Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker- Review

"For the Chantry!"

One thing I've always enjoyed seeing a franchise do is branch out into other media; particularly for videogames. I like it when a creative studio goes so far as to write books, comics, or (in some more recent cases) even a movie to help expand upon the continuity set up by the games. The growth into another format allows the creators to try other ways to tell their game's story and develop their game's universe. It also provides other ways for established fans to enjoy the franchise's canon and maybe even have some new ones discover it. When handled well it can serve to make a property seem fresh, versatile, and accessible. When done poorly it can make the property seem obtuse, convoluted, and derivative.

The prospect of an animated Dragon Age film was brought up by the creative studio BioWare (Mass Effect, Jade Empire) as far back as 2010 and I will admit that it was hard for me to hide my elation. I am a big fan of the Dragon Age mythology and a collaborative project between BioWare, Funimation, and Oxybot (Vexile, T.O.) seemed like such a great match. BioWare is renowned in the gaming community for their great stories and awesome characters. Combining that with an up and coming Japanese CGI animation studio with strong sensibilities on action, and the solid voice work that Funimation is known for just seemed right. I was eager to see what sort of film could be made when so many creative groups joined forces.

Sadly the movie I got was just kind of okay. Granted, Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker never truly became unwatchable to me, but it also lacked some of the key elements that I felt made Dragon Age such a compelling setting for great fantasy storytelling.

For years mages and those attuned to using magic have lived in fear of the militant church known only as the Chantry. Their constant oppression has given rise to mages who fight against the Chantry's agents known as Seekers and Templars. Dawn of the Seeker introduces us to the Chantry-Seeker-Knight Cassandra Pentaghast, one of the last in a noble dragon hunter bloodline. Through her mentor and fellow knight Byron, Cassandra learns of a blood mage conspiracy to topple the Chantry and usher in a new era of magic user domination. The wanted blood mage Frenic has kidnapped (and intends to use) the young elvish girl Avexis, who has the ability to control dragons at will. With Avexis under his spell Frenic can amass an entire army of dragons and launch an unstoppable assault on the Chantry. Unfortunately the blood mages are not the only problem lurking. Corruption within the Chantry itself seems to have taken root as Cassandra is framed for murder and hunted by the very church she once swore fealty to. With few allies, and the rising threat of the blood mages growing ever closer, the situation is dire at best. Cassandra sets forth to not only clear her name but to also save the land from a grim fate.

With a face like that I bet Frenic gets all the ladies...

As promising as that summary sounds, the narrative to Dawn of the Seeker only does what it sets out to do functionally. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sadly it never really does much to separate itself from the bevy of other fantasy stories like it. I've said before that predictability isn't always a negative. That is reserved though for when a story can deliver something you know is coming in a fashion that feels very well thought out, or at least with a lot of style and flare. As long as the scenes come together in a way that feels entertaining and well done, I'm sure many are willing to forgive something for being predictable to some extent. Without going into spoilers I can pretty much say that anything you think may happen in the story from the above synopsis; you're more than likely spot on. I will concede that there are a few twists and turns, but nothing that feels unforeseen or of substantial impact.

Had Dawn of the Seeker perhaps told its tale in a more flavorful fashion akin to that of the games I might have felt differently. A lot of the more unique and charming aspects of the Dragon Age games seem to have been either diluted or dropped altogether for this film. The iconic races of the game such as dwarves/qunari are nowhere to be found, nor are there golems, and only one elf is ever really seen. Not having those different races in Dawn of the Seeker made the world sadly feel smaller and by that extent more mundane. It wasn't until the climax that Dawn of the Seeker truly began to resemble the franchise that it was supposed to be a part of, but by that time it was too little too late. For what was supposed to be an addition to the already interesting mythology of Dragon Age, this just felt... well... basic. While basic storytelling isn't exactly always bad, here it simply felt devoid of the identity the series had built up over the course of the games. I can at least say though that the movie didn't create any major plot holes or continuity gaffs as far as I could tell.

I will say the film does have its cool moments.

Characters didn't fare much better than the story did either. Cassandra  and the rest of the main cast were little more than two dimensional cutouts of archetypes we've seen plenty of times before, despite their 3-D rendering. A notable lack in character development really affected my ability to get into the story, let alone feel much for the characters when things started to happen. While the characters did get some development, it never felt substantial. Sure, we did learn of Cassandra's past as the film progressed, but her back story fell right into a lot of the cliches' that we've come to expect in stories such as this. Cassandra was the hot headed fighter with a dark past that she had to learn to come to terms with before she could face the challenges ahead of her. Frenic was no more than an ugly, cackling wizard who only talked about how he will bring forth destruction to the land. Byron was the mentor figure who suffered the inevitable fate of all mentor figures.

