Mythica: The Darkspore

Because it's a continuation movie, it lacks the "newness" factor that always gives the first in any series a boost.

For those who enjoyed the first of the set, it's certainly worth seeing this second one too - it's an enjoyable watch with its own story, and it has a few surprises. The characters work well and have their own personalities that all get a chance to properly take their part in the story.

For those who have not seen the first, I would recommend watching them in order, beginning with the first.

It's not necessary to mention the terrible use of CG (most of which could have been done with cheaper, more realistic non computer effects), because that's not really where this movie can use improvement.

While the acting is mostly good, the script is very weak. Character interactions are awkward. Their relationship seem forced, like there doesn't really look like there's enough motivation for them to stay together. The fighting scenes are really badly coordinated. With that same group and just a bit of tactics, victory would come easy (at least to enemies shown) but instead everyone fights like if they were drunk or disabled somehow; so whenever the heroes are defeated, being in good condition, it is not believable. Also, all heroes are unremarkable: the warrior is not a great fighter, the wizard cast magic sparingly or waits the worst moments to do so, the "thief" is not really stealthy or that quick on the feet, and the priest has no real divine magic or combat power (despite "being trained in combat", see the first part).

Also the name/title of the enemy seemed like inspired from a video game, thus awkward and forced... the ending felt forced as well.

In the end, unless they improve script and character development and interaction, not even "Hercules" can save this movie series...

The first movie, 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.

Where it improves on its predecessor is in most of the production values. It's a very nicely photographed movie and more focused in terms of camera work and the scenery is more sweeping and boasts more colour and a little more atmosphere. Costumes and sets allow one to get suitably immersed in the fantasy world that is being portrayed. The acting is also much improved. Melanie Stone, one of the best things about the first movie, gives another very good performance, and the character is engaging and well-rounded. Nicola Posener's acting is more natural to her rather stiff acting in the previous movie, and while his screen time is still rather short Kevin Sorbo does have more to do and he does seem more involved.

Mythica: The Darkspore's music score is suitably stirring and grand, it also fits better than in the first movie (though it was still one of the better assets before as well) and is recorded better. The humour is much less awkward here thankfully, sure there were times where it wasn't really needed but it's better placed and its tongue-in-cheek nature is actually amusing, even with a character that could have been obnoxious if executed wrongly.

However, the special effects are a mixed bag. At best they just pass muster (never more than that), but in other places they do look ropey, the encounter with the mythical entity indeed looks distractingly bad. The action is even more clumsily executed than in the first, being unexciting and under-choreographed and it all looks too safe. Some sloppy editing and lack of interaction in the scenes featuring any action are further disadvantages, not being more apparent in the big fight towards the end which was rushed in storytelling which hurt the coherence of it, terribly clumsy in staging and pedestrian in choreography.

Regarding the script, the humour is nice and there are some interesting parts but it's still a bit trite and could have explained things much more. The direction has some imaginative moments, but is mostly of the getting-the-job-done-in-a-routine-fashion type, and while kudos is due making the story darker and more complex this time round instead of the non-stop thrill ride it should have been it was somewhat inconsistent. There are some nice moments that maintain interest and it does have more heart than its predecessor, but it does drag in spots and bumps along, with variable momentum, rather than flowing smoothly. The characters are never annoying, but only the main character is properly interesting, the rest are there with shades of a likable personality but little development and some like some of the mythical characters were not always needed.

All in all, not bad, nothing special. Passes the time without one getting irked or raving. 5/10 Bethany Cox

The party continues on their quest, this time helped by a dark elf with mysterious markings, while a warlock is trying to beat them to their goal. Unfortunately, it seemed like the makers made a lot less effort for this film, especially in the areas of character interaction and storyline. That's unfortunate, especially since I loved A Quest for Heroes.

Some commentators focused on the quality of the special effects. I don't care about those, but this is an indicator that those people didn't feel the characters were important or the story inspiring, and that is on the script writer. If the story is great and the characterization well done, no one looks twice on the special effects. I think that, while I still enjoyed the film, more effort should be made to make the viewers feel with the characters in a story that one could believe in.

Bottom line: fun film, really inconsistent characters, jumping from love to hate on a whim, and a disappointing and rushed ending that made little sense. I hope the next part will be more engaging.

Mythica series is a niche for fantasy fans, it doesn't boast high budget production, but decent enough for a B-movie viewing. The Darkspore has a couple of nice designs and occasional humor, yet the narrative doesn't produce that great of an adventure. It does feel as though we're seeing some sub quest from a game or mediocre side episode of less-than-epic tale.

It revolves around a party of mage, necromancer to be specific, and warriors to ensure the enemy force doesn't possess the illusive Darkspore. Unfortunately, there's barely any draw to the premise, it spends almost one hour to set-up the plot yet the momentum doesn't take off and it just ends up floating in a flat line the entire time. A few gimmicky plot devices that are introduced won't appeal to many since they tend to be vague.

Actors do their best on the material they have, the costumes are nice as well. In some scenes, there is decent humor to be had, mainly in the expense of the joker character. Aside from that, the personalities feel bland. They don't engage the audience, merely rehearsing stereotypical fight the evil theme. It could've capitalized on the stereotypical premise to bring humor or present more twists, but the movie keeps it too safe.

Effects are passable at best, there are a few instances that really break the immersion. For example, the encounter with mythical entity that just looks dreadful. Considering the budget, it does fairly well for half the runtime, although when these flaws appear they are noticeably jarring.

I'm inclined to give it higher score since it has the feel of fantasy adventure when it shines for a brief moment, but the lackluster characterization and effects make the movie into an ordinary fetch quest, hardly a captivating tale.