Movie Review: Avengers Grimm

Avengers Grimm
The Asylum, USA, 2015. 

Naughty wizard Rumpelstiltskin (Casper Van Dien) has raised a rebellion to destroy a magic kingdom. The King has been murdered so vengeance runs cold. Queen Snow White (Lauren Parkinson) escapes through Magic Mirror to real world taking Rumpelstiltskin with him. 

Rumpelstiltskin

Snow White

Cinderella (Milynn Sarley), Sleeping Beauty (Marah Fairclough) and Rapunzel (Rileah Vanderbilt) follow and also lone wolf Red Riding Hood (Elizabeth Peterson) who is hunting the evil Wolf (Kimo Leopoldo). In the human world Rumpelstiltskin has already corrupted the police force. Wolf murders some tough guys in a bar and frames Red Riding hood. Gang boss Iron John (Lou Ferrigno) is not happy for losing his men. He becomes a pawn in the game of good vs evil when Rumpelstiltskin turns him into Iron Man. Can the Princesses stop Rumpelstiltskin before he corrupts the world?

Wolf

Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Rapunzel

Red Riding Hood

The Princesses are tough fighters and have special powers. Snow White can freeze things. Sleeping Beauty can make people sleep. Rapunzel has a flailing hair. Cinderella can cast transforming spells. Red Riding Hood has a bow with Rambo's arsenal of different arrows. Too bad their personalities are not very different from each other to make them more interesting. Now Snow White and Red Riding Hood are the most vengeful, and Cinderella the most empathetic, the rest being somewhere between. Casper van Dien has his guarenteed style, so Casper fans rejoice. Surprisingly Lou Ferrigno's character is the most interesting.

Iron John

As far the special effects go, Asylum is evolving to having TV-level effects and some of the action scenes are pretty good so you don't have to dig out your eyes out with a spoon. Clearly there has been more ambitious touch here. "Once Upon a Time" and "Avengers" combined would make an interesting film in the hands of right folks, too bad that the story here is so generic. So it is not good or original enough to be a good film, but not bad enough to make it funny, leaving it into average territory of low budget direct to video films. Close but no cigar.

Rating: Average

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Lauren Parkinson, Lou Ferrigno, Milynn Sarley, Marah Fairclough, Rileah Vanderbilt, Elizabeth Peterson, Kimo Leopoldo, Andrew E. Tilles, Justine Herron, Henry Foster Brown, Jonathan Medina, Jonathan Nation, Daniel Nemes, Andrew Pinon, Pete Capella, Cale Schultz, Adam Night, Kevin Yarbrough, DuJuan Korei, Bryan Dietzman, Beach Eastwood, Brian Gilleece, Brandon Greenawalt, Justy Hutchins, Paul Kearschner, Ryan Mckenney, Corey Weber, Chris Yong, Nickolas Nielsen
Director: Jeremy M. Inman

Movie Review: Mythica: The Dragon Slayer

Mythica: The Dragon Slayer a.k.a Mythica 5: The Godslayer
Arrowstorm Entertainment, Mainstay Productions, USA, 2016.

After the lighter fourth movie it is a time for the epic finale where the sun does not shine much. In the end of the last movie Marek (Melanie Stone) gave the Dark Spore to Szorlok (Matthew Mercer) if attempt to gain time to find the Hammer of Tek that could destroy Szorlok. The problem is that God Tek (Kristian Nairn) died in ancient battle against evil and the Hammer is in the Underworld. Szorlok became the Lich King and is destroying the world with zombie armies. Marek and Dagen go to search for the Hammer while Thane and Teela go to help humans battle the undead horde.

Marek

Dagen

Thane and Teela

The heroes travel through the destroyed land familiar from the previous movies. Marek feels guilty about all the death caused by the Dark Spore. Szorlok is planning Götterdammerung and needs Marek's help. The gods are unwilling to help humans, but they will try to stop Marek if she decides to join the dark side. Still one more time Gojun Pye (Kevin Sorbo) appears to tell wise words.

Szorlok

Tek

Gojun Pye

In the UK edition this was renamed as The Dragon Slayer although no dragons were hurt in the movie, maybe the original name was thought offensive or difficult to market or something. Still the original name is more fitting, as Marek struggles with doubt and considers joining Szorlok to save the world. Marek has an overwhelming burden and whatever she decides will change the world forever. The origin of Marek is finally explained and the story has the melancholy of Greek tragic hero tales. Although several of the heroes died in the previous parts only to be resurrected again, this time the deaths are final.

