Mythica opens with a temple in a rocky desert being sacked by orcs who are led by a Necromancer (not in the usual sense, since he drains life force rather than creating the undead). Two sisters – Teela & Caeryn – flee with a sacred stone. Before they can escape, Caeryn is abducted by an ogre.
Marek (Melanie Stone) is a slave with dreams of wizardry. She visits the wizard Gojun Pye (played by Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame) who encourages her to take up a life of adventure. Because she has a bad leg, she is slow getting back to her master’s house. Worse, she is attacked by ruffians who see that she is a slave out after curfew. A drunken fighter subdues the ruffians and Marek rushes away but things get worse. Her master’s money is stolen by a charming rogue and she is caught soon thereafter. Brought back to her master as a prisoner, he must pay to take custody of her. No sooner has he paid than he begins to whip her and tell how he is going to sell her to a brothel. The stresses of the day bring forth her latent necromantic powers and she hurls her master back with the force of her magic, magic that is obviously like that of the necromancer leading the orcs. She must flee lest the townsfolk slay her.
Now an adventurer, Marek finds her way to an adventurers' tavern. There she meets Teela (Nicola Posener), who is seeking heroes to help her rescue her sister. Teela has no money to hire a skilled team and declines Marek’s offer since she is obviously a novice. Marek claims to have a team. She recruits the fighter who saved her from the ruffians, a fellow named Thane (Adam Johnson). Then they forcibly recruit Dagen (Jake Stormoen), the charming thief who stole Marek’s master’s money. They meet Teela the following morning.
The party is formed: Marek the Magician, Teela the Cleric, Thane the Fighter, and Dagen the Rogue. Oh, Dagen is an elf though he doesn’t look like any elf I’ve seen before. Our happy little band sets out on their first adventure. As the central character, it isn’t much of a surprise that Marek is usually the one rescuing her allies or finishing off the various foes.
This is the first of a trilogy of films and clearly echoes PC games with a role-playing bent. I was often reminded of Diablo but there were some very D&Dish moments too. As this is part of a trilogy, Marek has a lot of room for her character to develop. She is a slave, a cripple, a necromancer, a magician, and who knows what else.
The big failing is that the women dress rationally. There are no chain mail bikinis or midriff revealing gowns. Teela’s a looker but her priestly garb is quite modest. Granted, the adventure takes place in a landscape surprisingly similar to Utah where there was frequently snow on the ground.
Thane is the unintentional comic relief since he gets beaten unconscious in almost every fight. The best was when the two women were helping him limp away from a band of orcs and he took an arrow in the back. Every monster had his number. By the end of the movie, it was just hilarious.
Marek (Melanie Stone) is a slave with dreams of wizardry. She visits the wizard Gojun Pye (played by Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame) who encourages her to take up a life of adventure. Because she has a bad leg, she is slow getting back to her master’s house. Worse, she is attacked by ruffians who see that she is a slave out after curfew. A drunken fighter subdues the ruffians and Marek rushes away but things get worse. Her master’s money is stolen by a charming rogue and she is caught soon thereafter. Brought back to her master as a prisoner, he must pay to take custody of her. No sooner has he paid than he begins to whip her and tell how he is going to sell her to a brothel. The stresses of the day bring forth her latent necromantic powers and she hurls her master back with the force of her magic, magic that is obviously like that of the necromancer leading the orcs. She must flee lest the townsfolk slay her.
Now an adventurer, Marek finds her way to an adventurers' tavern. There she meets Teela (Nicola Posener), who is seeking heroes to help her rescue her sister. Teela has no money to hire a skilled team and declines Marek’s offer since she is obviously a novice. Marek claims to have a team. She recruits the fighter who saved her from the ruffians, a fellow named Thane (Adam Johnson). Then they forcibly recruit Dagen (Jake Stormoen), the charming thief who stole Marek’s master’s money. They meet Teela the following morning.
The party is formed: Marek the Magician, Teela the Cleric, Thane the Fighter, and Dagen the Rogue. Oh, Dagen is an elf though he doesn’t look like any elf I’ve seen before. Our happy little band sets out on their first adventure. As the central character, it isn’t much of a surprise that Marek is usually the one rescuing her allies or finishing off the various foes.
This is the first of a trilogy of films and clearly echoes PC games with a role-playing bent. I was often reminded of Diablo but there were some very D&Dish moments too. As this is part of a trilogy, Marek has a lot of room for her character to develop. She is a slave, a cripple, a necromancer, a magician, and who knows what else.
The big failing is that the women dress rationally. There are no chain mail bikinis or midriff revealing gowns. Teela’s a looker but her priestly garb is quite modest. Granted, the adventure takes place in a landscape surprisingly similar to Utah where there was frequently snow on the ground.
Thane is the unintentional comic relief since he gets beaten unconscious in almost every fight. The best was when the two women were helping him limp away from a band of orcs and he took an arrow in the back. Every monster had his number. By the end of the movie, it was just hilarious.
Good fun and worth watching.
This is the Arrowstorm epic. The trilogy has since expanded to 5 movies, the fifth of which is currently in post-production.
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