Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire review

The cast of Krod Mandoon

This show has gotten a world of flak. Poor reviews, so-so ratings, and criticism from the get-go. I think people don't get it. 

Yes, it's a comedy. It makes fun of gamers, it makes fun of fantasy fans, but that's not the whole of the show. If that were the case, we could just watch The Gamers, or The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising, (Check out my review of Dorkness Rising here.) Both are phenomenal movies, but they aren't what Krod Mandoon is supposed to be. 

Let me first go over the cast: 

Krod Mandoon - Played by Sean Maguire of terrible movie fame. He's your Hercules, Xena, Perseus, et cetera. He's the destined hero. 

Zezelryck - Played by stand-up comedian Kevin Hart. He's a black stereotype. He's a wizard, except he's not that good with magic. 

Anika - India de Beaufort plays Anika, a campy, slutty pagan warrior woman who dresses in chainmail that really serves about as much function as not wearing anything. 

Loquasto - Played by Steve Speirs, he's a giant half-man, half-pig bruiser for the group. Except, he's not that good in a fight, and he tends to shoot Krod a lot. 

Bruce - Marques Ray is Bruce, a gay stereotype character who joins Krod's party through ridiculous terms. 

Chancellor Dongalor - Matt Lucas plays this, probably my favorite character. He's the evil genius, except for the genius part. His ego far outshines his cunning, and he plays up all the old-fashioned stereotypes of the moustache-twirling villain. 

Sounds like a terrible cast, right? It is. That's the point. 

Before you say, "But David, that means it's a stupid show! Why would Comedy Central and BBC2 make a show that's intentionally terrible?" back off a bit, and let me finish. You want a terrible cast, look at Flash Gordon. Look at Hercules. Look at Clash of the Titans. Look at Zorro. This is one of those shows. It's a parody by not being a parody. The humor comes from modern sensibilities being tossed onto an epic, pulpy serial. 

One great thing is, you cannot spoil the plot. Everyone knows the way the plot is going to work from day one. In fact, I'll spoil it for you: The good guys win, they prevent the devastation of millions of people, they make the bad guy look like a fool, and everything is basically exactly where it started. The power of the writing comes from some choice dialogue and some hysterical "plot twists." Little jabs at silly movies, television and radio shows, and other media make the show strong. References aren't direct and cheeky, they're hidden and layered, more homage than riff. 

Ultimately, I don't think the show will do well. I don't think most people will appreciate the fine detail and love that went into the show. But who knows? It might get continued. If not, it's a six-episode DVD boxed set I'm sure as hell going to buy. 

My only strong complaint: It's a half an hour per episode. The format for these types of shows lends itself to hour episodes. But apparently, filming is a budget nightmare, so I don't blame them. 

4/5. Check it out. It's worth three hours of your life. If you don't think it's worth three hours of your life, that's fine. You didn't get it. Go play with a cup and ball, or maybe kick a can.