All in all the Mythica series was very enjoyable watch, with fantasy adventure, romance and sometimes humour, becoming darker as the story progressed. The cast was talented and put their souls to their roles. Melanie Stone did a nice job with the rollercoaster emotional journey Marek went through. Of the characters Dagen (Jake Stormoen) went through most development becoming from a lighthearted womanizer to the only one who believed in and inspired Marek in the end. Adam Thane did a strong warrior role and let's not forget Nicola Posener's ethereal and mysterious beauty. Impressive Matthew Mercer became larger than live evil wizard. Arrowstorm did a great job raising the standards of indie fantasy and let's hope that the good streak continues.

Kristian Nairn from "Game of Thrones" appears as Tek. Watch after the end credits to see what happened to Zombie Girl (Paris Warner).

Rating: Good
For the whole series: Very good

Starring: Melanie Stone, Adam Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Jake Stormoen, Bailee Michelle Johnson, Nicola Posener, Christopher Robin Miller, Cooper Daniel Johnson, Clint Vanderlinden, Paris Warner, Ethan Hunt, James C. Morris, Randall Malin, James Martin, Andy Jones, Ruby Jones, Charlie Jones, Ivy Jones, Kristen Marie Jensen, Kristian Nairn, Danny James, Lauren Spalding, Trenton James, Griffin Bonacci, Devin Hansen, Seth Williams

Director: John Lyde

Movie Review: Mythica: The Iron Crown

Mythica: The Iron Crown a.k.a Mythica 4: The Iron Crown
Arrowstorm Entertainment, Camera 40 Productions, Mainstay Productions USA, 2016. 

Dwarf Hammerhead's plans to get Iron Crown to become king of the dwarfs. Maybe he could use the mercenaries Thorsten (James Gaisford), Caia-Bekk (Ashley Santos) and Rezzik (Jasen Wade) to gain it. Meanwhile Admiral Borlund Hess' (Eve Mauro) battle-wagon is carrying slave girls and a piece of Dark Spore. Marek (Melanie Stone) and her remaining friends Dagen (Jake Stormoen) and Thane (Adam Johnson) ambush the wagon and catch the Dark Spore. But that's not all! As a bonus the heroes get a new friend Zombie Girl (Paris Warner) who was a snobby princess but is now more tolerable as undead.

Thane

Marek and Dagen

Zombie Girl

The Admiral's air pirates chase the heroes with zeppelin. Szorlok (Matthew Mercer) sends demon warriors after them. Suddenly the heroes are being chased by everyone, in fantasy Mad Max style. The road goes toward Goddess Ana-Sett's temple that is guarded by very much Stargate's Jaffa-like dude. There may be a way to get Teela (Nicola Posener) back.

Thorsten, Caia-Bekk and Rezzik

Admiral Borlund Hess

The fourth movie is a lighter episode between two dark Mythica's. Even the ending song is light medieval rock. The fantasy introduces steampunk wagon and flying machines. It is stylistically a bit of touch with the other films, but it still quite entertaining. The Admiral and her maniac crew are funny in a campy way. The action sequences look again nice and the aerial scenes are impressive for the budget. The highlights include the epic battle of wizard Gojun Pye (Kevin Sorbo) and Szorlok. In the end the game pieces are set for the dark finale of the fifth film.

The Guardian (Chris Rueckert)

Szorlok

Teela

Rating: Good

Starring: Melanie Stone, Adam Johnson, Jake Stormoen, Nicola Posener, Christopher Robin Miller, Paris Warner, James Gaisford, Ashley Santos, Jasen Wade, Kurt Knight, Kaza Marie Ayersman, Maloree Johnson, Benjamin Alexander, Paul D. Hunt, Andrew Dee Jones, Maclain Nelson, Chris Rueckert, Eve Mauro, Matthew Mercer, Kevin Sorbo
Director: John Lyde

Movie Review: Mythica: The Necromancer

Mythica: The Necromancer a.k.a Mythica 3: The Necromancer
Arrowstorm Entertainment, Bellpond Films, Camera 40 Productions, USA, 2015.

Good Necromancer Marek (Melanie Stone) is getting lessons from Wizard Gojun Pye (Kevin Sorbo). Hard training requires hard relaxation and what is a better place for that than Dwarf Hammerhead's tavern. But Thane's (Adam Johnson) and Teela's (Nicola Posener) romance is going nowhere and neither is Marek's and Dagen's (Jake Stormoen). Or are they?

