dwpollar Review of Merlin and the War of the Dragons

Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008 Video)

Surprisingly good sword and sorcery fare...

[6/10 · 22 February 2022]

1st watched 2/19/2022 - (Dir-Mark Atkins): Surprisingly good sword and sorcery fare despite low budget and over-the-top bad guy. The story revolves around a teacher, played by Jurgen Prochnow, who has two orphan students under his tutelage who go separate ways. One stays with him and continues his apprenticeship, and the other wanders to find his own way to use his powers. The one who stays is the titled Merlin; whom we find out later has a demon father. The other child finds out he has the ability to harness dragons and turn others into them. Some female goddesses enter into the movie as kind of keepers of some needed relics like the teacher's book of spells and the Excalibur sword. This is definetly a different spin on the story and adds some uneasiness to the viewer because we are not sure about the goddesses motivations. The child who goes off on his own is sometimes hard to read and his acting is not the greatest, but fortunately his character isn't of primary concern in this story except providing a villain for Merlin. Merlin's quest to be the wizard he can be keeps the interest of the viewer, and his growth is evident in his actions. I kept waiting for the campiness of this genre to pull me away, which did happen some, but when the movie was over I felt pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed most of the movie, and even wasn't at odds when they hinted at a sequel. This is one to try if you're wanting something in this genre.