Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker (2012)

Not being overly familiar with the Dragon Age games, I didn't really have any prerequisites for this movie, so I just took it for what it was a sword and magic fantasy animated adventure.That being said, then the movie was sort of cliché. Sure, in a fantasy movie you need to have the stereotypical good against evil plot, which is also present here, but it is also spiced up with a sub-plot of betrayal and deception.The characters in the movie were mediocre at best. You didn't really get to see any interesting characteristics of anyone, as they were shallow and sort of just flashy in and out of everything. Not even the two main characters were given proper character traits or personalities. At best, then you get annoyed with the Cassandra character because she is single-minded, narrow-minded, naive and sort of a brat. For a Seeker, then she is awfully childish in her mindset and seem so far away from being properly capable of taking on such a responsibility.As for the voice acting, well it was adequate. At times it worked out well enough, but at other times it could have used a bit more commitment and passion.Now, what really worked for the movie was the visuals. The characters were nicely animated, even though they had a hint of bordering on being in the Anime genre. The costumes and armors were really nicely detailed and quite nice to look at. However, something I personally didn't understand, was the alternate usage of a sort of weird hybrid mixture of animation and CGI for the characters, but using full-blown, all out CGI for the dragons and scenery. It was a mixture that often didn't fully stand well together. Personally, I think they should just have picked one style of visuals and stuck with it. Now, I am not saying that it is bad to look at, far from it, because to their own, they are quite stunning. Just a weird combination of attempting to mix styles together (which also failed in that "Dead Space" animated movie).Another thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was the overpowered abilities of Cassandra. If she truly was all that powerful and capable in battle, why did they need circle mages for the fight with the dragons, or how come she wasn't at the top of the Seeker order? That leader was so easily bested and cut down, that it was just painful to behold, especially since Cassandra possess these skills and prowess in combat.Despite a heap of things that just didn't fully add up, "Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker" was fun enough to just. Just take it for what it is, a fantasy adventure (of mixed visual styles) that doesn't require any thinking on your part. If you enjoy CGI animated movies, the "Final Fantasy" movies, "Resident Evil: Degeneration" ("Damnation" sucks horribly) or even "Tekken: Blood Vengeance" will prove more entertaining than "Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker".And just for a final rounding up comment; what was up with the music that played when the credits started to roll? It was horrible and so misplaced. What a wrong choice of music to put into a fantasy adventure.

I'm a pretty huge Dragon Age fan, including playing the games and all their DLC, reading the books and just finished watching the online movie/mini series Redemption and Warden's Fall.This one was pretty bad guys. I actually liked the style of animation, that type of judgement just comes from a person's taste though. As for story... nothing you haven't seen before in anything else. I was fine with it, even forgiving and liked learning about the main protagonist (Cassandra from DA2) up until the movie just started changing Dragon Age lore.The mages were ridiculous. They continued the already established lore of Templar's wanting to "confine" all mages due to their very powerful magic, except with the exception of one mage, they were all worthless. There are fight scenes with multiple mages and all they do is swing a staff at people. At Templar's. Templar's wearing full plate armor, with shields, who are trained specifically to destroy mages. Yet, half the time, the mages aren't losing these battles. And these aren't even Blood Mages! How someone thought this made any sense is beyond me.Another huge issue with this movie is a ridiculous scene about halfway through involving Cassandra. Anyone who has ever touched Dragon Age Origins knows that Ogre's and Golem's are some of the toughest opponents to take down, involving a party of characters with different skill sets to defeat. Yet, Cassandra takes on about 20 of these creatures by herself without anything other than a cut on her leg to show for it.If that isn't enough to make any Dragon Age fan stare at the screen utterly confused, the climax of the movie involves the writers just throwing in Dragons. Like five of them just showing up to get slaughtered by - yep, you guessed it - Cassandra. She's apparently from a clan of "Dragon Hunters" which is ironic because according to Dragon Age lore, Dragon's are almost never around, making that sound like a pretty useless clan. However, her elite Dragon Hunting skills of "jumping on the back of a dragon and stabbing it," seems to be the only thing needed to fell one of the beasts, making it an interesting thought as to why no other person could easily call themselves a Dragon Hunter and do the same thing.If you're a big Dragon Age fan, go for it, but don't expect to fit this thing into Dragon Age lore (even though Bio-ware claims it is), because this character of Cassandra, who starts with an interesting back story quickly develops into the most far fetched character in the Dragon Age lore.I recommend checking out Warden's Fall on you tube though, pretty neat mini series and definitely more deserving of your time than this.

As a huge fan of RPG games, especially Dragon Age, watching this movie was a complete waste of time. The main focus of the movie seems to be Cassandra in a role of superhero, dragon-hunter, demon-slayer, master- fighter, despite the the alleged focus of a blood mage uprising or whatever. On top of that, mages and blood mages alike run around in their robes engaging in hand-to-hand combat instead of using magic. Dragons are poorly animated and, with the exception of the high dragon, don't have the ability to breathe fire. The rest of the movie seems pretty well animated, in my opinion. Were I 14 years old again, I'd say this was a good movie, but now... I just want the hour and a half of my life back.

Being a huge fan of the video game I was expecting to be let down. I am so glad i bought this movie, what a ride! I will not spoil it for anyone. If you loved the game, get the movie you won't be disappointed!!!!!!! Good story line that looks like it could be turned into a possible series. Personally I would be happy with a few more full length movies. The English voice acting was done very well, not a bunch of over dramatic squealing like so many other anime I have watched. This is one for the "Big" kids. Lot's of blood splatter, tongue in cheek comedy lines and a few suggestive comments. Looking forward to the next installment(Please if you're reading this, MAKE ANOTHER ONE!) One last parting comment . . . Cassandra ROCKS! Get the popcorn ready and enjoy! Aloha A Hui Hou!!!!!!!