Customer Reviews

Merlin and the Book of Beasts

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have mixed opinions regarding the numerous and various Merlin films, both new and older. This 2009 made-for-television flick demonstrates its definite good points and its clear weaknesses as well.

The story: A sort of abbreviated The Lord of the Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) rip-off in that Merlin = Gandalf; The Arkadian = Sauron; The Book of Beasts = The One Ring of Power. Camelot has fallen, King Arthur is dead, and a nefarious necromancer is dominating the land with his beastly magical book from whence he can generate evil mythical creatures, including gorgons. A remnant band of Arthur's Round Table knights seek out Merlin in his woodland lair to aid them in battling the malevolent Arkadian.

Casting: It's generally very good except for two of the three key characters, Merlin (James Callis) and Avlynn (Laura Harris). Callis conveys a sordid, grunting, gravelly-voiced Merlin, a vocal nuance which seems to serve no useful purpose whatever and it's really hard to follow what Merlin is saying at times. Laura Harris, (playing the daughter of the late King Arthur), seems a bit too inherently fragile and sweet. She just doesn't advance the aggressive and sword-wielding warrior-princess character -- I remained unconvinced. They needed an actress with bit rougher edge. Harris' make-up was all wrong from the start which contributed to the problem.

Cinematography, sets, and locations: Excellent! This was terrific work in all three categories, the film being shot at various breathtaking spots in British Columbia, Canada. The DVD is rendered in enhanced widescreen (1.78:1 aspect ratio) and runs for a total of ninety-two minutes.

Filmscore/soundtrack: I thought it was quite good, not cloying and overdramatic as one might anticipate, and certainly appropriate to support the video aspects. Kudos to Craig McConnell for his original music.

Acting: This aspect was more than acceptable excepting the goofy Merlin accent and voice timbre which much detracted from the film. The fight scenes looked pretty genuine as film brawls go.

Continuity and atmosphere: This aspect was above average and it was an easy yarn to follow, perhaps too much so as there was no prevalent sub-plot. The issue about Merlin "aging backwards" could have been more palatable had the old sorcerer not seemed so incompetent with his magic in his newfound youth - he had tons of trouble whooping the new kid on the block, The Arkadian.

Script and dialogue: Some glitches emerged here. In one instance, Sir Galahad (Donald Adams) rattles off a hackneyed Mark Twain quotation to Merlin which was not only anachronistic -- it collapsed utterly in its intended comic relief.

Special effects: First-class!

In summary, I was left with an overall impression that neither the writers nor director Warren P. Sonoda knew much about either the Legend of Camelot or of Merlin. There seemed to be so much extraneous stuff which was just thrown in for dramatic escalation such as the Greek Gorgons. I have no issues with an endorsement of poetic license but it appears that the writers got just a little too far afield in this instance.

Recommended for a single view by fantasy movie fans.

though somewhat of a small budget movie Merlin and the Book of Beasts is big on being a unique arthurian tale or parable. king arthur is long passed on, sir galahad is the only one left of the round table alive in this world, camelot now ruled by a dark wizard, merlin is alone in the forest and king arthur's daughter "avlynn" (who looks about in her mid-30s) finds him and asks for help - and so the story begins....

this is a very good little movie with a true heart, down-to-earth, not a bombastic high-budget blockbuster, but i found it interesting and the ending to be a wonderful beginning for merlin. merlin's sense of wit is understated but delightful and has a strange virtue to it, just like the whole movie in general. they play the king arthur lore loose here and there but in a good way with the movie entering into new arthurian territory - as mentioned before, this is post arthur (and with ancient greek monsters, the gorgons, to boot)! but underneath it all this is a story about merlin - from his madness to finding peace, this is merlin's journey.

anyway, that's just one take on Merlin and the Book of Beasts - give it a try, you may find it a pretty good story too!

This movie is not the worst and it's not the best. It's okay. It could have been better. The plot was good but the Madusa's were not really all that great which made the movie appear of less quality. But it keeps up your interest enough to watch it.

Knights of the Round Table do battle with Medusa. It was a decent sword and sorcery flick, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I can not get over how awful this move is. Merlin in this movie should have taken voice lessons! Seriously, I could not watch the entire movie because the delivery of lines were painful.

First, the good news: In Merlin and the Book of Beasts, Merlin does indeed make an appearance, as does the aforementioned book.

Now for the bad news. Merlin (James Callis) adopts a thickly accented Welsh dialect that is as irritating as it is undecipherable. Fans of Battlestar Galactica who are familiar with Callis' pleasant inflection will find no solace here. It seems Callis wanted to take on an eccentric role, and he does so with gusto.

The Book of Beasts isn't precisely the Monster Manual one might expect from a fantasy-themed movie. It starts with killer butterflies (ooh, scary!), moves to "dragon knights" which are basically giant zombies, some giant birds that are only heard off-screen (maybe they're griffons?), and then there's the Gorgons.

What? You thought this was a movie about medieval times? Well you can forget it, because The Book of Beasts is one sandal away from Clash of the Titans. The Gorgons themselves are here in all their glory; beautiful until angered, whereupon they turn into snake-haired harpies. The Arkadian who summons them (Jim Thorburn) has a dark secret, but mostly he runs out of ideas and decides to stick with his highest-level monster.

So the Gorgons take up most of the movie, more than the archvillain himself. Throughout the film is another plot about how Sir Galahad (Donald Adams) is leading the return of the next generation of knights, including King Arthur's progeny Avlynn (Laura Harris). But really this is about Gorgons turning people into statues, seducing men, and hissing a lot.

Book of Beasts aims high and fails to achieve its lofty goal as a sort of sequel to the Arthurian myth. The special effects are used wisely to portray the monsters, but there simply isn't enough variety to make for much of a book.

Merlin can't decide whether to sound Jamaican or orcish; the fight scenes are preposterous, the "special effects" are terrible, and the acting mediocre at best. A poor amalgam of ALL the B movies of the genre and the only time I've ever rooted for the bad guys against the remnants of King Arthur's court...

and sadly, those are the highlights.

This movie is so borring and stupid. First, the actors r bad, the action is like flase, the effectsblah!!!!!!!!!! suck. Plis dont buy this movie, if u want to see it watch it on sci-fi or internet.