Mythica 4: The Iron Crown

THE IRON CROWN is the fourth in the MYTHICA series of crowd-funded fantasy indies. Think of these as cosplay adventures with a budget a bit lower than those utilised by a particularly cheap SyFy Channel movie and you get the idea. This one's the best I've seen. Kevin Sorbo shows up at the outset for some brief exposition, then we're straight into a LORD OF THE RINGS-derivated action adventure template built around a chase format. You can forgive the cheesy CGI and acting as this is fast-paced and mildly enjoyable.

First off, the first three were light-hearted in a charming but serious way, this fourth is a comedy of a less serious nature, from a different director. Whilst they therefore don't match well in terms of continuity of feeling, if you can put that behind you and feel this as separate from the others, yet connected, it will work and can be enjoyed, so long as you don't actually mind a sillier version of the genre. Perhaps for some that may mean allowing a little time to elapse between seeing 3 and 4, and for others just entering with the right expectations about it, much as one may appreciate seeing how an artist can paint a subject in more than one interesting way. So I enjoyed it, maybe you will too. I did prefer the more serious charming form of the earlier episodes, but appreciated the variety this gave too.

I enjoy the Mythica movies. They're not great but they're fine and there aren't a lot of options for those of us that like fantasy stories. If you thought the first one was watchable, then I'd say watch the whole series since they're all roughly the same quality IMO.

The story is really compelling. I thought most of the acting was really good. It's a really ambitious project and this one actually looks really slick. I like this so much because a bunch of indies decided to try to make a cool fantasy film series and they've really pulled it off. The project itself gives me hope. (You need to watch them all in order.)

Episode 4 sees Marek and chums in pursuit of something or other, probably another bit of the Darkspore, in a pickup truck dressed entirely in old floorboards, while pursued by some bloke with tomahawks, a flying machine also made entirely of old floorboards, and assorted thingies in black bin liners. Eventually they end up in a shalliow lake where an ancient Egyptian bodybuilder hangs out. I now know what to expect. Production value in costume and locations, special effects ambitious but limited, acting adequate, fight choreography unconvincing, script OK, story a bit ho-hum. And there's usually a moment which makes you go "Oh, come on!" In this case, Marek is rolling around fumbling for her staff while the creepy bad thing which is trying to kill her... doesn't.

The fourth installment and a new director. Almost the entire film is set on a huge Mad Max-ish wagon. The visual effects are better than the previous films, but unfortunately the film is more comical. I enjoyed Dagen's comical remarks in the previous films and him being the film's comic relief, but it is taken to an entirely different level in this film - from all the characters. I must be honest it doesn't suit Marek's character. Eve Mauro was very bad as antagonist Admiral Borlund Hess and turned the film into a slapstick spectacle. I also missed the awesome music of the previous films. Nevertheless, it was still an entertaining fantasy adventure.