sindarian
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
15 years
Reviews
Midnight Chronicles (2009)
Midnight Chronicles the Prequel
Let's start this off with a disclaimer: I am not a professional movie critic. I do not have a degree in fine or preforming arts, and I am in no way involved with the motion picture industry. What I am is a fan of fantasy and science fiction.
After watching the latest travesties put forth by the SciFi (sorry the SyFy) Channel, I find this film refreshing.
The costuming and cinematography were quite good. The feel of the movie was vaguely creepy and medieval. The intentional under-use of fantasy race main characters was also greatly appreciated.
The acting was surprisingly good considering. In looking at the closing credits it looks like they hit up every community theater, ren-fest and college theater department in WI and MN. There was plenty of decent acting in this movie. Academy award no, good, yes.
There were even decent special effects. Cut people bleed; monsters sounded creepy; magic was understated but you could tell it was in use. For a film that was not of a 'Hollywood' budget it came together quite well.
Now for the only 2 things that I had a problem with. The title and the script.
The script manged to keep me involved without being heavy handed on the morals, and it did manage to portray other races as being different and definitely not human without being campy. The feel that most of the characters didn't know what was going on was at first a little trying, but then it helped me identify with the characters. However, the dialog could have been a bit more polished. For example, a dwarven tunnel reference did nothing to help the story and took away from the feel of the movie. Also, the hero's back story was a little weak (but then again there wasn't really time).
The title? 'Midnight Chronicles' is a good title but 'Midnight Chronicles – And so it Begins' would have been better.
This brings me back to the opening night of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I was sitting in front of a group of stoned rednecks and as the credits rolled one exclaimed: "Tha's it?!?! Whur's da res' of it?!?!" I can now understand his confusion. While just about anyone who can read knows that The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of books, there is no such well known fact about the Midnight Chronicles. However as an hour into the movie there was still back story emerging, I can't say I was totally surprised by the huge number of plot lines that were still open at the end.
Overall, this movie is better than most fantasy movies made in the Hollywood and SyFy machines. Perhaps they could learn from this film. If you like fantasy movies you will like/love this one. If you are expecting explosions, sex, or a conanesque slaughter fest give it a pass.
I look forward to the sequel!
After watching the latest travesties put forth by the SciFi (sorry the SyFy) Channel, I find this film refreshing.
The costuming and cinematography were quite good. The feel of the movie was vaguely creepy and medieval. The intentional under-use of fantasy race main characters was also greatly appreciated.
The acting was surprisingly good considering. In looking at the closing credits it looks like they hit up every community theater, ren-fest and college theater department in WI and MN. There was plenty of decent acting in this movie. Academy award no, good, yes.
There were even decent special effects. Cut people bleed; monsters sounded creepy; magic was understated but you could tell it was in use. For a film that was not of a 'Hollywood' budget it came together quite well.
Now for the only 2 things that I had a problem with. The title and the script.
The script manged to keep me involved without being heavy handed on the morals, and it did manage to portray other races as being different and definitely not human without being campy. The feel that most of the characters didn't know what was going on was at first a little trying, but then it helped me identify with the characters. However, the dialog could have been a bit more polished. For example, a dwarven tunnel reference did nothing to help the story and took away from the feel of the movie. Also, the hero's back story was a little weak (but then again there wasn't really time).
The title? 'Midnight Chronicles' is a good title but 'Midnight Chronicles – And so it Begins' would have been better.
This brings me back to the opening night of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I was sitting in front of a group of stoned rednecks and as the credits rolled one exclaimed: "Tha's it?!?! Whur's da res' of it?!?!" I can now understand his confusion. While just about anyone who can read knows that The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of books, there is no such well known fact about the Midnight Chronicles. However as an hour into the movie there was still back story emerging, I can't say I was totally surprised by the huge number of plot lines that were still open at the end.
Overall, this movie is better than most fantasy movies made in the Hollywood and SyFy machines. Perhaps they could learn from this film. If you like fantasy movies you will like/love this one. If you are expecting explosions, sex, or a conanesque slaughter fest give it a pass.
I look forward to the sequel!