Customer Reviews

Merlin: The Return

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

 

 

Written and directed by Paul Matthews and brought believably to life by a terrific cast of performers, Merlin the Return is a surprisingly fun movie for Arthurian buffs, dreamers, and kids of all ages. In this story the reports of King Arthur's (Patrick Bergin) death at the hands of Mordred (Craig Sheffer)have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, Merlin the Magician (Rik Mayall) was able to stave off Arthur's defeat by magically throwing Mordred and his army into a dimension of eternal darkness, while at the same moment placing Arthur and his knights into suspended animation to await the day of final reckoning. Now, thanks to the machinations of an overly ambitious scientist named Maxwell (Tia Carrere), that day is at hand. As Maxwell prepares to use Earth's magnetic energies to break open Mordred's otherworldly prison and unleash hell on earth, the awakened King Arthur must steal back Excalibur from Mordred before all is lost...and only the traitorous (?) Sir Lancelot (Adrian Paul) can help him.

Aimed primarily at kids, this movie may not be high art but it is entertaining, particularly for those of us who are always hunting for a fresh look at the Arthurian myth. The film mixes action and comedy quite efficiently, and the sight of King Arthur and his knights attacking a lumbering semi (quoth Arthur: "Yon beast is big, but slow!")is a moment of absurd genius. While the SFX are not lavish, they are good enough, and the sorcerous duels between Merlin and Mordred are spectacular in their own way. Also, the scenes of Mordred's ghostly agents possessing local townspeople are genuinely scary--and perhaps a reason why only fairly mature kids should see this particular movie.

But the actors make this movie. Bergin is a stalwart Arthur, Carrere is ravishing (which hardly goes unnoticed by Sir Gawain!), and Paul is a more than believable Lancelot (here more repentant than usual). Sheffer does go a bit over the top as archvillain Mordred, but he makes a manacing antagonist all the same.

No, this is not Excalibur; but it wasn't meant to be. It is good escapist fun, and sometimes that's good enough.

This is a rather amusing take on Merlin - Rik Mayall plays an affable but rather bumbling Merlin, who lives in modern-day England - and has to awaken a Hibernating Arthur and company to battle Mordred, who is trying to break free from a magical prison. The flick is produced well enough, but in watching it, I get the feeling that it's culled together from selected clips from a TV series or some such - end result being that I feel like I've witnessed an 'insider joke' - it's amusing overall, but you just don't have the whole story. I'm also taking away a star for the producers not being able to find anything for Adrian Paul to do, other that the expected gratuitous swordfight or two. Points off for Typecasting. All in all though, there's worse ways to drop ten bucks...

Fun fantasy movie, with some sci-fi added. Didn't always hang together but was enjoyable and fun. If you liked Stargate and The Mists of Avalon, you will like this.

This is slightly different from the traditional King Arthur and the knights of the round table. Most of the action takes place in today's world. It is whimsical and funny. Adrain Paul plays a different kind of Lancelot

I have seen a number of movies in my lifetime about Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. This one would be in my bottom three.

It had some good moments, but the bad sequences went on for ever (seems like 1500 years). They could have done a great movie with a better script and special effects. The acting was sad. I have seen better acting in elementary school plays.

Craig Sheffer's acting talents were never utilized in playing Mordred. Patrick Bergin's Arthur was more like a court jester than the boy who drew the sword from the stone to become the great king of legends. Guinevere and Lancelot were bit players in a bad production. The tragedy of their illicit love caused the fall of Camelot aided by Morgana was captured a bit by this movie.

The two children, Kate and Ritchie, had some good moments, especially when they helped Merlin in the laboratory of Joan Maxwell who was never called Doctor Maxwell, but Miss Maxwell unless I missed it. There was an opportunity with Joan Maxwell to explore why she wanted to free Mordred. She wanted the freedom to do her research without interference. Too many times scientists become pawns of the powerful. This would have been a good theme to explore, but it was left as a passing comment. Unfortunately, too many great themes were left on the floor in this movie.

One of these themes was that Guinevere still loved Arthur. After spending 1500 years with Lancelot, she realized that a piece of shining armour is not always a comfort in another dimension.

When Guinevere gave Kate her wedding ring, this was another opportunity since Ritchie was knighted by Arthur that he and Kate would carry on the legacy of Arthur under Merlin's tutorage. This is definitely implied, but the theme could have been expanded.

One star may seem harsh to those who love this movie, but given the context of the Arthurian vault of movies in existence, this is why one star was given.

First of all, I wouldn't even give this a star! This was a waste of plastic for the DVD! This so-called "movie" shouldn't have been allowed to be released and associated with the original Merlin movie. Adrian Paul and Tia Carrere should be ashamed of being in this movie. The plot is a stretch, but might have worked if they had a better cast and a lot less overacting. For his part, Adrian Paul did his best to try and save the movie, but he just couldn't carry it alone.

The special effects are nothing compared to the first movie, Merlin. They exposed the fact that the director filmed on a very small budget. The plot is nothing. The acting is substandard. It's just an excuse to create a spin-off from the original Mervin.

It's not even worth watching.

I really enjoyed Merlin, but where were those great writers when it came to Merlins return?! The cast was good but the visual effects were missing and the story line was not that great. I was very disappointed in it. I was expecting a high rated movie but it sure was not that. The only good parts in the whole movie was Adrian Pauls comedic side.

I thought this was the best spin I've ever seen on the story of Merlin and King Author.
Although the film quality itself leaves a little to be desired. I can't believe that they never released the movie here in the U.S.
The whole cast did a great job. If you have enjoy the old versions of Merlin and Author, you really need to see this. It is very humorous.

THIS MOVIE MADE NO SENSE TO ME. I REALLY JUST DID NOT LIKE IT.