Marek

Gojun Pye shows that there is still much to learn

Teela and Thane

Undead army is pouring through a portal and Gojun Pye is hurt. Necromancer Szorlok (Matthew Mercer) is getting stronger with every piece of Dark Spore he gets. Nasty pimp and crime lord Peregus Malister (Robert Jayne) captures and tortures Thane. To save him the heroes must do a fetching job for Peregus. They have to find a smuggler named Eel (Davey Morrison) and his valuables. Unpleasant killer Betylla (Philip Brodie) comes as a chaperone. Still the killer has a soft spot. He has a supply of trained bugs that he takes care of.

Marek, Dagen and Teela

Szorlok

Peregus Malister

The series maintains the quality of the previous parts, with each sequel having better production values than the previous. This episode is darker than the previous, going towards the grittiness of "The Witcher" or "Game of Thrones." This time it is personal and saving the world is at the backseat (well, almost. The Dark Spore is found conveniently) as the mission is to save a friend. The characters have to do tragic choices. There is a good chemistry of the cast. If there is something to complain it is that couple of interesting characters get killed before they have time to develop. The wintery cinematography looks nice and there is stylishness in the combat scenes. Kevin Sorbo has a bigger role now and does decent damage to the undead army. In addition to sword and spell battles there is some fantasy trench warfare.

Undead rapscallion

Rating: Good

Starring: Melanie Stone, Adam Johnson, Jake Stormoen, Nicola Posener, Philip Brodie, Matthew Mercer, Robert Jayne, Kevin Sorbo, Davey Morrison, Oscar Sanchez, James C. Morris, Christopher Robin Miller, Robert Keddington, Emily Ann Roth, Benji Phillips, Owen Faller, Dave Bresnahan, Geoff Hansen, Sahna Foley, Evie Brodie, Griffin Bonacci 

Director: A. Todd Smith

Movie Review: Mythica: The Dark Spore

Mythica: The Dark Spore a.k.a Mythica 2: The Darkspore
Arrowstorm Entertainment, Camera 40 Productions, USA, 2015.

Adventures of wizardess Marek and her friends continue. Warrior Thane (Adam Johnson), half-elf thief Dagen (Jake Stormoen) and priestess Teela (Nicola Posener) are celebrating the victory of the previous quest but the feast turns into a wake. Teela's sister Caeryn (Natalie Devine Riskas) is murdered and everyone gets depressed. Thane starts drinking again, Dagen continues womanizing and Teela leaves. Marek sees terrible visions about evil necromancer Kishkumen (Ryan Palmer). Wizard Gojun (Kevin Sorbo) returns and tells that Marek is a necromancer too. The stone that the Priestess Sisters were protecting one part of the Dark Spore that the evil necromancer Szorlok (Matthew Mercer) seeks. Szorlok was beaten by Gojun and he is still weak but gains power with each fragment of Dark Spore he gets.

Szorlok

Kishkumen

To avenge Caeryn and stop necromancers destroying the world, the team packs up and travels to ruined city where the second fragment is hidden. Old enemies from the previous film, pimp and crime lord Peregus Malister (Robert Jayne) and Marek's former slave master Vagamal (Michael Flynn) plot together. Peregus sends female bounty hunters after her. They and angry fairies, orcs, swamp wights and a dragon make the life hard for the adventures. Marek's dark spells endanger the whole group's life and the team spirit is strained to the maximum. The only one who understands her is a rescued hunky dark elf Qole (Rocky Myers).

Thane, Teela, Marek, Dagen and Qole

Vagamal

Qole

The first "Mythica" was a fresh swords & sorcery adventure and the sequel is continuing the trend. The first film introduced the characters. In the second movie the adventure starts to gain epic momentum and the storyline gets darker undertones. Can Marek control her corrupting powers or will she become a servant of evil? The scene with the fairies is goofy but somehow it balances the darkness of the second half. The characters get more complex now and Melanie Stone's character Marek is spunky but like all his friends she has her internal struggles. Thane is honourable but hot tempered and drunkard, Dagen is a devil-may-care ladies' man but struggles to be taken seriously and Teela is torn between duty and love.

The budget is low again but there is a impressive number of extras in the battle scenes, and the action scenes look well done (TV-movie level that is). The cinematography looks nice and the sceneries of Utah makes a good background for a fantasy setting. The self-irony of SyFy and Asylum productions is unknown and Arrowstorm crew and the actors take creating the fantasy world seriously.

