Rating: B-
Dir: Jake Stormoen
Star: Will Kemp, Ryann Bailey, Nate Morley, Paul Cartwright
This is a reboot of the Mythica franchise: a five-film series of fantasy adventures which appeared in the mid-2010’s. Though small in budget, they had a lot of heart. I enjoyed most of them, and was sorry to see the saga come to an end. I was therefore pleasantly surprised when a new entry popped up on Tubi, and it comes within an ace of being very, very good, simply by avoiding the usual clichés of the genre. The bulk of it takes place in an inn beset by a storm, where a group of characters end up to wait for better weather, almost all of whom have their own agendas and secrets. If it makes you imagine a D&D version of The Hateful Eight, you’re not wrong.
So there’s a taciturn bounty hunter known only as “The Stranger” (Kemp), transporting a mysterious cargo. A dwarven inn-keeper, and his servants Arlin (Bailey) and Erid (Morley), both of whom have hidden talents. A vigilante marshal (Cartwright), intent on adding more notches to his belt. And so on. Tensions and suspicions are high, because a notorious local witch is reported to have wiped out a nearby village, and may now be coming to the inn, to finish off Erid. While it’s obviously a fantasy environment, the approach here is very ‘mundane’ and down-to-earth. Indeed, after one of the residents is found murdered, it almost feels like an Agatha Christie whodunnit, anchored by an excellent performance from Kemp.
By keeping things in a limited location, and not trotting out the usual monsters and magic, it’s a fresh approach to the genre, and all the better for it. This is strongly character-driven, and the plot keeps you on your toes as well, trying to figure out who wants to do what, and to whom. Sadly, Stormoen, who was one of the regular performers in the original movies and is making his feature debut, can’t quite commit to this approach throughout. The Stranger’s cargo escapes, and what follows the rest of the way is much more familiar – and, consequently, less interesting, in part a result of certain visual effects which look like they were funded on Kickstarter. Because they indeed were.
This takes place a couple of decades after the climactic battle against evil which finished off the first series, with things still fairly chaotic and lawless. Previous knowledge of these films is not required, though you may get more out of some “historical” references if you are a fan. If not, you should still find yourself being pulled in by the characters, though you may be a little disappointed in a couple of the ones which survive, presumably to go on to future installments. Maybe they’ll grow on me with time. Still, this is a lovely throwback to the sword and sorcery genre which once populated whole shelves in video stores, and while imperfect, I found the flaws often worked in its overall favour. The heart certainly remains.