Merlin And The War Of The Dragons Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

 

Merlin’s time with King Arthur and his adventures before and after have been the subject of numerous works of art- books, movies, TV shows- and in my opinion, none better than NBC’s epic, amazing, and absolutely perfect miniseries from the 1990s starring Sam Neil and Martin Short. But that doesn’t mean a new take can’t be good fun in its own right, especially if the filmmakers have found an interesting new spin on the tale. So, does The Asylum’s Merlin tale find such an angle? Does the filmmaking do the new angle justice? In both cases, the answer is, yeah, for the most part.

 

Merlin’s young adult years are the focus of the story:

Being born of an unholy union between a demon king and a queen (no worries, not even The Asylum would show that), King Vortigern (Hefin Wyn) and his mystical advisor Torm (William Huw) are debating whether the demon child should be killed, as a prophecy states that such a child will bring ruin to the land. Mage (Jurgen Prochnow), the most powerful wizard of all, demands to be given the boy to raise and teach in the ways of magic, so Merlin will grow up to be good. Twenty years later, Merlin (Simon Lloyd-Roberts) and Mage have a fight with fellow student Beneforth (Iwan Bennyworth), that leaves Merlin almost dead. Rushing him to the Ladies of the Lake, Nimue (Nia Ann) and Viviane (Carys Eleri), they agree to heal him. Beneforth discovers a transformation spell to turn humans into dragons that must obey his every command. Can Merlin heal in time to stop Beneforth? Will Mage’s secrets catch up with him?

 

Director Mark Atkins has made a dozen or so movies for The Asylum alone, and has done a slew of features outside of their wheelhouse. That experience has clearly helped him here, as the pacing is swift, the cinematography (aside from the whole thing being medium shots) is great, with the lush Welsh countryside (this is The Asylum’s first British film!) being put to great use, as it lends a natural mystical look to everything. There are some clever editing moments, with a highlight being the intercutting between Merlin being magically shown his lineage and the spell severely harming him. The longer it goes, the more pain Merlin is in, and the quicker and closer the edits become. It is an incredibly well done and intense sequence, that helps set the stakes for the rest of the movie.

 

But yeah, there are only a handful of wide, epic shots, mostly involving dragon chases, or the rather awesome dragon versus dragon midair fight that makes the movie entirely worth it. The rest of the movie is medium shots, and I get that, especially during the big human clashes, it is useful to hide that there were only twenty extras on either side, but it does rob the movie of a truly epic and adventurous feel.

 

Jon Macy’s script on the other hand, is meh, elevated by a talented crew and cast. Two guards are dispatched to pick up Merlin from Mage’s, so he can be sacrificed as an appeasement to the gods. These two guards become major characters, but I don’t recall ever being introduced to them at all- when they first came onscreen, I thought they might have been bounty hunters, not royal guards. At the end of the movie, it is revealed that the male guard, played by Dylan Jones, is Uther Pendragon. I am not sure if it was meant to be a surprise or not, but it a bit confusing considering how important he is to the story. There’s also the scene where Beneforth stumbles across a cave with… a dragon’s egg? A roc’s egg? Magical rocks? This scene leads nowhere and is pointless. The script has solid dialogue, but is filled with these sort of oddities where things either go nowhere, or aren’t introduced properly.

 

The movie is still 100% watchable and enjoyable though, in no small part due to the very excellent acting from all involved. Simon Lloyd-Roberts only has four credits to his name (to date), with his turn as Merlin being the very first. This is quite surprising as he’s very natural and charming, with a late in the game apology to one of the Ladies Of The Lake being exceptionally impressive. Helping him is old pro Jurgen Prochnow, who is very regal and commanding as the supreme wizard. He sounds believable spewing off the spells (I do not know if those are just gibberish or based on Latin or some such), and makes for a solid mentor. Iawn Bennyworth chews the scenery like hell as main bad guy, but this is the kind of movie and role where a cartoon villain feels entirely appropriate. While he ever seems to be a physical threat to anyone, he doesn’t need to be considering he commands a literal army of dragons.

 

My two favorite performances though are from the Ladies Of The Lake- Nia Ann and Carys Eleri are stunning and mesmerizing in their respective roles. They way the move, slightly off in a way that I cannot quite describe, their mannered speech, it all gives a very otherworldly vibe, and a twist to their characters in the later parts of the movie make for a nice reveal. Eleri and Lloyd-Roberts have excellent chemistry, and are quite an appealing couple. Dylan Jones is very good as the once and future king’s dad, and his partner the lady Ingraine (the female guard), Iona Thonger kicks all sorts of ass and is clearly having fun. Hefin Wyn as the beseiged king is good, but he does pale in comparison to the rest of the cast.

 

The special effects are a mixed bag. When there is just one dragon, it doesn’t look too bad, however, when there are multiple dragons at once, they all look very blocky and have no texture. The various spells cast all look good, especially the dragon’s fire breath, as fire can be very tricky to get right. My favorite shot of the movie sees Merlin jumping onto the back of a dragon, and we are treated to a shot that follows him from behind as he rides the dragon and slays it. The greenscreen work, the CGI, and everything else merge together in a very fun way, to make for a very cool shot.

 

Chris Ridenhour provides yet another good score. Its soft melodies sound almost ethereal at times, and just add another layer to the magical nature and vibe of the movie. However, and this is not a fault of the score itself, it never stops… ever! I don’t recall a single silent scene at all, because the score was constantly playing. This hinders dramatic tension at times, because the score can’t come swelling in to punctuate a big moment or scene, as it never felt, so its big moments are underserved, and the movie does not quite reach the transcendent heights of, say, “Sleeping Beauty”.

 

“Merlin And The War Of Dragons” is an interesting spin on Merlin’s tale. The acting is great across the board, with solid editing, a nice score, and beautiful cinematography. However, the blocky CGI, poor introduction to characters, and dulling of dramatic tension will definitely be enough to turn off some viewers. But if one already knows The Asylum’s approach to moviemaking, and don’t mind some flawed elements, there is a decent amount of fun to be had. This is a tough one to really grade: good for people that are already fans of The Asylum and their style, but not the movie of theirs I’d choose to try to convert a friend to enjoying b-movies.