Merlin and the Book of Beasts

SCI-FI Channel continues to go down hill. They take good actors and make stuff I can't make it all the way through without changing the channel. They kill decent shows like "Dresden Files" and deluge you with reality shows like "Ghost Hunters". Maybe they should change their name to Reality-FI :). Don't waste your time with this movie. The movie is slow paced with poor special effects. The story line is mediocre at best. None of the characters full develop. The move is a real bore with no substance or any real entertainment value. SCI-FI really need to rethink there approach to entertaining sci-fi fans. They have fallen off the mark and don't seem to be able to get on track.

I seriously disagree with the other review. I honestly suspected this movie was going to be bad before I got into it, so I wasn't expecting much to begin with. That being said, They talked too damn much and did too damn little. There were very few action scenes and those that were were pretty lame and didn't seem well thought-out. It was a classic sci-fi channel movie, completely lacking in real plot development or ability to draw in the audience.

I enjoy sci-fi movies a lot, but only if they aren't garbage. I have watched a lot of garbage, and a lot of fairly good sci-fi movies, including Lord of the Rings and Star Wars of course. I have also watched and loved the Star Trek TV show and movies. I honestly have to say that I would prefer to watch In The Name Of The King, and that movie was terrible. The problem with this movie is that it was boring and did not engage the audience in the least. There was too much talking, especially with big fantasy words that were unnecessary aplenty. It almost seemed as if it was trying too hard. I would rather watch a Dungeons and Dragons movie, because at least they do enough to keep me involved.

It seems that more modern fantasy movies just can't get out of their own way. This isn't the worst movie I have watched, but it wasn't really any good either. Overall the storyline can be followed. The script is mediocre. The acting is mostly reasonable, except for the characterization of Merlin's voice. The action sequences are mostly sub par. Special effects are extremely low budget. There is surprisingly character development over the course of the movie. Unfortunately that doesn't counteract the numerous negative components of the movie. It is watchable (barely so) but I definitely would not go out of my way to watch it.

i'm a sucker these costume rehashes of Merlin and the knights of the Round Table. not much in the way of character development in this film - i guess you're required to know the general story well enough to understand who/what the characters reference.

Merlin, who i guess is supposed to be one of the leads, plays the character like a homeless person who's inhaled too many dangerous chemicals and is permanently deranged. 'daisy,' from Dead Like Me, tries to provide a moral center for the film, without success.

the rest of the cast stays in the background. even the 'bad guy' has minimal screen time and doesn't make much of an impact.

made it too the end only by using the 'fast forward' function of our DVR.

I had to take the time to write a review of this movie, in the hope that it might save someone else who may be sucked into watching it. My clear advice here is to stay away from it - it's a dismal waste of time. I am someone who loves fantasy, who loves swords and sorcery, who loves Merlin and King Arthur, who should have loved this movie or at least found it enjoyable. I have no issues with low budget production or crude effects. I have imagination enough that stuff like that does not bother me at all. What I do have a problem with is bad writing and wooden, laughably bad acting. That is what killed this movie. The concept was fine, but the execution was terrible. I really felt like I was watching some terrible cosplay event among amateur roleplayers. Not recommended. Unless that's your thing.