In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Uwe Boll’s relentless campaign to adapt every single videogame ever made for the silver screen continues with In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, a big-budget fantasy epic that, while more competent on a technical level than his previous efforts, is as silly and needless as anything he’s done before. Starring Jason Statham as a farmer named Farmer (??), the movie revolves around the all-out war that ensues between villainous creatures known as the Krugs and the inhabitants of an expansive kingdom ruled by King Konreid (Burt Reynolds). Though initially reluctant to join the fray, Farmer finds himself forced to do battle after the sneering Gallian (Ray Liotta) kills his son and kidnaps his wife. Admittedly, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is surprisingly fun for a little while; with its over-the-top battle sequences and almost uniformly campy performances (Liotta’s hilariously broad performance is nothing short of remarkable), the flick is initially the kind of guilty pleasure that one craves following awards season. Boll’s efforts at infusing the movie with an epic sensibility inevitably leads to its downfall, however, as the filmmaker, working from Doug Taylor’s overwrought screenplay, bogs the proceedings down with oppressive amounts of expository dialogue and a whole host of needless supporting characters. (The eclectic supporting cast includes, among others, Matthew Lillard, Kristanna Loken, and Ron Perlman). The interminable finale, which has been augmented with copious amounts of shoddy computer-generated imagery, only exacerbates the film’s many problems, and while it does seem entirely likely that prepubescent boys will dig the heck out of this, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale ultimately comes off as a pale carbon-copy of the Lord of the Rings series.

* out of ****