The Legend of Awesomest Maximus

Well, this had potential, but it failed on an epic level, like oh so many of the previous National Lampoons movies. There haven't been any real noteworthy Lampoon movies since Chevy Chase did the "Vacation" movies, with one exception being perhaps the "Gold Diggers" movie.

The story in "The Legend of Awesomest Maximus" is just another spoof off former major Hollywood movies, such as "Gladiator", "300" and "Troy". And it didn't fully work the way it was supposed to. I honestly didn't even laugh a single time throughout this entire movie.

Now, I am not saying that everything is bad in this movie. The sets and the costumes, for example, were quite good and had lots of nice, cool details.

And also the cast they had managed to get together for this movie project was also quite impressive. It was weird, but funny, to see Ian Ziering in the role of Testiclees, which was so far off the only thing I have otherwise seen him do in "Beverly Hills 90210". I don't get the hype about Kristanna Loken in this movie, it was not all that impressive. The role of Minoritees, played by Tony Cox, was one of the more memorable roles in the movies, right up alongside Khary Payton who played King Erotic. Now, what really blew me away in "The Legend of Awesomest Maximus" was the fact that they had managed to get Rip Torn on the cast list.

Actually, the fight scenes were cool enough and had enough action to actually be worth sitting through, but "The Legend of Awesomest Maximus" suffered from a very weak storyline and the world didn't really need another spoof to make fun of "300".

Having sat through the entire movie without a single laugh, I can honestly say that the movie is not one that I will be returning to watch a second time, it just doesn't have enough value for that. There were some nice things in the movie, but they were sparse and far apart. But hand on heart, this movie seemed like little more than an excuse to put scantily clad women, breasts and other nudity on the screen. And the language in the movie, wow! Right from the beginning there was cursing, foul language and really inappropriate words for minors. And those facts really dragged the points down on the review scale on my behalf.

What can I say about this film? It is crude, juvenile, features countless topless women... it makes fun of homosexuals, women, Blacks, Jews, the mentally handicapped... the humor revolves around male genitalia constantly... It is as politically incorrect as you can probably get these days.

All that aside, it has some redeeming moments. I am not saying run out and see it. No. I do not want to be held responsible for that. In fact, I would urge you to not see it. It really is one of the final squeals of the National Lampoon legacy. (How you go from making Chevy Chase's finest films to disposable fart jokes is beyond me.)

I spoke with Kristanna Loken (who plays Hotessa) about the film, and she took on the film after reading the script and finding it humorous. While I can see the humor (I admit I laughed a few times), I have to say this will not go down as one of Loken's more memorable roles. If you are a fan of hers, you can probably skip this. If you find her attractive and want to see her with Sophie Monk, then you might be more interested.

In the end, I have to say this film was slightly better than I expected. But I expected the worst, so that means nothing.

Literally hundreds of these Spoof films seem to have been made with the majority of them being absolutely rubbish.

While this movie isn't bad it certainly isn't good either. I actually watched it through to the end, so something made me keep watching (although I'm still trying to figure out what!).

A couple of familiar faces in the cast but mostly no one I'd seen before and the acting wasn't anything special, probably down to the slap-stick script.

The plot is a combination of three films; 300, Gladiator and Troy. Which at times is quite confusing because they pick and choose the parts they felt like, not necessarily what would of worked best.

There are some topless scenes every now and again which are so often guaranteed in movies of this calibre. The main lead plays his character well enough and I'm sure you'll be seeing him again in similar movies.

All in all probably only worth a watch if you have nothing better to do...

I personally felt it was hilarious. Due to the bad reviews on here I was worried, but I strongly disagree with those speaking negatively about it. Perhaps sexual humor just isn't for everyone, but sexuality was more open in the ancient world without the ridiculous guilt factor. I think that's what makes the sexual humor part even better. It mixes today's humor (sexuality, stereotypes, etc.) and pokes fun at ancient times. It also pokes fun at the film "Troy" (among others) which I personally liked, but again there were people for and against that film. So, from my view, I think those against this film were probably also against "Troy" etc. I'd say keep an open mind and it may surprise you! If not, to each their own.

Wow, I did not expected I'd be laughing during most comedy parts of the movie. Usually spoofs as this one are incredibly stupid and irritating - take 'Meet the Spartans" for example, but this one, despite it's obvious stupidity, actually works. This movie is a mixed spoof of Brave Heart, Gladiator, 300,Troy and Alexander. The cast is great - I think the main reason those stars agreed to do the movie is in order to rejuvenate their careers, because few of them were quite big this time or another. In any case it works. Some jokes are really hilarious. I think it's a first time I gave a movie such as this one such high grade, and I have no regrets. It's a nice way to spend couple of hours in the evening.