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Title: No EXCALIBUR, that's for sure....mediocre at best.
Review: "Excalibur" proved that a movie can provide the setting for a spellbinding/magical story, action, intelligent character interactions, and nail-biting suspense. Unfortunately, "Merlin" fails miserably on all four counts. The culprits here are obvious plotting, mediocre acting, and pedestrian direction. The film has one legitimate surprise (no plot spoiler here), but it's way too easy to figure out the rest of the action before it happens. Martin Short fares the best of the cast, but he's stuck with the stereotypical role of the bumbling side-kick often found in most slapstic comedy films. Sam Neill shows no screen presence as the main character of Merlin who has to make things right. As for the direction, the film moved too slowly (especially at the beginning). Since I was always sure of MERLIN's outcome (unlike "Excalibur"), the special effects were the film's only lure, and they were poorly done at best.
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