Jason Stathamhas starred in some popular action movies over the years, but he also starred in afantasy RPG video game adaptation,considered one of the worst films of his career. Statham has settled into a solid career as a modern-day action hero,with fun movies likeThe Beekeeper,The Meg,andCrankremaining popular with genre fans. While he has also taken a role in theFast and Furiousfranchise, he hasproudly avoided acting in superhero moviesbecause he wants to keep things realistic for his fight scenes.
However, there was one movie where things were very unrealistic, and it might be a good reasonStatham remains leery of more fantastical action movies. Statham has more than one of these movie types to his credit, withJohn Carpenter’sGhost of Mars,a horror sci-fi film, andThe One,an action sci-fi outing. However, it was his fantasy RPG adaptationIn the Name of the Kingthat remains the one movie that most Jason Statham fans prefer to forget about in his career.
Jason Statham Starred In A 2007 Adaptation Of The Dungeon Siege Games
Jason Statham Was A Farmer Who Rose Up To Fight Monsters
In 2001,Jason Statham accepted his first-ever full-on action movierole inGhosts of Mars,a John Carpenter horror movie that was a remake ofAssault on Precinct 13.This led to several great action movies, including leadingThe Transporterseries and starring in the brilliant action movieCrank. However, his career almost hit a huge stumbling block in 2008 whenhe starred in the adaptationIn the Name of the King,directed by Uwe Boll.
The movie wasbased on the RPG gameDungeon Siege,and Statham had some talented actors in the cast with him. Statham stars as Farmer, a man whose hometown ends up under siege by creatures known as the Krug, all controlled by Gallian (Ray Liotta), a man who wants to conquer and rule Ehb. Also appearing in the cast are names like Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman, Claire Forlani, Matthew Lillard, and Burt Reynolds.
Boll clearly had his eyes on creating something big likeThe Lord of the Rings.
Farmer heads off with two companions, Norick (Ron Perlman) and Bastian (Will Sanderson), to find Farmer’s wife, Solana (Forlani), taken prisoner by the Krug. Meanwhile, the movie has the mystery of who Farmer really is. In the end, Boll clearly had his eyes on creating something big likeThe Lord of the Rings, and despite the movie’s failure at the box office, it somehow continued on with two sequels coming in 2010 and 2011.
In The Name Of The King Received 2 Sequels, But Without Jason Statham
Dolph Lundgren & Dominic Purcell Replaced Jason Statham
There were twoIn the Name of the Kingsequels, butIn the Name of the King 2: Two Worldsfeatured none of the impressive cast from the first movie returning. Instead,the only big name in the movie was Dolph Lundgren,who plays a special forces soldier named Granger who was sucked into a time portal and ends up hundreds of years in the past. Still directed by Uwe Boll, the movie only has three critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (all negative) and a 16% audience score. It also had a much lower budget, at only $4.5 million.
Uwe Boll was back with a third movie,In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission, which knocked the budget down to $3.5 million and didn’t bring back Lundgren. Instead, Dominic Purcell took the lead role here as Hazen, another man sucked back into the past, the same as the last movie. This time, he is an assassin tasked with helping finally win this war. It only had one critic’s review (negative) and an even lower 10% audience score.
What Went Wrong With The Dungeon Siege Movies
Uwe Boll Was The Director Of All Three Movies
In the Name of the Kingsounded like a can’t-miss film, and with a $60 million budget,fans ofDungeon Siegehad to hope this would bring their beloved game to life. However, the movie had one big problem. Uwe Boll directed it, his fourth game adaptation in a row, followingHouse of the Dead, Alone in the Dark,andBloodRayne.Of those movies, none broke 5% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, withAlone in the Darksitting at 1%. Despite its $60 million budget, the film had a box office take of $13.1 million.
In each of the threeIn the Name of the Kingmovies, Uwe Boll had solid actors in the lead, with Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Dominic Purcell. However, the biggest complaint aboutUwe Boll’s movies is his skills as a director.His cast in the firstDungeon Siegeadaptation was terrific, but it still failed to win over audiences or critics. Luckily for Statham, he had plenty lined up and rebounded withThe ExpendablesandThe Mechanic,which continued his long, successful role as a leading man in the action genre.
