Forbidden Empire (2014)

This movie is probably quite unknown by most people. I certainly had never heard of it when I stumbled on it. It is a quite entertaining little fantasy / supernatural / crime movie though. I am actually not sure what to classify at as. It starts of as a fantasy movie but is it really? The cinematics of this movie is very good. For me it was the main part contributing to the enjoyment. The small world of these villagers is cinematically beautiful, dirty and gritty at the same time. The characters themselves with their enormous moustaches and weirdly cut hair are great. The special effects will perhaps not win any awards but they were good nonetheless. I especially liked the transformation scene during the meal somewhere in the middle of the movie. The story is a bit of a roller coaster ride and sometimes it felt a bit disjointed. It was not really obvious why one scene or event was followed by another at all times. But then, taking into account the later events in the movie it was perhaps ment to be a bit disjointed and “dreamy” and I have to confess that I was extremely tired when watching this movie. The ending was a bit of a surprise. This is where the movie kind of went from a fantasy movie to more of a crime story. I have to say that I did not really see that coming until it was about to fall in my lap. There are definitely worse ways of spending two hours in the evening, especially if you like movies that are not the typical mainstream Hollywood fare.

It seems to be that if your name is "Jonathan" then maybe you ought to avoid Romania? This one is called "Green" (Jason Flemyng) and he is trying to do some intricate cartography between Europe and Asia. With his stagecoach equipped with all mod cons - including some cleverly mounted reins for the horses and a candle-lit trundle wheel at the back, he sets off into the Carpathian mountains where his wheels, quite literally, come off and he finds himself in a community that has done all it can to fortify itself from the evils of the outside world! He can write - and that's not a good sign as he is quickly condemned as a devil worshipper. Luckily, there are still a few folks around who know the difference between his scribblings and satanic incarnations and gradually he starts to have a bit of fun amongst this eclectic bunch whilst helping them to realise that like charity, evil usually begins at home too! I actually quite enjoyed the premiss of this, but the execution is all over the place and the budget really does limit the potency of the visual effects that are quite creative just very clearly manipulated. Flemyng looks like he is having some fun and there's even a be-wigged Charles Dance along to top, tail and narrate the adventure as it moves along. Mysticism, magic and gadgets galore feature and though I can't quite recommend it, it's not terrible.