Bullet Points: Jabberwock
I am a big fan of Michael Worth. Some might say I am a Michael Worth loyalist. Others might even call me a Michael Worth mark. But history has shown if you throw Michael Worth in a movie or television show, I will watch it.
I have seen the Michael Worth classics like Fists of Iron, To Be the Best and Final Impact multiple times. I have seen Michael Worth kick butt on both incarnations of the television series Acapulco H.E.A.T. and even his guest spot on the short lived Marker series. I have even watched some of Michael’s dramatic endeavors including God’s Ears, Seeking Dolly Parton and Broken Memories starring the late Rance Howard.
My most recent stop on Michael Worth’s filmography was 2011’s Jabberwock. Now I would not consider myself a big fan of movies with fantasy elements like wizards, elves and dragons… but considering I would probably give a movie that consisted of Michael Worth reading the phone book cover to cover a chance, I was damn sure going to watch a made for TV Michael Worth dragon slaying movie.
- Family Reunion: At its core, Jabberwock is the tale of two brothers. There is Alec (Michael Worth) the brother with a true sense of adventure, who left his village to become a warrior. And there is Francis (Tahmoh Penikett of Battlestar Galactica fame) the brother who stayed behind and got into the family blacksmithing business . Alec has returned home when he receives word that his father Reginald (Hught Ross) has taken ill, but the family reunion is cut short when a disheveled and scared shitless wanderer named Cid (Raffaello Degruttola) shows up in the village with an unbelievable tale of a giant winged beast who was after him. Most everyone doubts Cid’s story, with one of the villagers John (Steven Waddington of The Last of the Mohicans fame) saying Cid’s fantastic tale sounds like the story of The Jabberwock that was told in a poem. Cid’s doubters would soon be silenced…
- When Dragons Attack: All hell breaks loose in the village when the hungry Jabberwock shows up and starts to eat some of the villagers. All the men scramble, grabbing the nearest weapon and begin defending their home. But their swords and arrows prove to be nothing more than a minor annoyance to the massive flying dragon, still they do manage to get The Jabberwock to leave… but The Jabberwock has the last laugh when it scoops up Jocelyn (Violeta Markovska) and takes her back to it’s lair. Francis immediately wants to go after The Jabberwock, partly because he wants to prove his older brother Alec is not the only brave warrior in the family and partly because he is in love with Jocelyn’s sister Anabel (Kacey Barnfield). But Alec overrules Francis and takes Cid and some of the other men on a quest to kill The Jabberwock and if she’s still alive save Jocelyn. The result… not everyone makes it back alive and Alec suffers the same fate as Jocelyn as he is swooped up and taken back to the Jabberwock lair.
- We’re Going To Need a Bigger Trap: Fortunately for Alec and Jocelyn they were not killed by The Jabberwock and while The Jabberwock is asleep they are able to escape and make it back to the village to reunite with their friends and family. Alec also managed to grab one of The Jabberwock’s eggs to use as bait to get The Jabberwock to come back and fight them on their turf. At the same time, Francis gets the bright idea to create a larger version of a rat trap that he conceived to catch The Jabberwock and allow the men to kill it once it is inside the cage. Phase two of the plan is to then go to the Jabberwock’s lair and destroy all the eggs so they don’t have more Jabberwock’s down the line… so they are kind of like cockroaches or street punks in Death Wish 3 in that regard, you have to kill them all or what’s the point!?! I would like to report to you that the villagers plans go off without a hitch, but unfortunately that is not the case and some more lives are lost along the way to slaying The Jabberwock.
Jabberwock is a TV movie with no pretenses of being anything more. The computer generated Jabberwock is no better or worse than the graphics you would see in other SyFy original movies. But the budget limitations are obvious with the lack of interaction between the practical effects and the computer generated ones.
If you are a fan of the dragon slaying genre or any of the cast members you probably won’t mind spending 83 minutes with Jabberwock. And you probably won’t mind checking out these Bonus Bullet Points either…
- Honor Thy Father: The brothers get into an argument over who will wear the suit of armor that their father had designed and go face to face with The Jabberwock. To determine who will wear the armor, Alec and Francis decide to have a sword fight… which is a bit extreme if you ask me. If I had a brother I would just see if he wanted to flip for it. Actually, I would just let my brother do the work as I’m probably not coordinated enough to slay a dragon.
- Reunited: Prior to Jabberwock, Raffaello Degruttola and Michael Worth worked together in the Michael Worth written Sasquatch Mountain.
- AKA: Jabberwock was the original title when the movie first aired on the SyFy channel, but the title was later extended to Jabberwock Dragon Siege when it was released on DVD in the UK.
- Best Exchange: When Anabel asks Cid what his weapon of choice is and Cid replies “My wit.”. Anabel strikes back with a real zinger, “You’re going to need something sharper.” This is one of the many reasons Anabel may have been my favorite character in the movie.
