Mythica: A Quest for Heroes

I wasn't sure about this movie when I was considering whether or not to back it on Kickstarter, but I went for it anyway. Even after the Kickstarter campaign succeeded and I got the movie, it took me a while to actually watch it, not being sure what to expect from it, while having so many other promising movies and TV shows to watch.

But when I eventually did bother to insert the DVD into my PC's drive and start watching, I was pleasantly surprised, and by the time I got to the second half, I was beating myself up for not watching it earlier! Sure, the first half of the movie is a bit slow and the entire movie is far from being a masterpiece. There were long minutes I felt like this movie might end up being a disappointment after-all. But that feeling faded away very quickly, as I kept watching, and by the end of the movie, I was sure I was going to back the second movie on Kickstarter as well. At the time of typing these words (April 24th, 2015), the campaign is coming up on its final week, so if you're reading this in time, please consider giving your support. :)

Take every standard fantasy cliche from popular fiction, role playing game conventions, fantasy cosplay etc and behold you get Mythica! A series of predictable adventures at the fan fiction level of writing, acting and effects. There is a good chance that as you watch this you will find yourself thinking, "this is just like..." or, "this reminds me of..." Ut's not exactly bad though, it's just that there is absolutely zero originality. The creatures, the characters, the quest(s) lack any sense of genuine depth, and are entirely derivative. With that said, I didn't dislike it. I just wish it was more genuinely creative and compelling.

This is one of the better D&D style movies i've watched, and I watch them all.

The special effect are sub par, so a lot of youngish viewers are going to crucify this gem. Acting B, costume B+, Plot B, Storyline B+, special effects C (good stuff on the mage/witch though), dialogue C +, direction A-, music B+, sword fight scenes D, homegrown magic scenes B+.

After watching this I had my wife watch it, and she liked it quite a bit, and thats no mean feat for a fantasy.

I was particularly impressed with how the character development was done with out viewer knowledge. Since I am now middle age, I've had a bellyful of special effects and movie glitter, I look for overall quality, I don't need state of the art effects if the rest is good, i actually kind of enjoy it.

Since I am familiar with the whole D&D thing, although I don't role play anymore since a stint in high school, I was impressed on how the movie adhered to that universe, pretty impressive feat overall.

I suppose the fight scenes could use more realistic choreograph in terms of sword stuff, but the gritty down to earth magic stuff compensated for it

The costumes and magic are more real then I am used to seeing in these style movies. Clothing was kind of disheveled and soily, magic was earthy, desperate and hurried--

overall this movie was a real treat

I agree that the movie was better than expected. It is patient where it needs to establish mood, the characters are well established and the world feels like an actual world.

There are a few scenes that stick out because of their poor quality. For me those exceptional moments only show that the movie is on a pretty okay level, otherwise ... as long as you do not compare it to big budget Hollywood movies, that is.

The stakes are fine for a first movie of a series, but the storytelling does suffer a little because the focus is mostly on the character interactions. I have hopes for part two and will be one of the people who pledge in the upcoming campaign on Kickstarter for Mythica 2: The Darkspore.

So your first impression of Mythica is that a group of D&D players got tired of playing on a tabletop in the basement and decided to go live action. Certainly it looks a lot like Cosplay. When a player,... um, I mean, a character swings a sword or takes a bow shot I can hear a 20-sided die rattle.

There is not much original in this first outing. Female mage runs away and heads for that cliché tavern where literally everyone whose job title is "Adventurer" hangs out waiting for work. Naturally she meets the cleric, who needs to find a McGuffin of some sort (and her missing sister), so our young heroine rounds up a fighter and a thief and off they go, as all the "real" adventurers were too busy doing,... what we don't know? I won't spoil the storyline. Suffice it to say, everyone gets to level up along the way.

My first impression is that this was a college film class project, or a post-grad effort by those trying to break into Hollywood. The sets and props, where they exist, are pretty barebones. Good thing all the action is outdoors. The plot is straight-forward. The acting is, well, variable. Kevin Sorbo may be the only recognizable name, and he appears mostly as a cameo. Most of the main cast have acted, although you may never have heard of their pre-Mythica roles. But Melanie Stone really shines as the lead, Marek. Mythica is worth it for her (and it appears to have jump-started her career.)

You have to give Mythica a break. This is an independent film, shot in Southern Utah, with a budget of, well, maybe less than 1/100,000th of what Peter Jackson spent on The Hobbit. This is not Conan or LOTR. But it does have a certain sincerity and innocence that if you are open-minded will charm you. And it is certainly no worse than the plethora of Conan clones that followed that movie. This first effort is really worth a look if you enjoy fantasy films and don't expect too much.