Mythica: The Necromancer

Not going to bother with the story line, there really is not that much to say for it, more or less a D&D session made into a movie, with a sub-par DM as director/movie maker.

Production value makes the standard Scy-Fy Channels stuff look stellar by comparison. Effects are as cheesy as it gets. Dialogue is laughable at best.

The actors may as well be D&D players doing this movie for free. It's that bad.

And just to underscore how bad this is, some troll decided to bot the crap out of the ratings, spamming it with 10 star ratings.

And so the saga continues - a saga I thoroughly enjoy for its beautiful locations and the adrenaline of adventure with obstacles thrown in around every corner. The photography and visuals seem to get better as the series continues. I did miss Adam Johnson (who plays Thane) during the action sequences, due to him being captured in the beginning of the film, and the film is actually a quest to save him. A very determined character, Betylla, is introduced in this film, wonderfully portrayed by Philip Brodie. The evil inside Marek surfaces more regularly as the series continues, again very well played by Melanie Stone.

This was yet another great action adventure film.

When I picked up this DVD for £3 at my local supermarket, I knew I was in for a classic tale of mediocrity, sub par effects, and budget filmmaking.

I was not disappointed.

Acting: I've never seen death and hardship be portrayed in such a dead-pan and wooden manner. Thane's character was under-utilised as his screen presence was quite strong. The bad guys did a good job, but sometimes their writing wasn't believable - for example one of them seemed to be a really bad guy at times, but seemed to develop a kind of stockholm syndrome with the good guys, and this betrayed not only his character but the sense of antagonism and tension within the main 'party' of characters.

Story: A good overall storyline, actually very well paced. Ultimately, the fact that I watched the film in windowed mode while playing Guild Wars 2 speaks volumes about my interest in the on screen action. The introduction was very disappointing as nothing much really happened.

Visual effects: Obviously this is not a huge budget blockbuster, and so the effects are going to reflect this. Still, there was some skilled camera-work which helped mask some of the rougher edges.

Music and Sound: Unfortunately one of the weaker points of the movie. Some of the synthesised effects were very out of place for this genre of film. Also, for the first half there is this unusual helicopter synth sound that is pretty intrusive and goes on for several minutes. I don't know how this sound effect is at all related to progressing the narrative or reflecting the on screen action, it only served as an annoyance.

Conclusion: Why not? Just don't pay top dollar for it.

Also, that one 10 star review on here is obviously fake, right? I mean it has to be fake.

First-off I wanted to give a warning. The ratings suddenly exploded over night with 500 new 10 star ratings and the rating jumped from 6 to 9 stars. Seems a bit suspicious if you ask me.

That said, this film is like a filler episode in the Mythica story. Nothing much happens to progress the story. A bit cool dialogue and a new character keep it somewhat interesting. The fighting scenes and the new quest are far inferior though to the previous film - and this, plus the filler story, is why I didn't enjoy it as much.

If you want to continue following the Mythica universe, you should still watch it, but lower your expectations and don't expect as good a film as the previous one! I think it's justified to call this a filler episode - keep this in mind and you are good to go.

The failings of this film are in production and special effects. With some better editing and budget, it could have scored even higher for me because the story is a good one and the actors do their damnedest. That's what matters most. The bug man ( you'll know him when you see him) was particularly convincing. The final battle was very well written. The excitement was anime level, a genre in which everything is controllable. The story does not make sense without the previous installments and I am purposefully omitting that shortcoming in my rating. I am assuming you've seen the previous films and are up to date on the story. If so, you're in for some fun!