The Legend of Zelda: The Rise of the Dark Son

Author(s): James Somerton
Location: Canada

“The Legend of Zelda: The Rise of the Dark Son"



Directed By Robert Zemeckis
Written By Neil Gaiman

Principal Cast:

Alex Pettyfer as Link
Alison Lohman as Princess Zelda
Lawrence Makoare as Ganon
Jessica Pare as Navi
Albert Finney as Rauru

Tagline: “The Legend Comes To Life”

Synopsis: Spring has arrived to a tiny village in the realm of Hyrule, but something isn’t right. The leaves aren’t showing themselves and the hibernating animals aren’t waking up. Why is this, ponders a young boy named Link as he sits waiting for the sun to rise one morning.

The sun never rises.

With his entire village in darkness, Link takes it upon himself to leave his little village and enter the great realm of Hyrule. He’s going to go and see Princess Zelda, for surely she knows the cause of this darkness. When he arrives at the castle, he sees the drawbridge being lowered and a black horse galloping toward him. Upon it is Ganon, a dark wizard, and in his arms is the screaming princess.

At the request of the royal family, Link must now journey to the furthest edges of Hyrule, battle the most terrifying demons, and solve the most challenging puzzle of all time, in order to save Zelda and, hopefully, bring light back to Hyrule. At the end of his journey, Link finds himself in Ganon’s fortress, running up an endless flight of stairs. At the top is a door. When he enters, he finds himself somewhere he never expected it to take him. Ten years in the future. Ganon is king and no one has heard from Princess Zelda in a decade.

What the press would say:

Movies based on Video Games have gotten a bad rap. Terrible ones such as the second Mortal Kombat and the Mario Bros. Movie have placed a stigma on them that is hard to break. “The Legend of Zelda: The Rise of the Dark Son” attempts to relieve this stigma and comes close to single handedly doing so. The story of Link, a young mute boy from an Elfin village, is one of courage and triumphing over adversity. Link is the perfect protagonist; his disability with speech creates sympathy for him right from the beginning as other members of the village make it difficult for Link to adjust, even when they’re meaning well. Link is a loner; an orphan whose only real friend is a young girl who has a secret crush on him. When darkness falls over his little village he sets out to find Princess Zelda and everything goes down hill from there. We get to see some of the most famous characters from the games, such as the gorons, Zoras, and the terrifying Ganon. Played by Lawrence Makoare, Ganon manages to be one of the most intimidating villains in recent film history. He is seen only briefly in his abduction of the princess Zelda, but we get to hear a lot about him throughout the rest of the film from many of the people Link meets. The major climax of this film takes place when Link finally arrives at Ganon’s castle but is faced by Argorok, a massive flying dragon that Link sees in the dark sky several times throughout the film. It’s covered in black armor, which makes the battle even more fierce. It’s one of the most exhilerating action sequences ever in a movie. As they battle over Ganon’s mote of lava, Link has hack away at the dragon until all the armour is off, finally stabbing it in the back of the neck. The dragon plumets into the lava and Link barely escapes with his life. After this battle, we’re taken up an seemingly engless flight of stairs that, literally, leads us to the sequal.

The acting in “The Legend of Zelda: The Rise of the Dark Son” is surprisingly good, with Albert Finney standing out as the dying Rauru, the sage who design the Temple of Light and is now slowly dying because of the darkness. He’s only in one scene, really (other than a few of Link’s visions), but has an emotional impact unlike any other character in the film. His plees to Link to bring the light back to his land, so that he may see it one more time before his death, is heartbreaking. Alex Pettyfer is the perfect choice for Link. He’s able to express real emotion, even though he doesn’t speak at all. He also has quite a resemblance to the character in the video games.

”The Legend of Zelda: The Rise of the Dark Son” isn’t entirely faithful to the video games, but how could it be without copying the games exactly? But it does keep the spirit of the games alive in it’s characters, the settings, and the brilliant special effects. We’re left with the promise of a continuation that will draw heavily from the storyline of “Ocarina of Time”, and will introduce us to even more of the games classic characters. Robert Zemeckis has created a trully powerful adaptation of these classic games, borriwing from the originals and turning them into something great.

POSSIBLE NOMINATIONS
Best Picture
Best Director – Robert Zemeckis
Best Supporting Actor – Albert Finney
All Technical Categories