Customer Reviews

In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Everyone is bashing this movie mainly because they don't like uwe boll. I only watched this because of Dolph. Not the best or worst movie i've watched but Dolph's punch lines made me laugh. If your a fan of Dolph its worth watching. It only had a budget of 7 million so what do people expect production wise. My only complaint is the camera work...a little to unsteady at times. Leave reality behind for 90 minutes and watch it for what it is.

I'd agree with the other reviewers that said that Dolph really holds this film together. Probably more than anything else, Dolph Lundgren is the reason I bought this film before seeing it. Dolph's performance does not disappoint. He's always been a larger than life presence on screen, and this film is no exception. He's also smart enough to not take the material too seriously and, therefore, have a good time with it. His smart-aleck delivery of many of his lines is right on and often very funny, intentionally so.

The second reason I was curious about this film is because of the director, Uwe Boll. Uwe's career is much maligned, that's no secret. But, Uwe's films have a lot more going for them than people give them credit for. First of all, is Boll's uncanny ability to assemble some of most interesting casts that I've ever seen put together. He hasn't just done this once; he does it consistently. Secondly, Boll's films are always well photographed. They always look great, and there are often some surprisingly beautiful shots of natural scenery. Thirdly, his films often have very good musical scores. In the Name of the King 1 and 2 are perfect examples of the quality of material that Boll's composers delivery. Lastly, no matter the budget, Boll always seems to set out to make big movies. This enthusiasm is evident in all of the films of his I've seen.

That being said, In the Name of the King 2 is not a film that you can necessarily enjoy with a straight face. You have to be willing to understand that this is a film that is meant to be taken light-heartedly and simply enjoyed for laughs both intentional and unintentional. If you're in the kind of demographic that enjoys cheesy Direct to DVD
action/adventure films than you'll probably love this. It's a wisecrackin' good time!

Also, honorable mention should be given to Lochlyn Monro. He's very entertaining as the king.

After reading a reviewer with "Hated the first, and this one was worse!" in the title and "This one made the first one look great" in said reviews body of text, I decided I would take a go at reviewing this peice with some theme of coherance.
Upon rating movies, many questions must be asked. Is it comparitive, and to what? The Transformers Trilogy looks like the godfather or LOTR trilogy in comparison to the Troll or evil bong trilogy. So do you look to quality of scripting, camera shots, pacing and acting etc? Or do you rate on pure entertainment value, IE how much you like it? My awnser is a mixture of all 3.

For starters, this is a movie shot on a $7.5 million dollar budget, independantly financed straight to DVD, and belonging to the fantasy action adventure genre. It contains a dragon. Similar in those terms is Eragon, a $100 million movie(that sucked). My expectations are low.

This film, directed by the infamous Uwe Boll, whos work ranges from solid, thought-provoking and intense or hilarious(Darfur, Rampage, Postal) to damnright incoherant disjointed messes (Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne). Some of his movies are laugh-at bad (house of the dead). The Star, Dulph Lundgren, is also a cult-action actor of the same calabor, from ranging from rocky IV(4), to things like Master of the universe. This film is undoubtedly trying to bank on "The Expendables Actor" effect which brought him back into the spot light. Also present is other actors including ex-model Natassia Malthe.

So then onto the movie and the Plot: Granger (dulph), is a vet who teaches Karate in a contempory setting.Then one day, uninspired ninja's attack him in this house, and he is pulled back through time vortex to fufill an ancient prophecy. This is the premise which is overkilled a little, its GOOD V BAD. War torn world of Ehb needs saving by killing a evil overlord, which, being 50 years after the 1st movie, hasn't much relation but Granger is a decendant of the king bloodline.

Now, Dulphs acting in places was humourus. He looked out of place, not only with his modern clothing but his general attitude. This looked like a pay-check for him, where he appeared to have fun on the way. As with the first, some nice scenary's present along with Authentic costumes, but it is hampered by its budget somewhat. The Sleek Visuals does wonders in propelling the film and hiding its low-budget roots, and its in all technically competant if a little bland in its music and editing. At the end a hastily-esembled CGI Dragon appeared. It was slightly Anorexic, but totally AWESOME. LOL what is this movie? In the end all is resolved and goes back to normal. An Arc we see so often, but not like this where it turns into a conscious self-parady of hollywood conventions.

In fact, The commentary consists of amusing rants on the hollywood-film indistry by Uwe Boll along with some background on making the movie.

All in all, this is a good movie for its budget, totally applicable to drunken watching with mates or lighter viewing with children. Fantacy sword violence, with little in the way of sex or profanity. If you liked the first, your enjoy this one although admitadly is isn't as good or as much fun. It's good for what it is, but won't win awards. Mediocre.

I did not know what to expect when I popped this movie into my player. Admittedly, none of my friends or family have seen or even heard of it, which is weird, considering it's a sequel. Such is usually the case with straight to DVD movies. There is generally a smaller budget than big ticket films, meaning less advertisement, among other omissions. This is definitely one of those movies. This is not a bad thing, as it seems to work for this movie.

