In the Name of the King - A Dungeon Siege Tale Parent Guide

In the Name of the King is a fantasy-based script, based on the role-playing video game Dungeon Siege. The story features hordes of mindless, bloodthirsty Krug warriors controlled by Gallian (Ray Liotta), an evil sorcerer hidden in the dank, recesses of the castle. From his vantage point, Gallian plots to overthrow King Konreid (Burt Reynolds) and inaugurate the sovereign’s loathsome, cowardly nephew (Matthew Lillard) as a puppet monarch. But his plans to topple the regime don’t account for Farmer (Jason Statham), a quiet, hardworking man whose wife (Claire Forlani) is kidnapped when the marauding Krugs descend on the village of Stonebridge.

Arming himself with a broadsword, Farmer joins his old mentor Norick (Ron Perlman) and his brother-in-law Bastian (Will Sanderson) as they set out to avenge the deaths of countless townsfolk and rescue the captives. During his campaign, Farmer is sought out by the King’s own mystic Merick (John Rhys-Davis) who senses some power in the unpretentious crop grower. But despite Merick’s invitation, Farmer is reluctant to enlist until he sees the enormity of the opposing forces. While he eventually agrees to fight along side Commander Tarish (Brian J. White) and his troops, he still eagerly takes the opportunity to slip away from the main battlefield by volunteering for a dangerous infiltration mission.

From the opening credits of this two-hour epic, audiences are besieged with endless battle scenes. Although sanitized of senseless blood and gore, the depictions prove to be intense as men are shot, slashed and decapitated during the conflicts. Unfortunately, the clashes do little to move the storyline forward. Feeling more like diversions, the script jumps aimlessly between the burgeoning casts of soldiers, forest fairies, prisoners and royals.

Though magical powers, massive armies, black clad ninjas and buxom female combatants may be components of the gaming genre, the side stories inherent in that style of entertainment fail to convert seamlessly to film. Rather than trying to pack every element on to the screen, filmmakers should have trimmed down their cast or left the Farmer to plow his rows in the gaming world.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.