In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

	Germany, Canada, USA 2008 Director: Uwe Boll Cast: Jason Statham, Matthew Lillard, Ron Perlman, John Rhys-Davies, Leelee Sobieski, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Kristanna Loken, Claire Forlani Rating: PG-13 Release Date: 29 November 2007 (Germany) Running Time: 2 hours 36 minutes The Movie Review		In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale Storyline: Cast: Ending: Overall:
	There is this director named Herr (Mr.) Uwe Boll who is from a beautiful country called Germany. Uwe has a hobby of making movies based on popular video games. It was first started with House of the Dead, then subsequently followed by Alone in the Dark (2005), BloodRayne (2006), BloodRayne II (2007) and finally we got In the Name of the King which is also based on a game called "Dungeon Siege". Speaking quite frankly, those four films before ITNOTK were disappointments to the movie world, especially for fans of the games who knew every little thing about the original games. However In the Name of the King is different. Differently great. Once upon a time in a fantasy land called Ehb, lives a humble man who has a beautiful wife and a son. That man is simply called as "Farmer", for having no real name and for also refers to his job. Farmer (Jason Statham) is raised by a burly old man named Norick (Ron Perlman), who Farmer looks upon as father figure, then by years townspeople grow to love Farmer for his kind manner. On one unfortunate day, a band of monster called the Krug attacks Farmer's village, kills almost all the residents and eventually kidnaps Farmer's wife Solana (Claire Forlani). There's something funny about the Krug as they are appeared to be control by a black magician (Ray Liotta) from a distant. The King's army and King Konreid (Burt Reynolds) himself show up late, only to find the pile or rubbles of what's remaining of the village. Tension erupts between the bold Farmer and the King's magician Merick (John Rhys Davies) and the King's army for Farmer thinks they are simply irresponsible. Farmer then with Norick and Farmer's brother in-law Bastian sets out on a journey to save Farmer's wife, through perilous mountains and mythical woods. Herr Uwe has always managed to hire talented actors and actresses to star in his movies, such as Tara Reid, Christian Slater, Ben Kingsley and Michael Madsen. It turns out after the failure of his previous movies, he could still hire famous actors, like Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta and with a comeback actress from BloodRayne (2006), Kristanna Sommer Løken. Maybel Uwe Boll could do some 'magic' afteral?! In the name of the King is a testimony of truth of such popular phrases like "learning by doing" or "practice makes perfect". Why? Because after those four movies, ITNOTK has a far better quality and a lot more entertaining (read: not boring). And even though ITNOTK is absolutely not a perfect film, but giving all the costumes, stunningly beautiful locations, cinematography, great action skills from Statham and Perlman and very cool magic special effects, I would recommend this one to be watched. But most especially is the presence of the wood elves, ahhh enchanting and spellbinding, neat and truly awesome. You just have to see it for yourself to truly admire it. And the war between the Krug and the King's army is just another fantastic feat accomplished by Uwe Boll. My, my, my, is this really the work of Uwe Boll? Surprising, indeed. Seeing the brutes of Krug marching through the land against the King's army and how the King's army releases their blazing arrows in returns, how the agile Jason Statham swings his weapon, fiery rocks thrown by the catapults that smash the soldiers, well well, splendid...So we got the Magicians, the Orcs-like creature, the wood elves, the brave soldiers, I think we already have most of the stereotypes that the gamers usually get from almost any RPG (Role Playing Game) games whether in PC or in consoles like Playstation. There are some minor flaws, like the wooden expression of leelee, and the timid usage of the magic (where are the elemental spells, like fire, water, wind, earth and the other?), and the comparatively short screen minutes for the wood elves, but I could overlook that. It amazed me how different this movie is from the other ones. And if after seeing ITNOTK you're curious about the other four game-based adaptation movies from Uwe Boll, then believe you me, don't bother to look for them or even watch it. Let this ITNOTK be the new yardstick of Mr. Boll's future movies. A kind of movie that really understand how to entertain and amuse the audience. © iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com

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