Iris (Rachele Brooke Smith) formed a vigilante group known as the Accepted Saviors. I’m not quite sure what their purpose is but they have an underground facility that looks like a lower budget version of The CW Flash’s Star Labs. They have an AI assistant name Utility Reconnaissance Intelligence or U.R.I (Andrew Bachelor) as well as two scientists April (Nichoel Fong) and Yoshi (Shyaam Karra). We’ve seen these characters before; they’re meant to have banter but none of them are particularly witty or fun.

The movie’s supporting cast David Ramsey as Mayor Trevon Sterns, Lenore Zann as news anchor Marie Summers, and Mark Dacascos as Xang all have small supporting roles in this movie but run circles around the rest of the cast. The late Michael Madsen also has a bit part as Erik’s father Max. He does his best with the poorly written dialogue he’s given, but it’s essentially an exposition dump.

This is Jason David Frank’s final performance and while he gives the role his all, it’s not enough to carry the movie. His second to last scene in the movie is sure to move fans to tears, serving as a sendoff to the late actor, but would it have been as emotional if the actor hadn’t passed?

“I know who I am,” is the final line uttered by Jason David Frank. But I wonder if any of those watching can honestly say the same for the character of the White Dragon. There’s an okay movie somewhere in here, but it’s well and truly buried by the poor writing, shoddy editing, and terrible acting.

Rating: 1.5/5.

“Legend of the White Dragon” debuted on digital September 22 and on 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray combo pack and DVD October 20.

The bonus material includes:

· A commentary track from the film makers.

· A six-minute interview with Jenna Frank.

· A 35-second thank you from the filmmakers to the backers.

· And the theatrical trailer.

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