IN THE NAME OF THE KING - REVIEW


Uwe Boll directs this loose video game-to-movie adaptation of the Dungeon Siege series, spending a whopping $60M on it making it the director's most expensive flop to date.

The film stars Jason Statham as a farmer amusingly called "Farmer" whose farm, along with most of the kingdom, is one day invaded by demonic knights controlled by sorcerer Gallian (Ray Liotta) who is working with the King's (played by Burt Reynolds) slimy nephew Duke Fallow (an over-the-top Matthew Lillard) in an attempt to overthrow King Konreid. Farmer joins forces with his friend Norick (Ron Perlman) to try and save his wife and child and get to the bottom of this whole mess using his trusty boomerang.

Don't ask.

While the film boasts some decent visual effects here and there, its ambitions of emulating the Lord Of The Rings trilogy (John Rhys-Davies even has a role) falls resoundingly short as, not only is the story needlessly convoluted and really not all that interesting but the dialogs are dire, the acting is either wooden or hammy as hell and the film goes on and on for over two hours. And that's if you watch the theatrical cut, good luck with the two-and-a-half hours-long Blu-Ray version. Fans of Uwe Boll's unique style of infamous filmmaking will no doubt have a field day here pointing out the absurdity found in every scene. Lillard and Liotta's ridiculous performances are worth it alone but there are other goodies, including Bloodrayne alumni Kristanna Loken showing up as a forest... fairy of some sort and a dopey climax which involves a magic tornado inexplicably made out of books.

Had the film explained any of its lore instead of assuming we all know why Statham is wielding a boomerang, it could have at least made sense. Can you imagine watching The Lord Of The Rings without any explanation as to what the ring or the Eye of Sauron are?

As it stands, In The Name Of The King is an ambitious if clunky effort with only its cast and special effects as redeeming features. It's definitely not the worst Uwe Boll film out there but it's not exactly good either. Funnily enough, I'd say the running time is what hurts the movie most as, after an hour-and-a-half things start to get thoroughly dull.

You've been warned.

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