Mythica: A Quest for Heroes (2014) Reviews

• Wow, I was expecting bad, and found a gem

  the_doofy2015-05-14

  This is one of the better D&D style movies i've watched, and I watch them all. The special effect are sub par, so a lot of youngish viewers are going to crucify this gem. Acting B, costume B+, Plot B, Storyline B+, special effects C (good stuff on the mage/witch though), dialogue C +, direction A-, music B+, sword fight scenes D, homegrown magic scenes B+. After watching this I had my wife watch it, and she liked it quite a bit, and thats no mean feat for a fantasy. I was particularly impressed with how the character development was done with out viewer knowledge. Since I am now middle age, I've had a bellyful of special effects and movie glitter, I look for overall quality, I don't need state of the art effects if the rest is good, i actually kind of enjoy it. Since I am familiar with the whole D&D thing, although I don't role play anymore since a stint in high school, I was impressed on how the movie adhered to that universe, pretty impressive feat overall. I suppose the fight scenes could use more realistic choreograph in terms of sword stuff, but the gritty down to earth magic stuff compensated for it The costumes and magic are more real then I am used to seeing in these style movies. Clothing was kind of disheveled and soily, magic was earthy, desperate and hurried-- overall this movie was a real treat

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• Much, much better than expected

  mfcoder-imdb2015-08-15

  You watch a movie on the SyFy channel, entitled "Mythica: A Quest for Heroes" and your expectations aren't set high. Released this year, and you think "uh-huh". However, Mythica, is a surprising treat. The opening, pre-credit scene, with clunky cgi leads you to lump what's to come in with the majority of SyFy's home-grown output, but pretty soon you release this is much better. The plot is decent enough, the script is good, and the actors give a good show, especially the female lead, in a strong, interesting role. We're in low-budget territory, but the "flash-back/forward" scenes are nicely done, and it's only the larger 'monsters' that suffer from the lack of budget. Fight scenes are so-so, but there's a decent depth to the characters, and the story. It's pleasant, and up-lifting ... just because it's low-budget, they haven't scrimped on the script, and it's nice to see a fantasy tale handled seriously by all concerned. The first part in three films, it stands fine by itself, whilst leading into the larger story. Some characters are a little thin, but this is 'D&D' territory, so there's a typical collection of characters to expect. This isn't a Hollywood blockbuster, but for what it is, it does very well. I'd rather watch a movie trying to be something, than one which just pads time, without any originality. Mythica is a good, entertaining watch. Let's hope the sequels live up to this good opening. Well done to all involved.

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• Entertaining, and a decent effort

  Cornelius_Sneed2015-06-13

  All in all I enjoyed this movie. Yes, it has its problems, but for me at least, the positives outweighed the negatives enough that I was entertained. Costuming is good, if somewhat stereotypical, the sets look real enough, and the acting is appropriate for this sort of film. The characters are well written, engaging, and likable. The script is good enough to not be a distraction. It isn't high theater, but it isn't supposed to be, nor does it try to be. The score is quite grand, which leads me to some of the negatives. SPOILERS: The score is a bit too grand, at times. In several scenes we are treated to a triumphant theme that sounds more like it is intended for when our heroes finally prevail, rather than what we're actually shown, which is the group plodding across an ordinary field. This may be the way the film makers chose to edit rather than what the composer intended; there are a couple of places where poor editing regarding the soundtrack is apparent, the most blatant being in a scene where the music abruptly stops, apparently caused by someone pressing the mute buttons for those tracks instead of fading them. The CGI creatures are actually quite good, at least when seen alone. It is when they have to interact with the human characters that we see some problems. For example, one of the CGI creatures we see quite a lot of is a gigantic ogre. Whenever one of the human actors attacks it, we see them facing the camera, and swinging or stabbing with their weapon. Then there is a jump-cut, and we see the ogre reacting to the attack. Rarely do we see the actors and the ogre in the same shot when they are close enough to interact. Similarly, we see many shots of the ogre batting at someone, then a jump-cut, and the person falls down. I think this is probably due to budgetary constraints, however, rather than inept animation. The movie is a bit too "Girl-Power" for me, but not quite annoyingly so. For example, in one battle scene we see several full-grown, armed and armored orcs killed by a very small girl armed only with a knife. This is apparently accomplished by pluckiness, determination, and girl-power, as the character seems to have no prior fighting experience. I must say if the orcs were really this easily dispatched, they would probably have stayed home rather than going out marauding; I have to think any species that was bad enough at fighting that, armed with sword and shield, they could still be easily killed by a slight young girl with a paring knife would probably realize this and find something less dangerous to do with their time. However, I think I am probably not in the target audience for this. Teenage girls who are into sword and sorcery will probably absolutely love it. Worth a watch if you can overlook the negatives. I liked it enough that I will watch the sequels

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• Nice Indie Fantasy and two more parts to come.

  sven-49-6947762015-01-23

  With Mythica 1-3 Arrowstorm is going for adventures in a complete new world. Of course this is still a low-budget independent movie but the quality is increasing constantly. This is also possible since more and more money is collected from Kickstarter. Therefore the costumes and settings are already quite good, and I like the landscape. The effects are "ok" but could be better: Some spiders and the snake e.g. look really cheap, and the ogre has some good and some bad scenes. And by the way: The wolf was borrowed from Survivor to save some money ... but why not. The story is not new but not that bad. I like the idea of having the young disabled magician Marek running the gang, while she is exploring her dark side and her necromancy. Melanie Stone does a great job and dominates most of the movie. Marek is cute, but Nicola Posener with red hair as Teela looks gorgeous. Independent fantasy and those ladies are worth 7/10.

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• An OK movie..

  DBLurker2016-05-25

  It isn't awful. If you are pining for more LOTR/Hobbit but know it'll be a long time before someone creates expensive movies like Jackson did, you can settle for Mythica. Mythica is trying to channel Middle Earth franchise in every possible scene, from Ork's to shots of the party running through open fields. It's all OK, doesn't look bad and mimics LOTR movies just fine. Even the acting is fine, not amazing, but good enough to not make you laugh at people trying to act. The problem comes with the plot and the action. The plot is just a cliché-fest of epic proportions. Nothing you haven't seen or heard before in video games (and movies). So good luck getting invested in anything the heroes are doing. That said, the plot gives a good enough excuse to send our heroes on an adventure and that's what will keep you entertained. Until of course, the action shows up.. Why do small Indie movies insist on adding CGI that they KNOW will look bad thanks to the low budget? The Ogre is terribly done, even some houses are CGI in shots and look fake thanks to no shadows or just terrible post processing done to them. The only scene that looks good with CGI is the one where a creature chases them in the forest. That creature blends well with the environment and looks good enough (acceptable). Rest of the "action scenes" with Ogre involve our heroes acting dumb while air (CGI Ogre) hits them and they fall down while a small crippled chick beats the Ogre (cause, she's the hero.. totally believable guyz). Like Gandalf, she refuses to use her powers when they could actually use them. In the end, movie isn't bad. It just could've been way better without spending more money at CGI (try hiring people who know how to do action scenes).

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