This is a low-budget fantasy flick. It doesn't try to be anything other than a stock genre picture. It's let down by the very cheap CGI, and worse, by a director who doesn't know how to work with budget FX.
I decided to check this out due to the presence of Amber Benson, whose character on Buffy, Tara, was specifically someone who was not good at physical combat, while she appeared to be an action heroine in the promos I saw for Gryphon. So I was curious. And actually, I've seen far worse action work by female leads in sword-and-sandal fantasies.
Larry Drake is also in it. It's always fun to see him, and he still chews a mean backdrop.
The male lead in Jonathon LaPaglia. He looks and sounds a lot like his brother Anthony, but is really muscular. And he can't act to save his life.
But the big problem is that the director didn't know how to deal with a limited effects budget. They repeatedly violate the first rule of cheap FX, which is to show them from far away, or only fleetingly, or moving quickly. What you don't do, when you only have the money for a very cheesy CGI gryphon, is have a long shot in which the gryphon is PETTED by its master front and center on screen.
(edited to fix a couple of stupid typos)
I decided to check this out due to the presence of Amber Benson, whose character on Buffy, Tara, was specifically someone who was not good at physical combat, while she appeared to be an action heroine in the promos I saw for Gryphon. So I was curious. And actually, I've seen far worse action work by female leads in sword-and-sandal fantasies.
Larry Drake is also in it. It's always fun to see him, and he still chews a mean backdrop.
The male lead in Jonathon LaPaglia. He looks and sounds a lot like his brother Anthony, but is really muscular. And he can't act to save his life.
But the big problem is that the director didn't know how to deal with a limited effects budget. They repeatedly violate the first rule of cheap FX, which is to show them from far away, or only fleetingly, or moving quickly. What you don't do, when you only have the money for a very cheesy CGI gryphon, is have a long shot in which the gryphon is PETTED by its master front and center on screen.
(edited to fix a couple of stupid typos)