Though the movie was not in the commercial spotlight, it did feature Dolph lundgren. Everyone who enjoys Dolph's style will be pleased with this film, as it displays a character that is closer to his personality, I think, than any other role he has previously taken. He made me laugh more than once with his clever quips.

If you like fantasy movies, action movies, or any movie with a compelling story, this film should find a home in your collection, and fit in nicely. I love the adventure, and the unbelievable twists that make a fantasy a true fantasy. I love the dragon, which was rendered skillfully and looked very real.

As much as I want to tell you exactly what happens, I won't. I am recommending this movie for anyone, it is appropriate for your teenagers as well. Watch it with an open mind, it will take your imagination for a drive.

After the hilariously and hideously bad first film, this second episode actually doesn't look so bad. Okay, it's still not good, but it's campy, enjoyable fun anyway. Dolph Lundgren is pretty wooden and looking old too, but he's likable and has fun with his silly role. And Natassia Malthe is pretty darn fine. Oh,and there's a dragon! Campy, low-budget fun.

Because of Dolph, this movie is will at least make basic video sales and have some decent viewership due to curiousity.
His lines are sarcastic and he seems to enjoy playing a very different role than his normal action movies (except for The Final Inquiry) which was almost completely a silent supporting part for Dolph.

It's nice to see an actor experiment and try to avoid the pitfalls of playing the exact same type of role just because it made money.
I believe that Dolph is a true inspiration and has a positive attitude.
As for the director, the film is enjoyable with minor flaws due to a limited budget.
Overall, it is a decent movie to watch-

This is a four star movie

Dolph plays Granger, a marshal arts instructor and ex-military man who is transported back in time to fulfill a prophecy about defeating evil. If the accent and bad acting of Lochlyn Munro as King/Raven doesn't make you laugh, stay tuned as the acting gets worse. The king's sorceress (Natalia Guslistaya) who transport Dolph dies, but her spirit sticks around a few scenes to help Dolph. Michaela Mann plays a bad actress who Dolph is too tired to have sex with.

After a little bit of wine, Dolph goes from telling the king to "stick his prophecy..." to "let me at the B...." He must kill the Holy Mother (Christina Jastrzembska) most likely due to her rejected Renaissance performance. Natassia Malthe (Bloodrayne: Deliverance)is the King's doctor who will accompany Dolph on his quest after he takes her virginity. She reminds me of a horrendous medieval Mila Kunis. Meanwhile the king will work on attempting to fully grow out his beard.

Dolph realizes things aren't the way he is being told and the water isn't purified. This sets us up for the twist...and a dragon.

No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Some minor Pg-13 words and sexual innuendos. With the bad acting, simplistic plot, and language it would appear the movie was designed for a tween to early teen crowd, but due to the violence got an R rating, placing it in the worse of both worlds. For serious movie watchers, 1 to 2 stars. For young teens about 4 stars. Might do well during an MST marathon.

Two minutes and sixteen seconds. That is exactly how long it took me to realize that "In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds" was going to be an epic suckfest.

Specifically, that was when a Xena-style sorceress eluded a pair of Robin Hood ninjas, and ran right into the street of a modern city. In his ongoing quest to make my brain melt, Uwe Boll has churned out yet another ghastly sequel to one of his horrid movies, dragging a perpetually befuddled-looking Dolph Lundgren back into Ye Olde Renfaire surroundings.

Grizzled veteran Granger (Dolph Lundgren) is pulled through a vortex by a mysterious sorceress, who then dies after proclaiming that he's part of some prophecy. He finds himself centuries in the past, where hooded assassins are trying to kill him. King Raven (Lochlyn Munro) tells him that he's the destined Chosen One of a prophecy who is the only one who can kill the Dark Mother (Christina Jastrzembska) and stop the Dark Ones, blah blah. It's all very generic.

So he's sent out on a mission with a bunch of soldiers and a sexy lady doctor named (I kid you not) Manhatten (Natassia Malthe). Does she have sisters named Brooklyn and Harlem? Anyway, Granger and the soldiers fight the Dark Ones on their way to where the Dark Mother is, but soon Granger discovers the truth about the Dark Mother and King Raven -- meaning he must now fulfill the prophecy in a different way.

"In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds" is a lazy, LAZY movie. Everything about it is halfhearted -- the acting, the plotting, the backstory, and even the fricking prophecy that the whole plot revolves around. Even worse, there's a MASSIVE plot twist that completely invalidates most of of the stuff that happens in the first half of the story, and leaves vast gaping plot holes behind it.

The entire movie has a grimy, dirty air, as if Boll rented a long-abandoned RenFaire ground for the setting, and both the Dark Ones and King Raven seem to have armies consisting of about two dozen guys. The scripting is absolutely abysmal, made even funnier by Natassia Malthe's hilariously stilted, breathless delivery ("It was an honor to fight beside you and lie with you as your woman!").