While none of them were ever truly bad, they were also not very memorable. These were all archetypes we've seen a million times before. The subversive complexity and nuance that BioWare has been known for with their characters was sorely lacking here, as well as the humor that was prevalent throughout the Dragon Age games. Yes, Dragon Age was labeled as a dark fantasy saga, but it did know how to have a little bit of fun from time to time. With witty dialogue exchanges between characters, or just tiny bits of comical observation, Dragon Age had characters that endeared themselves to the audience through their likable personalities. It really was the little things that helped to give Dragon Age its image in the gaming world. In Dawn of the Seeker everyone (save for one character) acted almost intolerably stoic throughout the course of the movie. Thus giving us a cast that took itself way too seriously at times, killing a good deal of the fun and personality Dragon Age had.

As a CGI film Dawn of the Seeker looked dated even though it was only released in 2012. While the characters were competently rendered, they didn't exude much natural emotion, making character interactions come off as stilted and weird. The motion-capture animations looked stiff making the movie seem like it was made back in the early 2000's when CG animation was still new and untested. There was a particular action scene featuring riders on horse back that quite frankly had me weeping for the animators. The animation for those poor horses was just sad to see. Character designs did look like that of Dragon Age, with some iconic armor sets from the game making an appearance. Sadly, they lacked in some of the subtle grit that gave the franchise its more grounded visual charm. Creature designs that cropped up in the climax all looked great and are the closest to the game's iconic look, with the dragons being the standout feature. Some of the more recognizable Darkspawn (that familiar fans will know when they see them) looked great when they came in. It was a shame to see that most of the work seemingly went into rendering the creatures more so than it did the main characters.

Elements of the iconography have been retained.

The action sequences at the opening and the finale were also note worthy as they featured the most unique camera work, choreography, and blood that the franchise has been known for. For all the other action scenes Dawn of the Seeker came off as somewhat dull. The stiff animations didn't help to sell the sword fights that occurred towards the film's middle as they lacked energy and any real impact. A limited color pallet coupled with small background environments made elements of the world just sort of blend together, not giving room for any major action set pieces that could have brought the visual scale up. Everything felt tiny and not as epic as it probably should have felt. It wasn't until I got into the giant courtyard at the third act that I actually felt like I was seeing the fantasy epic that this should have been. If anything else, Dawn of the Seeker felt like a B-grade CGI fantasy action movie that wanted to be bigger than what it really had the money for. At least the action filled climax helped to make the movie feel worth the watch.

Music was forgettable at best, with no one track ever truly sticking out. The orchestral score did its job at setting up the general mood for a scene when needed, but felt painfully small even when at its loudest. Again this was a shame considering that they probably could've just as easily lifted some of the more iconic music from the games and used them for this movie. At least then there would have been some stronger degree of authenticity and connection to the Dragon Age canon.

This is how the movie feels... Incomplete.

Voice acting was probably where Dawn of the Seeker shined the most. With industry veterans such as Colleen Clinkenbeard as Cassandra, J. Michael Tatum as Regalyan, and Chuck Huber as Frenic, the cast made the most of their parts with the blase' script. Colleen Clinkenbeard did a great job performing Cassandra as a tough as nails knight who was ready to kill any opponent at the drop of a hat, but still had a touch of humanity in everything she said. J. Michael Tatum made Regalyan probably the most entertaining character to listen to, as little cracks that he put in the character's voice lent a much needed bit of levity to the otherwise dry dialogue. Unfortunately even with the fairly good voice work, the characters had little to no chemistry.

It pains me to say, but Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker just wasn't that good a film. While it never fell into the pit of being an outright bad or boring watch, it certainly didn't live up to the legacy of its parent franchise. Dated animation, uninspired action scenes, and flatly developed characters coupled with a predictable/lackluster plot, and an almost completely forgettable score brought down what could have been an otherwise great addition to the Dragon Age mythology.

Thankfully the movie was competent enough to never have made me feel like I was wasting my time. As a fan I can honestly say that it didn't come off as a stain on the franchise either. In fact, if you're a Dragon Age fan this movie may serve you well as part of its canon. I can't in good conscience though recommend this as the gateway piece into the Dragon Age saga. Perhaps with future endeavors BioWare will come back to Dragon Age as a film and we will only stand to see improvement. As a first time outing on making a film based on one their franchises I can't say that they did bad, they just didn't do great.

Positive Factors

• Character and creature designs are faithful to the Dragon Age franchise.
• Climax is befitting of a Dragon Age story.
• Voice actors bring up what would be a very bland script.
• Adds to the Dragon Age canon.

Negative Factors

• Story, action, music, and characters all feel uninspired.
• Better aspects of the Dragon Age franchise feel diluted or outright dropped.
• Animation looks stiff and dated.
• Not a good gateway into the Dragon Age mythos.

Final Rating: Mediocremarkable...