In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds [Blu-ray] [2011] [US Import]

I'd agree with the other reviewers that said that Dolph really holds this film together. Probably more than anything else, Dolph Lundgren is the reason I bought this film before seeing it. Dolph's performance does not disappoint. He's always been a larger than life presence on screen, and this film is no exception. He's also smart enough to not take the material too seriously and, therefore, have a good time with it. His smart-aleck delivery of many of his lines is right on and often very funny, intentionally so.

The second reason I was curious about this film is because of the director, Uwe Boll. Uwe's career is much maligned, that's no secret. But, Uwe's films have a lot more going for them than people give them credit for. First of all, is Boll's uncanny ability to assemble some of most interesting casts that I've ever seen put together. He hasn't just done this once; he does it consistently. Secondly, Boll's films are always well photographed. They always look great, and there are often some surprisingly beautiful shots of natural scenery. Thirdly, his films often have very good musical scores. In the Name of the King 1 and 2 are perfect examples of the quality of material that Boll's composers deliver. Lastly, no matter the budget, Boll always seems to set out to make big movies. This enthusiasm is evident in all of the films of his I've seen.

That being said, In the Name of the King 2 is not a film that you can necessarily enjoy with a straight face. You have to be willing to understand that this is a film that is meant to be taken light-heartedly and simply enjoyed for laughs both intentional and unintentional. If you're in the kind of demographic that enjoys cheesy Direct to DVD action/adventure films than you'll probably love this. It's a wisecrackin' good time!

Also, honorable mention should be given to Lochlyn Monro. He's very entertaining as the king.

After reading a reviewer with "Hated the first, and this one was worse!" in the title and "This one made the first one look great" in said reviews body of text, I decided I would take a go at reviewing this peice with some theme of coherance.
Upon rating movies, many questions must be asked. Is it comparitive, and to what? The Transformers Trilogy looks like the godfather or LOTR trilogy in comparison to the Troll or evil bong trilogy. So do you look to quality of scripting, camera shots, pacing and acting etc? Or do you rate on pure entertainment value, IE how much you like it? My awnser is a mixture of all 3.

For starters, this is a movie shot on a $7.5 million dollar budget, independantly financed straight to DVD, and belonging to the fantasy action adventure genre. It contains a dragon. Similar in those terms is Eragon, a $100 million movie(that sucked). My expectations are low.

This film, directed by the infamous Uwe Boll, whos work ranges from solid, thought-provoking and intense or hilarious(Darfur, Rampage, Postal) to damnright incoherant disjointed messes (Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne). Some of his movies are laugh-at bad (house of the dead). The Star, Dulph Lundgren, is also a cult-action actor of the same calabor, from ranging from rocky IV(4), to things like Master of the universe. This film is undoubtedly trying to bank on "The Expendables Actor" effect which brought him back into the spot light. Also present is other actors including ex-model Natassia Malthe.

So then onto the movie and the Plot: Granger (dulph), is a vet who teaches Karate in a contempory setting.Then one day, uninspired ninja's attack him in this house, and he is pulled back through time vortex to fufill an ancient prophecy. This is the premise which is overkilled a little, its GOOD V BAD. War torn world of Ehb needs saving by killing a evil overlord, which, being 50 years after the 1st movie, hasn't much relation but Granger is a decendant of the king bloodline.

Now, Dulphs acting in places was humourus. He looked out of place, not only with his modern clothing but his general attitude. This looked like a pay-check for him, where he appeared to have fun on the way. As with the first, some nice scenary's present along with Authentic costumes, but it is hampered by its budget somewhat. The Sleek Visuals does wonders in propelling the film and hiding its low-budget roots, and its in all technically competant if a little bland in its music and editing. At the end a hastily-esembled CGI Dragon appeared. It was slightly Anorexic, but totally AWESOME. LOL what is this movie? In the end all is resolved and goes back to normal. An Arc we see so often, but not like this where it turns into a conscious self-parady of hollywood conventions.

In fact, The commentary consists of amusing rants on the hollywood-film indistry by Uwe Boll along with some background on making the movie.

All in all, this is a good movie for its budget, totally applicable to drunken watching with mates or lighter viewing with children. Fantacy sword violence, with little in the way of sex or profanity. If you liked the first, your enjoy this one although admitadly is isn't as good or as much fun. It's good for what it is, but won't win awards. Mediocre.

Everyone is bashing this movie mainly because they don't like uwe boll. I only watched this because of Dolph. Not the best or worst movie i've watched but Dolph's punch lines made me laugh. If your a fan of Dolph its worth watching. It only had a budget of 7 million so what do people expect production wise. My only complaint is the camera work...a little to unsteady at times. Leave reality behind for 90 minutes and watch it for what it is.