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Boll once again takes a popular video title and then creates a movie that has nothing to do with the game.

I’ve seen far more Uwe Boll films than any one person should.  I even had the unique experience of interviewing him as well (his interviews are about as good as his movies) and I have to say I look forward to each of his films out of a sad sick almost morbid curiosity.  It’s like when you cut yourself really bad and you can’t quit picking at the scab.  You know it’s going to cause a scar and probably hurt the more you pick but you just can’t quit picking.  Uwe Boll films are the same way.  You know nothing good can come of watching one but I just can’t quit until something is bleeding.  In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is the latest festering sore that needs to be picked.  Boll once again takes a popular video title and then creates a movie that has nothing to do with the game.

Boasting his highest profile cast today, In the Name of the King stars Jason Statham as a farmer named Farmer.  When The Krug take over his land, kidnap his wife (Claire Forlani) and kill his son, Farmer goes on a revenge quest against them.  The Krug weren’t after Farmer but King Konreid (Burt Reynolds), whose reign they hope to end.  Gallian (Ray Liotta) is an evil wizard leading The Krug on their destructive rampage. 

Farmer raises his own motley band of individuals including strong guy Norick (Ron Perlman), a magician named Merick (John Rhyes-Davies), a sexy tree nymph named Elora (Kristanna Loken) and a female warrior named Muriella (Leelee Sobieski).  The unlikely band (cause in these movies they are always an unlikely band) fight their way through The Krug to retrieve Farmer’s missing wife and discover their true calling.

When reviewing a Boll film, it’s not fair to judge it on the same level as other movies.  Boll will never stand alongside Wells, Spielberg, Kurosawa.  Hell he’s not even good enough to be compared to McG, Brett Ratner and P.T. Anderson.  No when judging a Boll film, it’s best to keep him contained to himself and the good news is that In the Name of the King is Boll’s best work to date. 

Boll tries to go for epic filmmaking with ornate costumes and lots of aerial shots.  Those are the highlights.  Then there is the script and bad directing.  Written by Doug Taylor, we can only hope he won’t be writing more screenplays soon but as Hollywood seems to reward failure, I’m sure he’ll be writing something even bigger soon.  Of course nothing beats hearing Burt Reynold’s yell, “Call in the ninjas!”  I have no idea why there would be ninjas in a medieval castle but that’s not really the point.  We can thank Taylor for that.

For those of you wondering how Boll is able to get the likes of Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Ron Perlman and other name actors, the answer is quite simple.  Boll works quick and waits till the last possible moment to cast.  He finds actors not working at the moment and just shoehorns them into whatever role he can.  Money’s money and a quick 21 day shoot puts money in the pocket where you might otherwise not work at all.  Thanks to his shrewd casting choices, you get see Matthew Lillard act like a bad ass.  It might be a first for him. 

Bonus features include a behind the scenes featurette that really is just behind the scenes shots with music playing over them.  No talking heads here.  No one to offer insight into the filmmaking process.  Just video with music.  A very odd choice. There are three deleted/extended scenes and trailers for the film and other FOX titles.

If you like silly movies In the Name of the King will be right up your alley. As a sword and sorcery film, it’s not half bad.  Uwe Boll does a decent job with the subject matter but he still a long way from being a good director.  Thanks to the Lord of the Rings series (a series that has done more damage then good), the number of crappy fantasy films have exploded over the past decade.  In the Name of the King is one of the better fantasy films.  Fans of the genre have certainly seen much worse.

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