Mythica: The Godslayer

This is not Lord of the Rings. It is not even big budget. What it is, is brilliant achievement given the budget. All the movies are watchable and entertaining, I watched them all on Amazon as soon as they came out.

This movie doesn't get the credit it deserves. The fighting and action sequences kept getting better from the original, as did the special effects ... a bit surprising based on the low budget, although it did increase over time.

It was the longest of the movies and brought everything together with a satisfying ending. And the characters continued to develop all the way into the last movie ... in fact especially in the last movie.

Oh, apparently there's some kind of fad to call out Kevin Sorbo for bad acting. For those who don't know, Sorbo (HERCULES) was the big name to draw in fans to watch a shoe-string budget indie film ... and it worked. His role in each movie increased in general and not only was his acting fine, but his time on the screen was integral to the story. I found myself wanting to see him have a larger role, and I was not disappointed.

Over all, a very solid undertaking.

The first film, 'Mythica: A Quest for Heroes', was not a bad movie but with some major debits and not an awful lot special about it. It was watchable if on the mediocre side if anything. Its first sequel 'Mythica: The Darkspore' quality-wise is about the same (though with a couple of improvements), watchable with nothing to get angry or excited about.

Didn't care for the mediocre 'Mythica: The Necromancer', and while an improvement 'Mythica: The Iron Crown' was average with me having mixed feelings on it. This film, the fifth in the series, 'Mythica: The Godslayer' was not bad at all. Not great by all means and could have been better, but it is definitely the best of the follow-ups and quite possibly the best of the series.

More is done right than wrong. 'Mythica: The Godslayer' is nicely photographed generally and more focused in terms of camera work and the scenery is sweeping and boasts some colour and atmosphere. Costumes and sets allow one to get suitably, if not fully, immersed in the fantasy world that is being portrayed.

Acting is better than average. Melanie Stone is good in the lead role, and the character is engaging and well-rounded. The only exception is Kevin Sorbo going through the motions.

'Mythica: The Godslayer's' music score is stirring and fits reasonably well. There is a little more maturity in the writing, the film goes at a lively pace, there is a real sense of charm and wonder and it starts really well.

However, the special effects do look ropey, the worst of them distractingly bad. The action is variable, some of it excites, others are still too clumsy and safe.

Regarding the script, it's still a bit trite and could have explained things much more, things can be cheesy and vague. The story, although it starts really well, can feel simplistic and too thin at times, not doing an awful lot new with a not too original premise. The hammer of Tek stuff is a bit vague.

The characters are never annoying and they are relatively likeable, but the main character is the only properly developed or interesting one. The villain especially is very underdeveloped, didn't learn much, felt little if any sense of threat and motivations are not always clear.

Overall, not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

It's not high art, but in my opinion this pentology is a worthy effort and well worth watching. It starts off slow with part 1 (A Quest for Heroes) featuring a slave girl (Melanie Stone) gradually coming into her power as a necromancer, or sorceress wielding dark magic.

Although the first movie has a satisfying ending, you may still thirst for more adventures in the Mythica universe. Fortunately, there are four more, queued up and ready to roll!

The movies gather steam, and darkness, culminating in The Godslayer, the high-stakes finale of the series. There is enough magic, and swords, and evil sorcerers, and good sorceresses, and even a couple of gods, to satisfy everyone.

Some people call it some kind of B-grade kickstarter movie, but in my opinion it's a captivating and charming series, B or C or whatever. The actors are sincere and skillful, the writing moves the story along, and the special effects (where they even exist) are minimalist but effective.

Now I wonder if there will ever be a sequel, but really, five movies is plenty, and in 2-3 years I will definitely be watching this one again!

To me the fifth and final chapter of Mythica was the best. It didn't need the comic relief bits, the sideline stories were kept to a minimum and the actors and probably the whole production team have reached their maturity and made a decent film throughout. Considering this is a five movie Kickstarter series, it is nothing less than amazing.

This doesn't mean Godslayer is a perfect film, but it was the perfect ending for the series. All the characters came together in an epic finale that left everything explained and brought closure to every hero's journey.

To me, the worst part of the series was the villain, who had everything: power, a good actor to portray him, armies of undead, but lacked the one thing that would have made him interesting: a story. I feel Mythica would have been a lot better with a villain one can empathise with. This became clear near the end of the final film when there was a sort of seductive quality in his attempts to corrupt Marek. With a fully grown character, this could have worked wonders, not only at the end, but throughout the series.

Bottom line: it is a fantasy story very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings. There is a hero that has to choose the fate of the world and resist temptation from a magical yet evil artifact, while her friends must lend their support and strength to keep said hero on the right path. While not the very best of film making, it was entertaining and refreshing and I am glad to have seen it all. I can't wait for more stuff to come from Arrowstorm Entertainment.