Based on Ursula K. Le Guin’s book, this Sci Fi Channel miniseries tells the tale of Ged (Shawn Ashmore, X2: X-MEN UNITED), a young man who dreams of becoming a wizard. Ged displays great gifts of wizardry, which attracts the attention of wizard Ogion (Danny Glover, LETHAL WEAPON), who has little patience for the young wanna-be wizard. So Ged heads off to a wizard school where he meets his good friend Vetch (Chris Gauthier, FREDDY VS. JASON) and causes himself a lot of trouble.
In the meantime, Ged dreams of a beautiful priestess named Tenar (Kristin Kreuk, TV’s SMALLVILLE), who trains under the tutelage of High Priestess Thar (Isabella Rossellini, BLUE VELVET). What the priestesses don’t know is that one of their own – Kossil (Jennifer Calvert, THE WAITING ROOM) – has teamed up with the warring King Tygath (Sebastian Roche, 15 MINUTES), who wants to unleash the power of the Nameless Ones to make himself immortal.
The first episode takes a little while to get started, but after a half hour the story kicks into high gear. The plot does barrow a lot of elements from other fantasy stories, but presents them in an interesting new way. I enjoyed the tale, but I felt some moments got short changed due to time. The film builds up crisis and then just abandons them. This could be the same in the book, but I do not know.
I won’t comment on the visual effects, because I saw a rough cut of the film, which contained only 70% of the final effects. I will say that from the finished work that I did see, television production values continue to get more and more impressive. Another highlight of the film was the performances of the young leads, who actually outshine the star names Glover and Rossellini. Ashmore is convincing and likable as the rash, young wizard. Gauthier as Vetch is supposed to be the comic sidekick, which can sometimes be a deadly role. He, however, aided by solid writing, makes the role believable and funny, but in a very natural way. But the real stand out for me was Kreuk. She is a superstar in the making. I’ve never seen her work before on SMALLVILLE or EUROTRIP, but she can really act and her beauty is astonishing. She is a name to really watch out for.
In the end, the film was an enjoyable fantasy that brought me into its world with likable characters and an interesting twist on the world of wizards and dragons.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
