In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale Review (DVD)
It’s amazing how much the game industry has ceded control of their IP to various non-game people. I’m sure this movie could have been better had there been more interest in protecting the Dungeon Siege Intellectual Property.
Hopefully soon the industry will catch on. The comic book companies certainly have, but then they have had more time to wise up.
Website: http://www.inthenameoftheking.com
A friend reluctantly loaned me this movie. At first he was flabbergasted that I would want to see it and warned me of its loathsomeness. He finally agreed, and with a its-your-funeral shrug abdicated all responsibility.
There is a small place in my heart reserved just for bad fantasy movies. My collection of them is small but dear. This movie is not only fantasy, but is also based on a computer game I had played. It had to be given a chance.
Now that my reasons for wanting to watch it are all made clear I can state quite clearly that this movie is bad. The script is horrible, the pacing is off, it is way too long, and it takes itself much to seriously.
But I expected it to be bad, thus giving me the chance to notice some unexpected qualities.
The feel of the movie was very reminiscent of playing the game for me. I have no clue how the stories or lore connect. I don’t remember the game having much of a story, but I do remember the feel and the movie managed to hit on it rather well with its dampened colors and broody lighting.
Another bit was the acting. Although the actors didn’t have much to work with script wise, their performances felt very sincere to me. Often in campy movies the acting is substandard. I blame this on the actor not believing in the material.
Along that line, I found it relieving that the actors didn’t affect a stilted accent. Each spoke in his or her own voice. My husband pointed out that the bad guy (played by Ray Liotta) sounded like a mobster. He did, but honestly I would pick that over a terrible fake British accent any day.
This movie didn’t make it into my special stash of fabulous fantasy movies. I still watched the whole two and a half hours of it and didn’t feel completely like poking out my eyes.
I can’t recommend it but I also won’t call it the worst movie of all time.
