not so great epic

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 1999)

This movie isn't completely bad in terms of fx and production design. In fact, they're impressive, as are the battle scenes and historical setting. I also like the generally positive portrayal of an Arab character. What brings this movie down is the storytelling. Few of the 13 warriors were fleshed out. Antonio Banderas' characteris could have been left out of the story and this movie will still go. As the title suggests, the story is largely the point of view of Banderas' character, Ahmad. It doesn't also help that the plot holes and common sense in logistics are very gaping. The large army of eaters of the dead could have easily overwhelmed the village. The ending is a rather big letdown as I just feel like saying: "is that all?" And then there's an old woman who talks like as if she's Yoda, so the heroes can conveniently finish their task without having to bother finding out how to defeat the enemy.
The verdict: 3 of 5 stars.