Description

Yes, boys and girls, it must be a sign of the coming apocalypse. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is the first of two films from notorious German filmmaker Uwe Boll to be featured in the Fantasia program this year.

An adaptation of the popular Dungeon Siege video game, In the Name of the King has Jason Statham leading an all-star cast through a full-on, large-scale fantasy epic. Statham is Farmer, a simple man who wants nothing more than a quiet life with his family. His surrogate father –- Ron Perlman –- dreams of signing up for the King’s Army, but Farmer will have none of that. His interests end at the outer edge of his own property and he cares nothing at all for the outside world, at least not until rampaging hordes of evil creatures kill his young son and take his beautiful wife captive. And so Farmer is drawn into larger events, events that eventually see him fighting side by side with the king himself (Burt Reynolds) and the king’s powerful mage (John Rhys-Davies) against the evil hordes led by a villainous Ray Liotta who chews so much scenery over the course of the picture that he must still be spitting out splinters.

A throwback to the fantasy epics of the ’80s, In the Name of the King is much more Krull than it is Lord of the Rings, but the picture boasts one of the highest budgets Boll has ever had to work with and every penny finds its way on screen, in both the mountainous settings and impressively huge battles. And the battles themselves? Fight choreography by veteran Hong Kong ace Tony Ching, best known on these shores for his work on Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

—Todd Brown

Website

http://www.inthenameoftheking.com/

Credits

Director: Uwe Boll
Screenplay: Doug Taylor, Jason Rappaport, Dan Stroncak
Cast: Jason Statham John Rhys-Davies Ray Liotta Ron Perlman Burt Reynolds
Producers: Dan Clarke, Shawn Williamson, Uwe Boll
Distributor: Freestyle