houseofjames Coming into this film, I had no pretensions. I am only somewhat familiar with the Midnight RPG that this is based on, and I must admit, the setting is one of the best parts about this deathly slow film. At an hour and forty minutes, it certainly feels its length.Set in a kingdom held under the weight of a near eternal darkness, the bulk of the story follows a 'Legate', a sort of warrior/mage that are the inquisitors of the world, doing the bidding of the godlike 'Darkness'. There is a lot of mythology in the story, way to much for its ambitions. I found the setting to be tantalizing and evocative. The filmmakers used most of their budget on moody VFX shots of cityscapes filled with towers and castles, but left little for the costumes and actors. I swear, most of the actors in the film were culled from the nearest community theater where the film was shot. With the exception of the darkly intriguing Charles Hubbel as the Legate Mag Kiln, none of the actors are interesting in the least.In the end, the film really does try to tell an intrigue laden story, but it is constantly sabotaged by its own ambitions. This story and world may have worked in the hands of a better director, better actors and a more coherent, less busy script. If you're interested, check it out, otherwise skip it.

elmerflp I thought this looked good initially. The setting is a mythical world, not unlike the Tolkien Lord of the Rings trilogy, complete with Orcs. Boy, was I mistaken! After wasting about an hour and a half on this mess, I must relegate it to that select group of bombs which leaves the viewer saying to himself "I just lost 90 minutes of my life which I can never regain." While the sets and costumes are OK, the plot and the acting are as aimless and gruesome as a zombie. I just wish the script writer had shared with the audience what the underlying story was, so we could get a better idea of the origin, purpose, and destination of this tale. At the end of the movie, the viewer has a disappointing realization that the whole film is some sort of prequel, but it sure would have been nice to know this up front. Please, avoid this turkey!

Siamois Picture a world very similar to that of Tolkien's Middle Earth. You've got orcs, elves, a dark bad guy much like Sauron and everything but with one significant twist: 100 years ago, the bad guy won. This is the world of Midnight Chronicles.Some context: this world first appear as a "Campaign setting" for the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. A campaign setting, for the non-initiated simply being a world backdrop for your game adventures. Christian T. Petersen is primarily known as the president of Fantasy Flight Games, a company that excels at making various board games, roleplaying games and also imports and translates several amazing board games from Europe. This is his first foray as a director and although I've seen worse, there really is a sense that he did not have the technical knowledge to pull this extremely ambitious project.There are a few positives, though. Charles Hubbell is pretty good in the role of the main character, Mag Kiln. The character has a little bit of Shades of grey but essentially, is an envoy of "the bad guy". As such, it is fascinating because usually, protagonists in epic fantasy are clearly "good guys". The only other actor who is decent is Sam L. Landman who plays Kruce. He is Mag Kiln's sidekick and definitely has the best lines in the movie and injects a bit of wit in what is otherwise an overly dramatic affair. The rest of the cast ranges from decent to really bad. The writing doesn't help either. Many of the characters are bland stereotypes, while others do seem to have depth which is ruined by a confusing plot. And this is what basically kills any hope this movie has: the story overfeeds us with awkward plot exposition. There are several characters to keep track of but few are given enough attention for us to care. It has been said Midnight Chronicles was to act as a calling card, a pilot for a potential TV series and this shows. After all these characters are presented and a plot that moves very slowly, the movie ends abruptly on a less than thrilling sequence. As if you had to put "DVD2" in your player. It's a little heartbreaking for me to review this labor of love. The attempt at making a darker fantasy is laudable. And although the whole movie looks amateurish, it must have cost the producers (8 of them, including Petersen) an arm and a leg. The introduction sequence alone features tons of extras on a road. There are horse scene, several sets were build and the 3D is amateurish but still pretty. It all comes down to writing, acting and direction. I can feel the love in this independent project but the skills are lacking. Here's hoping it's still picked for a TV series as there is much potential if additional writers tighten this up.

taruc_91744 Not bad..I enjoyed it...don't get me wrong...I am a very picky person when it comes to movies. The best ones I've seen in the last couple of years, just to give you a taste of where I am coming from, are movies such as Sin Nombre, Children of Men, Let the right one in and Pan's Labyrinth just to name a few. I am starving for Fantasy movies such as this one. I don't know why for the life of me there has not been any good movies of this genre lately, I would think these type of movies would make a whole lot of money. Can we get a proper Ad&d movie at least?? PLEASE!!! LOTR was okay...but cmon..really? that's the best you can do with that kind of budget...This movie has a lot of potential...if it is the first part of a series but, If it's a stand alone then ughh Ill give it a 4 of 10...please please do not tell me this is a one parter....that's all i wanted to say...