Merlin's Apprentice

After sleeping for fifty years, the enchanter Merlin (Sam Neil) awakes weak and returns to the decadent Camelot, where he finds that the Holy Grail has vanished. With the kingdom under siege by the savage Rauskaug (Alexander Kalugin) that is helped by the evil sorceress Lady of the Lake (Miranda Richardson), Merlin seeks help with the thief and aspirant sorcerer Jack (John Reardon) to find the protection of the Holy Grail. However, he realizes that corruption has doomed Camelot.

I love movies about King Arthur, Merlin, the Holy Grail and the Knights of the Round Table. I tried to like "Merlin's Apprentice", but unfortunately it is long, boring, confused and corny. The screenplay shows a messy and silly story with many characters, but most of them are not well developed. Due to the restrained budget, the battle scenes are very weak and the scenes supposed to be funny are not. I loved the beauty of the actress Meghan Ory that I have seen for the first time, but her character Brianna should have been better developed and resolved. I did not like the performances of Christopher Jacot, Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson and Duncan Fraser. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Aprendiz de Merlin" ("Merlin's Apprentice")

I didn't actually think this movie would be that good, but I'm a sucker for anything Arthurian, so I put watched it. It didn't start so well, but I find it hard to ever stop watching a movie halfway through, and it turned around. It wasn't totally clichéd where you know from the beginning everyone is going to live happily ever after; at times it was even slightly morbid.

And it wasn't your average Camelot film; it was what happened after the fall of Arthur and the round table, and trying to find out why it did happen.

All in all it's a good film and if you like all things Camelot, like myself, watch it.

While the original mini-series was more charming and quirky than an actual Arthurian epic, "Merlin's Apprentice" doesn't even rise to that level. Don't misunderstand me...I have a genuine fondness for "Merlin" and own the DVD, watching it at least once a year. But "Merlin" had a tone and a theme that make it a pleasure to watch.

"Merlin's Apprentice" has competent cinematography, good lighting, decent editing, competent sound, and a lot of other qualities that are too often overlooked in recent films.

The script and direction, however, leave a lot to be desired. The story itself really does seem to have come from an after-school special. There's a heavy-handed politically-correct attitude that is definitely intended to teach kids some lessons about life as it should be. (The character of Brian is an egregious example of this, and it is an example of outright pandering to the PC crowd.) One thing that is sadly lacking is any sense of grandeur. The magic barely rises to the level of parlor tricks, making objects fly around the room or stopping an arrow in flight.

The direction of Wu leaves a lot to be desired as well. The actors are capable of much more, but Wu fails to bring it out for the camera.

Overall, though, it's worth watching, especially if you enjoyed the original.

Okay, first off, I nearly turned it off when the prologue began and I realized it truly was not a sequel to the beloved made-for-TV movie. The production value is low and the climax is rushed. It is missing the true tragedy and lore of the original Arthurian tales, yet at the same time holds onto the feeling of virtue and the loss of it that ended Camelot in the original legends. You can tell Richardson and Neil aren't as into the roles this time around (hey, a paycheck is a paycheck). There are some good one liners, good magic tricks, and one decent sword fight. John Reardon also stands out as being able to pull off his part with the same emotion as can be seen in the previous Merlin film. I would not call this movie a waste of time, I would call it mindless entertainment for the cheesy fantasy lover. Probably something most would prefer to catch on TV instead of spending money on.

Merlin has always been one of my favorite characters in all the wide world. I loved the original Sam Neill miniseries. Was I wrong, then, to expect this would be any good? Not at all. The film is a miserable disappointment, and deserves to vanish rapidly into the realm of forgetfulness where Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson in the original) now resides. The new characters are vapid and criminally underdeveloped... especially Brianna. Even Sam Neill seems to have dropped his acting skills at the door. While this story could have gone in any one of a thousand directions that would have been better, it had to be stupidly butchered. Never before have I been so embarrassed to watch anything, and, sadly, this has been captured on film and will now last forever.