L'apprenti de Merlin

After being tremendously impressed with 1998's "Merlin," I was excited to see that a sequel had been made. However, aside from Sam Neill as Merlin (and brief appearances by Miranda Richardson as the Lady of the Lake), there is no comparison to its much superior predecessor! The original had amazing special effects, a great cast, and wonderful performances. This has a handful of unknown and unimpressive actors walking around. (Picture a low-rent "Lord of the Rings"!) No surprises and nothing to impress. I only rate it as high as a "3" because I am such a fan of Arthurian legend, but even Arthurian fans shouldn't waste any time or money here!

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.

I really liked the original Merlin - it had good characters, script, effects, etc.

Now, several years on, general technology and quality of TV shows have improved....so why do they all seem so lacking in this?

Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson top the cast list as they are the only well known actors, and the only links to the original, yet they both spend so little time on the screen that they may as well not have been in it.

The story regarding Merlin seems to make little, or no, sense when compared to the time-line of the original movie - unless I missed something

And what is with the pig???

Sam Neill sleepwalks through this ultimate collection of uninteresting clichés.

I loved the original, and found this sequel quite by accident. Nothing could compare to the first, but this one stands well on its own. I found it hard to follow at first, but if you stick with it, it makes sense. Sam and Miranda are refreshing in their roles which have received a bit of an overhaul. Garwin Sanford (Narim-Stargate SG-1,Simon-Stargate Atlantis) and John Reardon do a really good job in their roles. The pig was funny. It reminds me of the horse in the first movie. Jack's Arcimedes? Who knows. True this one does not match the time line of the first one completely, but if you are familiar with the legend of Merlin, and you have a lot of fantasy creativity you can accept the changes with some stride. Hollywood does not do things in proper order with all the pieces fitting, I learned that long ago and have stopped expecting it. Take this movie for what it is, a unique romp in the world of an exceptional wizard, wisely played by Sam Neill.