KROD MANDOON AND THE FLAMING SWORD OF FIRE

A medieval land, ruled by an evil tyrant and opposed by a ragtag group of freedom fighters. These are certainly a string of fantasy cliches. Fortunately, this isn't a drama but a comedy: Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. Unfortunately the comedy is also fairly cliche.

Krod Mandoon (Sean Maguire, seemingly cloned from Ryan Reynolds) is an inept leader and inept fighter wielding a sword that sometimes bursts into flame. His band of rebels is made up of: Aneka (India de Beaufort), the sexy thief who is Krod's girlfriend and is willing to, er, seduce anyone she has to (or feels like); Loquasto (Steven Speirs), the large creature who is totally inept with a crossbow; Zezelryck (Kevin Hart), the sorcerer who seems to talk fast far more than casting spells; and Bruce (Marques Ray), the boyfriend of Krod's mentor and a walking collection of homophobic stereotypes.

As for the evil, that's Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas), a happy fellow who's likely to kill anyone at whim -- and often the wrong person. He rules the land, he has an ancient weapon of amazing power (that he doesn't know how to use), and he hates Krod. Also there's a prophecy that Krod is destined to lead the rebellion against Dongalor.

I'd enjoy Krod Mandoon more if it either found humor in poking holes at the cliches of the warrior fantasy genre (like The Gamers and The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising) or more interesting characters. Alas, the show falls flat on both levels. Most of the humor on the show comes from the characters speaking in the current vernacular; if Krod will have a catchphrase, it'll likely be "You are such a dick!" As for characters, they remain quite one dimensional: Aneka acts like a nympho, Zezekryck continually makes excuses for himself, and characters like Bruce shouldn't be allowed on television anymore. Sean Maguire plays Krod predictably (not sure of himself, but always rising to a challenge), and Matt Lucas is almost jovial as the villain -- but there's no antagonistic chemistry between them, necessary even in a comedy.

Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire has some cute moments, but unless you think the redundancy in the title is hysterical, or enjoy seeing Loquasto shoot Krod accidentally in the back over and over, you probably won't care much about the fate of these characters or this kingdom.

Overall grade: C-
Reviewed by James Lynch