Every single criticism of this movie is pretty much correct. But I still had fun.
I hate defending a movie because you have to accept it "for what it is," but I'll make an exception for this fine and dandy B-movie, because you really do have to accept it for what it is. There's no possible way to enjoy it if you take it seriously... but there's also no reason to take it seriously! But has there ever really been a "good" serious film in this genre? Precious few, maybe none.
Somewhere early on I got the idea that the movie felt pretty much exactly like playing a D&D module, and that mental picture actually really worked for me -- it felt nostalgic. Once I had that in my head, it was easy to favorably compare the film to many other films that have tried the same thing and failed much (much) more horribly. I have turned off many other contenders. Notice I'm still not saying that this film was "good" -- just much less bad than a lot of films of the same general type. I'm saying it was good for a B movie.
It was good for a B movie especially because the acting and script were not gratingly horrible. (Okay, the wrestler-dude king was as stiff as a board, I can't deny that.) But the young fella and whatshercuteface were actually pretty good, and the scribe guy wasn't so horrible either. They seemed to be comfortable and having fun in their silly little roles, and they were actually responding to each other, not just reading the lines. That's way, way more than you can expect from most B movies.
So, seriously, don't take this film seriously. Of course it's not "good". If you want to watch this sort of thing, cut it some slack and have a good time. You could definitely do worse!
I hate defending a movie because you have to accept it "for what it is," but I'll make an exception for this fine and dandy B-movie, because you really do have to accept it for what it is. There's no possible way to enjoy it if you take it seriously... but there's also no reason to take it seriously! But has there ever really been a "good" serious film in this genre? Precious few, maybe none.
Somewhere early on I got the idea that the movie felt pretty much exactly like playing a D&D module, and that mental picture actually really worked for me -- it felt nostalgic. Once I had that in my head, it was easy to favorably compare the film to many other films that have tried the same thing and failed much (much) more horribly. I have turned off many other contenders. Notice I'm still not saying that this film was "good" -- just much less bad than a lot of films of the same general type. I'm saying it was good for a B movie.
It was good for a B movie especially because the acting and script were not gratingly horrible. (Okay, the wrestler-dude king was as stiff as a board, I can't deny that.) But the young fella and whatshercuteface were actually pretty good, and the scribe guy wasn't so horrible either. They seemed to be comfortable and having fun in their silly little roles, and they were actually responding to each other, not just reading the lines. That's way, way more than you can expect from most B movies.
So, seriously, don't take this film seriously. Of course it's not "good". If you want to watch this sort of thing, cut it some slack and have a good time. You could definitely do worse!