Dragon with a touch of Dark Spore's powers

Necromancer's temple could be from a cover of a metal cd

What is nice also is that also the music has been put effort into. Here's Kristen Jensen's theme song "Tell Me" from the movie:

Rating: Good

Starring: Melanie Stone, Adam Johnson, Jake Stormoen, Nicola Posener, Rocky Myers, Christopher Robin Miller, Kevin Sorbo, Natalie Devine Riskas, Robert Jayne, Matthew Mercer, Brogan Johnson, Ryan Palmer, James C. Morris, Kali Wright, Michael Flynn, Larissa Beck, Oscar Sanchez, Isaac Faller, Helena Peacock, Clare Niederpruem, Kynan Griffin, Nyk Fry, Griffin Bonacci, Dave Bresnahan, Andy Fernuik, Crystal Harris, Andrew L. McClain, Duke Warren
Director: Anne K. Black

Movie Review: Mythica: A Quest for Heroes

Mythica: A Quest for Heroes

Arrowstorm Entertainment, Camera 40 Productions, USA, 2014.

Old Priest of Goddess Anasett sends Priestess-sisters Teela (Nicola Posener) and Caeryn (Natalie Devine Riskas) to take a magical stone to safety before evil necromancer and his orc army can get it. They do not get very far before a wandering Ogre catches Caeryn and also the stone is lost. 

Teela

Young slave girl Marek (Melanie Stone) wants to be a wizard, but her teacher Gojun Pye (Kevin Sorbo) is leaving the village. Gojun suggests that Marek join a band of adventurers to gain experience if possible. Marek has a club foot, so running away from enemies is hard.

Marek

Gojun Pye

After using magical self-defence on her sadistic owner Vagamal (Michael Flynn) Marek escapes. Dwarf Hammerhead's (Christopher Robin Miller) tavern is a meeting place for adventurers but tough for newcomers. Teela wants to hire heroes to save her sister, but she does not have much money and the mission is dangerous. Marek wants to join the quest but first she must find more heroes. Marek has previously met drunkard but honourable soldier Thane (Adam Johnson) and womanizer half-elf thief Dagen (Jake Stormoen), so maybe they want to gain fame and fortune.

Hammerhead'

Thane, Marek, Dagen and Teela

However there is something evil inside Marek that makes her forsaken by gods. Some of Marek's spells are dark and dangerous to her friends. The underdog heroes must survive battles with monsters and beasts but there is also some time for budding romances.

Ogre's bad day

Mythica-series is an Indie project that despite low budget looks professionally made, and captures the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons style RPG-novels. It has something that the official "Dungeons& Dragons" movie failed although the other films in the series were pretty good. The film collected funding as a kickstarter and it seems that the budget was only $100,000 but it atill looks impressive. The folks at Arrowstorm Entertainment with their limited budget seem have talent and eager attitude to make fantasy adventures and so the series has gained fans from the role-players. Matbe someone should hire them to make some Dungeons & Dragons movies. Much of the adventure is quite familiar from fantasy adventures such as "Xena" or "Hercules", but the world is surprisingly dark and the unique twist is having a crippled heroine who has a dark side.

Of the cast everyone does a nice job. Kevin 'Hercules' Sorbo is the most famous of the cast. Nicola Posener was a familiar face from "Dawn of the Dragon Slayer" as was also Adam Johnson. Jake Stormoen has appeared in couple of recent films with Danny Trejo and Dolph Lundgren. And Melanie Stone has starred other Arrowstorm productions and other Indie films. "Mythica: A Quest for Heroes" is a promising start for a fantasy film series, with production values that mask the limitations of the budget.

Rating: Good

Starring: Melanie Stone, Adam Johnson, Jake Stormoen, Nicola Posener, Christopher Robin Miller, Natalie Devine Riskas, Kevin Sorbo, Robert Jayne, Kee Chan, Jay Beacham, Sebastian Michael Barr, Michael Flynn, Adele Faller, Jakob Tice, Bryan Allen, Mark Rose, Matt Burch, Jake Trumbo, Don Nerdin, James C. Morris, Crystal Harris, Ben Alexander, Braxton McAllister, Owen Faller, Shielia Erickson, Nyk Fry, Kira Peacock, Andrew Liston, Lauren Spalding, Clark Edmunds, Ryan Palmer, Griffin Bonacci, Dave Bresnahan, Brandon Lee Christian, Angella Joy, Clare Niederpruem, Karen Peterson, Marc Van Lent, Kjirstin Youngberg 

Director: Anne K. Black