I love a good fantasy flick and of all genre’s there is never a shortage of them, but for every Lord of the Rings, 300, Dragonheart or Dragon Slayer there are even more that fail to deliver. The latest hoping to leave its mark on the genre is Crown of Shadows from director Richard Campbell. Could this film bring the promised epic battle of dragons and fantasy, or will it fail to be worthy of the crown?

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Crown of Shadows follows the Kingdom of Aberon that has fallen into darkness under Queen Ginnarra's reign since she murdered the King. Exiled and hunted, her brother Prince Elderon joins a rebellion, summoning a dragon to defeat the Queen and the Dark Gods she serves.

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Heading in I knew nothing about this film other than it sported some great box art, which is often deceiving, and it is just that. The film clearly sports a lower budget than you might believe from the cover, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make the most of it. Despite clearly trying to deliver the film never really can find its footing to be something that works, but the effort shines through.

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The film tries to be deeper than it needs to be and does create a unique style that injects some moments that give a glimmer of hope. Sadly, it’s bogged down by so many other things that miss the mark it can never really make up for it. The attempted Shakespearean like dialogue screams wanting to be like Game of Thrones but often comes across sillier than intended.

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I was really struggling here to even get invested as it feels like its story is designed more like a TV series instead of a film so feels rushed or moments skipped over to get it moving forward and ultimately fails. The visual style whether due to budget or a chose style feels like a low level 300 and often so