SAGA - Curse of the Shadow (2014)

Fresh and Exciting

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This is a fun film! I have to agree with other reviewers that this film is more like DnD than LotR!! Orcs, Dwarfs, Elves and Man team up for this pleasant, sometimes humorous, adventure.Yes this is a "B"udget film but it's still worth watching if you like "B" fantasies. It's good as is, I can only imagine just how great it would be with a larger budget. I actually like this film better than some of the large budget films of today... this one is very entertaining to those of us that love the DnD/Tolkien worlds.I have to say "Well done!" to those that made this film! I had a blast watching this. I'd love to get a copy of it for my library of films.9.5/10

1. After seeing how horrible the Hobbit films were, (which was surprising because Peter really did a good treatment of Lord of the Rings) a movie like this is honestly better produced with barely any graphics, its almost all old school type effects. 2. It should be corny, but its refreshingly isn't, its compelling in a way some big budget films completely lack. 3. Its more of a TV quality brought to feature film length film it probably doesn't deserve 8/10 but it get props for doing something with a budget that is 1/100th of others. Enjoyable to the end, wish more like this was made, most low budget fantasy, starts with barely there actors who you cannot believe combined with horrible computer effects that just subtract from the film. Here they do it right, not over the top, with people who don't act corny, if not completely polished as the best fantasy films should be, its still enjoyable with a even paced adventure and music that fits the scenes.

I'm not one for low budget sci-fi, but Arrowstorm Entertainment is filling a Hollywood void with good ole Dungeons & Dragons fantasy and I had to see it.Truthfully, my expectations were fairly low, and the movie exceeded my expectations. I thought the cinematography, costumes, and make-up were pretty d@mn good! Not sure what the budget was, but from having seen plenty of 'behind-the-scenes' clips, stunt choreography in someone's living room... it's gotta be low. Kudos to all involved in giving this film the fantasy 'look'! The acting? Well, whatever. One shouldn't expect an Oscar winning performance from a relatively unknown low budget sci-fi/fantasy film. I think the acting exceeded the dialogue in the script. I particularly enjoyed Danielle Chuchran and her fight sequences. She's extremely graceful and deserves a lot of credit for keeping the film interesting.It is unfortunate that what I enjoyed least about the movie is the only major component to the film that is NOT dependant on budget. The script/story itself. So often when you have a producer(s) that writes his own script, no one's really in a position to give them a reality check on something that doesn't work - our heroes are attacked by one-armed dwarf dude (who was actually one of the coolest characters... who sort of didn't matter at all in the story... I guess they just really wanted a cool dwarf dude?) and our heroes say "What is that... some kind of magic?", and 5 seconds later "Quick! He's reloading!". So, Kullimon is now fully aware it's a gun? What? Let me start with dialogue and subtext... there was so much 'on the nose dialogue' in this script, I'm considering comping both Mr. Faller and Mr. Griffin a class on subtext at The Writer's Store. For example... poor Nemyt has been shot multiple times, and slashed/cut-open and lies still on the ground. Kullimon cradles her and is forced to say the line... "she's dying".The character development was kind of there, although all three protagonists from the get go weren't allowing audiences to bond or feel for them. Nemyt for instance is the crude bounty hunter that likes to spit on people. Once, perhaps... but I think she did it three or four times? So why do we care that she's been cursed, other than the fact that she's cute, and the audience knows that she's supposed to be the protagonist? Moving along to the story itself... I think I was at about one hour before I thought... where the heck are they going exactly? The only thing I clued into was that Nemyt wanted rid of her curse. I know there's some evil God that's going to rise up, but there's really no sense of urgency or timing on this event. The demon God just appears as our heroes arrive out of convenience it seems. In fact, most of the plot occurred out of convenience. "Oh look, here's Kullimon tied to a pole right in front of us... we could use another hero, come with us." There were a few scenes that added nothing to the plot, and they had the worst special effects - the first big bad dude that kinda sorta looked like a minotaur? Don't know who he was, exactly, or why he was there... but that was the worst SFX in the movie, when I was pretty impressed with the other effects that were pulled off.I really wish they had worked harder on the story, or had a professional writer. IMDb indicates the movie scores a 4.7/10. For me, with a better script this movie could easily be a 6/7. Again, it's a shame the greatest weakness was NOT the budget. Having said that, I was entertained and I enjoyed the movie because I was impressed at what Arrowstorm achieved with the resources they had.

I'll say this right off the bat: This is a low-budget film, and it can't be entirely faulted for that. The kind of pitfalls you would expect from a low-budget movie are all here: Cheesy effects, poor makeup, limited sets, over-processed visuals (as a result of limited sets).Normally, these things would be forgivable if the acting, story, choreography, and cinematography outshine them. In this case, they simply do not.Everything you see in the first 5 minutes lets you know exactly what you're in store for. A terrible CGI dragon is being ridden by an orc in very unconvincing makeup. The orc is shot down by an elf with the cheapest color contact lenses this side of your local mall, and a fight scene ensues. This is where you see the combination of poor direction and framing coupled with extremely inept choreography. Hell, there's a point in the first fight scene where you can CLEARLY see the elf MISS her kick to the orc's face by about a foot, and he still grunts and flies backwards as if it connected. That's the kind of thing you either re-shoot or cut in post.This is the kind of quality you might expect to find in a feature-length YouTube production -- though that might be insulting to some of the more accomplished YouTube content producers.