Poster art for "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale."

Gifts + Promos

Fandango Gift Card

Give the gift of movies with Fandango Bucks Gift Certificates! Design your own gift card, or choose from our collection.

Rock of Ages GWP

Buy Rock of Ages tickets to any Regal Theater Showing & receive a FREE song download!

Madagascar 3 Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a wild family getaway to San Diego!

Need Help?
Oh No!
Avg. Critic Score: 15 out of 100 Overwhelming dislike Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
12 OK for kids 12+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 50
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    A second-rate regurgitation of "The Lord of the Rings." Everything about it, down to the set and costume design, apes Peter Jackson's epic trilogy. However, while "The Lord of the Rings" was a grand story of scope and power, In the Name of the King feels small in more ways than one. Read full review

  • 30
    Los Angeles Times |

    Its convictionless competence is merely dull, denying the pleasures of an outright howler without providing much else. Read full review

  • 25
    The Onion A.V. Club | Scott Tobias

    Cultists will be happy to discover that In The Name Of The King bears all the so-bad-it's-good hallmarks of a classic Boll production. Read full review

  • 25
    TV Guide | Maitland McDonagh

    Director Uwe Boll sticks with what he knows -- how to turn video games into dull, cheap-looking movies. Read full review

  • 25
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    This is the sort of movie where men stand blankly over dead loved ones, then start digging. Masculine stoicism or emotional botox? You decide. Read full review

  • 20
    The New York Times | Laura Kern

    An awkward "Lord of the Rings" knockoff, it features both elaborate battles and bumbling humor, though it's never quite clear when you should be laughing. Read full review

  • 20
    L.A. Weekly |

    As numbing and depressing to watch as suits hammering out a film-packaging deal one venal clause at a time. Read full review

  • 11
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    Who among us can explain the enigma wrapped in a riddle surrounded by fierce, ravening, razor-toothed conundrums that is German director Uwe Boll? Read full review

  • 10
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    It's completely undone by its terrible screenplay, inept direction, oppressive musical score and muddy visual palette. Read full review

  • 10
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    A plodding patchwork of derivative fantasy-adventure, medieval production design, risible dialogue, unimpressive CGI trickery and haphazardly edited action sequences. Read full review

View more reviews for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 12+ LOTR copycat is so bad it's good -- for laughs.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this is an epic fantasy adventure in the style of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Despite the overwhelming number of negative reviews, tweens -- especially boys -- may want to see it, partly thanks to English action star Jason Statham (The Transporter). There are several intense, violent battles between orc-like creatures and the kingdom's army and civilians, but very few bloody deaths (it's obvious that many, many people die, but it's not graphic). The sexual content is limited to three or four kissing scenes between two couples -- two of which occur in a bed. The language is remarkably tame, and, this being a fantasy flick, there are no product tie-ins.
  • Families can talk about how this film was influenced by The Lord of the Rings movies. In addition to the presence of John Rhys-Davies (who played Gimli in Rings and is Magus Merick here), what scenes, characters, or themes reminded you of LOTR? Do you think the similarities were intentional? Why? Also, is the violence in this movie realistic or not? Why does that matter? Does the lack of strong language and graphic violence mean this film is targeted at younger audiences?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Gallian and the Duke are obsessed with power, even if it means destroying an entire kingdom. The rest of the main characters are all courageous and selfless, willing to die for their cause.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Several violent battles between the kingdom's townsfolk and soldiers against Gallian's troops of "gurks." Many deaths, but they're not graphic/bloody. A child is killed, but it happens off camera.
  • sex false3 Sex: Gallian and Muriella kiss and fool around (clothed) in bed; he makes reference to "taking" her virtue. Farmer and his wife also kiss a few times, including once in bed. Duke Fallow has a young woman sit on his lap while he gropes her chest and arms.
  • language false0 Language: Minor -- one or two uses of "damn" and "hell."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Duke Fallow drinks wine and asks for it before a duel.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

1.0

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… the kind of 'D' that also means 'A.' Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

So-so 1,605 fan reviews

Critics say

Oh No! See all critic reviews

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook