In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) is in this movie, but it's no Lord of the Rings. It does have an all-star cast though. Action Hero, Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds as the King (he's no Sean Connery), Leelee Sobeski, she's no stranger to wielding swords having played Joan of Arc in 1999. (She's put on a few pounds since then as well), Ron Perlman, most famous as Vincent in the TV series, Beauty and the Beast, also makes a great Hellboy, finally Ray Liotta rounds out the B+ list as the arch villain. Sure he makes a great bad guy... in a mob movie.

This movie is based on the PC game; Dungeon Siege. I played the game but I mostly remember the red-headed female warrior on the cover of the game box. Why wasn't she in the movie? The story is about a farmer, who every one calls..."Farmer" (rolls eyes). He is a hardworking man with a loving wife (Claire Forlani) and son. One day the wife and son are off to market in a nearby town. That's the day the Krug attack. What are the Krug? Basically men in rubber monster suits that were likely borrowed from the set of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Normally mindless beasts, the Krug have been organized and given weapons by the evil wizard Gallian (Liotta) who has them under his control. Meanwhile the king's nephew (Matthew Lilliard) is trying to usurp his throne. Farmer joins the kings forces to take on the Krug and rescue his wife.

I know I've been slamming this film pretty hard and if you are not a die hard fan of the fantasy genre, then you won't see this film. But overall I enjoyed the movie well enough for a matinee. It wasn't so bad that I found myself wishing I was at home watching Oprah. The acting was a little forced at first, but they seemed to come into their roles later in the film. And it's always fun watching Statham kick butt in his fight scenes.

If you have found yourself having withdrawals, since the Lord of the Rings, and need a fix till Peter Jackson produces The Hobbit, or you played the Dungeon Siege game and want to see that world come to life then check out a film with possibly the record for longest title; In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.