Mythica: A Quest for Heroes

I wasn't sure about this movie when I was considering whether or not to back it on Kickstarter, but I went for it anyway. Even after the Kickstarter campaign succeeded and I got the movie, it took me a while to actually watch it, not being sure what to expect from it, while having so many other promising movies and TV shows to watch.

But when I eventually did bother to insert the DVD into my PC's drive and start watching, I was pleasantly surprised, and by the time I got to the second half, I was beating myself up for not watching it earlier! Sure, the first half of the movie is a bit slow and the entire movie is far from being a masterpiece. There were long minutes I felt like this movie might end up being a disappointment after-all. But that feeling faded away very quickly, as I kept watching, and by the end of the movie, I was sure I was going to back the second movie on Kickstarter as well. At the time of typing these words (April 24th, 2015), the campaign is coming up on its final week, so if you're reading this in time, please consider giving your support. :)

...in a good way. Not even sure that's a thing anymore, but those of you of an age, and geekish as myself, will know what I'm talking about.

The story moves along well and is surprisingly well written. Acting is well done by the relatively unknown cast. If you are a fan of Sorbo, besides being in the promo photos, his role is minimal(as in maybe 3 min screen time). Plot, well I'm not giving anything away telling you this is a fantasy quest movie, heck its in the title.

Direction is well done.

CGI is...ah...well...there is some CGI. Considering the extremely low crowd-funded budget it wasn't terrible. Costumes and creatures weren't bad.

Overall, not a bad way to spend a couple hours and worth a binge watch of the whole series if you have Amazon Prime.

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).

Was expecting more from this movie, as it did look interesting and with the right execution it could have been a fun film. In the end it wasn't bad but also not good, rather a mediocre movie with some things to make it watchable.

Melanie Stone does give a great performance as the most interesting and well-rounded character of the movie., though most of the characters while stereotypical were likable and engaging. The special effects are above average, looking rightly proportioned , don't look too cartoony and actually looking complete, the ogre is pretty intimidating. The music score is very grand and rousingly and nicely orchestrated, fitting nicely within the movie, the theme song is pretty catchy. The costumes are very nicely done and give a real sense of fantasy adventure.

For all those good things though, there were a lot of ways in which Mythica: A Quest for Heroes was lacking. The scenery can be drab, and photography is unfocused with erratic shots and fuzzy picture quality. The sound sounds very dull, and tends to favour the music, making its grandeur occasionally rather too grand, drowning out the dialogue. Not that the dialogue was anything to write about, it does sound rather trite and stilted with some awkward humour. The story does lack excitement, suspense and fun, it's all a bit predictable and bland, while the action is undermined by unexciting and too safe choreography, confused and sloppy editing and a lack of interaction between the human characters and the creatures.

The direction does show occasional inspiration but is mostly flat and the acting is at times stiff, especially from Nicola Posener. Kevin Sorbo's screen time is very limited (only five minutes) and he has next to nothing to do in this time, he can be entertaining but he goes through the motions here. Overall, not bad, not good; a mediocre quest with its moments. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Take every standard fantasy cliche from popular fiction, role playing game conventions, fantasy cosplay etc and behold you get Mythica! A series of predictable adventures at the fan fiction level of writing, acting and effects. There is a good chance that as you watch this you will find yourself thinking, "this is just like..." or, "this reminds me of..." Ut's not exactly bad though, it's just that there is absolutely zero originality. The creatures, the characters, the quest(s) lack any sense of genuine depth, and are entirely derivative. With that said, I didn't dislike it. I just wish it was more genuinely creative and compelling.