And I honestly believe that Dolph Lundgren was drunk during the production of this movie. And I cannot blame him. He puts no visible effort into any kind of acting. And at the beginning of every scene, he has this slightly befuddled expression, as if he's thinking, "Aw man, I'm still in this turkey? I need another drink."

Sadly, Lundgren himself is the best thing about his character, who is 150% Gary Stu. He's a Special Forces supersoldier who is also the chosen one, has a secret past, and has a prophecy revolving around him; soldiers who initially hate him randomly become his biggest fans, and women who have exchanged two sentences with him want to have awkward sex with him.

Oh, and the ending? Copout. I assume that Boll's RenFaire lease expired, because he never really shows us what happens to the Dark Ones... and instead we get a lame, strangely abrupt one-on-one battle.

I thought fantasy couldn't get more hackneyed than the first movie, but "In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds" proves that you can always make a bad fantasy series cheaper, dirtier and more halfhearted.

"Remember who your meant to be, remember that you must return to this place. It was my prophecy to die for you, it is your destiny to be here." Granger (Lundgren) is an ex-special forces soldier who is now teaching karate to young children. While at home one night he is attacked by a strange being and is somehow transported to a different time. After being told of a prophecy it is up to him to save the strange world that he is now in. I have to admit that I tried to watch the first one a few times and could never make it through (even though I love Statham). This one made the first one look great. Without trying to be too harsh I couldn't tell if the acting was really bad or if it was the writing that made it that way. The fight scenes were this side of High School plays and the story was something that was thought of in a drunken night. All that said no one watches this type of movie for acting or plot anyway. Overall, I couldn't really finish either of these movies but if you liked the first one I think you will like this one too. I did not. I give it a C-.

Dolph Lundgren and Uwe Boll - two names I never expected (or wanted) to see together. For the life of me, I'll never know what urged the Swedish Superman to make a film with the Good Doctor so soon after his reentry into the mainstream via The Expendables, but I suppose I ought to be grateful that while the movie is garbage, at least it's inoffensive and easily-forgettable garbage. As far as Boll goes, it's not nearly his worst, but perhaps the best thing "Two Worlds" here does is make us aware of how good of a movie the original In the Name of the King actually was.

The story: an ex-Special Forces soldier (Lundgren) is thrown back in time to fulfill a twisted prophecy that will save the devastated former kingdom.

I'll admit, I kind of liked the first "Dungeon Siege" movie: the visuals were creative, and the extensive cast was always entertaining. Both of these aspects are lost on the sequel, which goes to show what a budgetary difference of over $50 million can make. Most of the film has a bleak, contained wintertime look that's further offset by shaky handheld camerawork and only occasionally interrupted with naturally pretty forest imagery. The film's final 15 minutes feature a CGI-animated dragon fit for any SyFy production. Succinctly, it's all very boring to look at. Many folks criticized the former movie's ostentatious casting, but I think most would prefer that to the situation here, wherein the only casting qualifications must have been fitting the character's costume. Every single character is just so bland and the acting is roundly poor. Lochlyn Munro (White Chicks) is particularly awful as the king, and he's closely tailed by Natassia BloodRayne Malthe as the eventual love interest. Replacing his fellow "Expendable" Jason Statham, Lundgren really doesn't seem into his role and it doesn't help that he spends the entire movie wearing jeans and a scarf; I was looking forward to seeing him in armor like on the Canadian DVD cover. The only performer giving a decent performance is Christina Jastrzembska (New Moon) as the ancient Holy Mother.

One of my qualms with the original film was the complete lack of suspense and obviousness of characters' intentions. "Two Worlds" builds favorably on this with a bit of slightly less predictable double-crossing and role reversals, but more than once the writing strays into convoluted territory when revealing plot points. This leaves us with only the action scenes to fall back on, but even here the film stumbles. Though the movie establishes Lundgren as a karate instructor, the martial arts in the movie are dull and poorly-shot. Weapons-fighting is the name of the game here, but that too is uninteresting at best and Dolph doesn't even touch a sword until the last stretch of film. The "epic" forest battle from the first movie is recreated on a micro scale (seriously, there are only sixteen people in this fight), replacing the Krug soldiers with hood-wearing humans ("dark ones") but retaining the claustrophobic shooting style. The one-on-one finale is a gritty Steven Seagal-esque encounter, with no question whatsoever whether or not Dolph is going to win.

As far as the dialogue goes, Lundgren's character literally puts Natassia Malthe's to sleep by talking about cheese. That about sums up the rest of the show.

For a man who's openly distanced himself from big-budget movies, Uwe Boll really didn't utilize the freedom afforded to him by the direct-to-video genre here, choosing to do very little for his second sword & sorcery production. "Two Worlds" is a boring movie, and while many of the director's films have been severely flawed, they at least kept your attention with their slip-ups. This one doesn't really commit any blunders but I almost wish it would - at least I'd have more fun watching it.