Have made no secret in the past of intensely disliking, and even outright hating a lot, a vast majority of The Asylum's (near-universally maligned for good reason) output, though there is curiosity as to whether they are capable of making something good and compulsive about their output's badness. Admittedly, The Asylum do have a small group of watchable films and the occasional (big emphasis on that word) above average one, unfortunately outweighed by the lacklustre at best and often dreadful films they churn out.
Did not watch 'In the Name of Ben-Hur' with high expectations. It looked horrid and some of it sounded ridiculous. Saw it however out of curiosity, as part of my low-budget film quest (yes, have got a good deal of quests going on, some of them completest ones) and especially because the story of Ben-Hur has lent itself well to film.
A story that deserved an infinitely better film than 'In the Name of Ben-Hur'. It really does Ben-Hur an injustice and manages to be even worse than it looked and even more of a mess than indicated in the premise. That it is not a waste of a good concept film made me less annoyed than some other films seen recently. My annoyance though is aimed at how poorly done in every single way 'In the Name of Ben-Hur' is. 2016's 'Ben-Hur' was not a good film at all but one appreciates that film a little more when watching the amateur hour execution seen here.
Nothing good going on here. The acting lacks any kind of passion or emotion, even skill or direction. No exceptions here, Jonno Davies especially is completely out of his depth.
'In the Name of Ben-Hur's' uncharismatic, wimpy and annoying character writing and writing that is far too excessively ridiculous to be guilty pleasure cheese and too awkward and dull to be tongue in cheek works against them. As well as non-existent direction.
Direction that fails to convey any urgency, tension, fun, suspense or emotion in the numerous scenes that need them. The action-oriented scenes are the complete anti-thesis of exciting, are poorly filmed and looks so awkward in the choreography. The whole story is just lifeless, completely fails to make any sense at all and on the wrong side of daft that it's insultingly ridiculous. Nothing suspenseful or fun here.
Visually, 'In the Name of Ben-Hur' looks cheap as sin, with an overuse of truly risible special effects that never gels with the setting or looks real, dizzying camera work and editing and shoe-string budget production and costume design. The music is ill-fitting and not appealing on the ear. Alan Calton, the only actor who tries, is the least bad thing about the film.
In conclusion, really bad. 2/10 Bethany Cox
