In theaters

REIGN OF FIRE, directed by Rob Bowman, written by Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg, 100 minutes, rated PG-13.

As Rob Bowman’s new sci-fi thriller “Reign of Fire” sees it, within 18 years, the world will be toast, humans will be an endangered species and fire-breathing dragons will rule what’s left of the Earth.

Finally, some good news.

The film, from a script by Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg, follows Earth’s remaining few inhabitants as they fight for survival in an atmosphere that promises death at every turn.

They are of two camps, the first being some dusty, castle-dwelling Brits led by Quinn (Christian Bale), a hairy bloke who first encountered these dragons as a wee lad in London, when they bloodied his mum in an elevator mine shaft. He’s bitter and it shows.

The second camp is made up of a gaggle of white-trash hillbillies from Kentucky led by the cigar-chomping, much tattooed Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) – a man’s man who seems to exist purely by instinct and who embraces his inner-redneck sensibilities with a brio that’s every bit as creepy as the critters crawling within his Vandyke beard.

After some initial chest thumping between Quinn and Van Zan, both groups make nice and become one, joining forces in an all-out effort to contain the burgeoning dragon population, which is somehow being fueled by the seed of only one male, a fiery beast who has the responsibility of spanning the globe and impregnating each of the 1 million females.

Naturally, it’s up to Quinn, Van Zan, et al. to find that lone male and put an arrow through its heart – which, theoretically, will finish off the dragons.

As directed by Bowman, who scored big with “The X-Files” movie, “Reign of Fire” predictably has testosterone to spare, so much so that its target audience of prepubescent boys might leave the theater slightly taller, a bit more seasoned – and with male pattern baldness.

The film is as high-octane as you’d expect; even the dragons have a swagger. Moments are incomprehensible and there are plot holes aplenty, but there are also some well-conceived battle scenes that divert attention from the occasionally hilarious dialogue, which is not above asking its characters to shriek, “Lock and load, baby! Lock and load!,” even if they are only readying a crossbow.

Grade: C+

On video and DVD

CHARLOTTE GRAY, directed by Gillian Armstrong, written by Jeremy Brock, 119 minutes, rated PG-13.

Gillian Armstrong’s great-looking World War II drama, “Charlotte Gray,” stars Cate Blanchett as Charlotte Gray, a Scot living in London whose whirlwind romance with Peter (Rupert Penry Jones), a British RAF pilot, eventually draws her into a life as a spy when Peter’s plane is shot down over France.

Convinced he’s still alive, Charlotte sets out to find him on her own. Undergoing a grueling training regimen by the British Special Operations Executive and an intense psychological examination that tests her mettle, she eventually changes her name to Dominique Gilbert, colors her blond locks brown – and, after parachuting into Nazi-occupied France under the cover of Night – begins working for the French Resistance in the small town of Lezignac.

After connecting in Lezignac with her contact, Julian (Billy Crudup), and moving in with his grumpy father, Levade (Michael Gambon), Charlotte unwittingly gets caught in a series of intrigues, some of which are believable, a few of which are a stretch – and none of which can be revealed here.

As always, Blanchett is a wonder, easily one of the best actresses working today, but the rest of the cast is also impressive, especially Gambon, whose memorable performance becomes one of the film’s highlights when the Germans take full control of Lezignac.

Considering the recent wave of hyper-realistic war movies that have poured out of Hollywood in the wake of Sept. 11, it’s become almost sweet and old-fashioned to see someone get shot in the face as opposed to watching their entrails being dragged across the screen.

To that end, “Charlotte Gray” will likely come as a relief to those seeking a throwback to the World War II movies of the late 1940s and 1950s, when violence was implied but the battle being waged and the story being told were just as gripping.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, occasionally on E! Entertainment’s “E! News Weekend,” Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.