Our ongoing series covering web-based productions in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror genres. If you have a recommendation for a web original that we should look at, contact us at mail@axiomsedge-scifi.com.
By John J. Joex
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars
Reise: Kingdom Falling is an original web series created by Ryan Copple and Kaleena Kiff the first five episodes of which appeared in 2009 before Syfy took interest in the production and purchased the broadcast rights and currently has it available for viewing on their website. The series focuses on the title character Reise who is a princess but who is now on the run after her cousin Amara staged a coup and killed the rest of the royal family. Reise wanders across the lands of Eleysia with her wolf companion Fenrir as both Empress Amara and the religious cult known as the Sect track her down because she presents a threat to the grand designs of each. And meanwhile, a resistance movement battles against Amara’s armies as they also search for Reise hoping that she will serve as an inspiration to their cause.
As it stands, this web-series has produced ten episodes so far that vary in length between six and ten minutes. If the basic rundown of the plot above sounds familiar, it is because the series cobbles together some well-tread fantasy elements along with names straight out of Norse mythology (no connection established as of yet), but it adds a unique twist to these by placing the story in a steam-punk setting and it throws in a bit of Orwellian paranoia and anxiety to give it an even darker edge. So while Reise may seem derivative at times, it still throws in just enough to set it apart from the pack and keep the viewer (myself at least) intrigued.
The series is of course confined by the budgetary restrictions of the typical web-series, but it makes the most of what it has and avoids the extreme cheesiness of some of the more amateur productions on the web. And it even throws in a few decent CGI shots to gussy up the edges here and there. The acting is okay, not spectacular but it never derails the production. And Amanda Tapping (Stargate: SG-1) even lends her voice to the narration, though she provides a rather distant and dispassionate reading. Nothing against Tapping, but I would have much rather had one of the characters of the story, perhaps Reise, provide the voice-over instead. Also, Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica) shows up in a few episodes as one of the members of the resistance.
Overall, I would rank Reise: Kingdom Falling as decent for a web series and one that has some potential. The steam-punk setting gives the production its unique atmosphere and they could really use that to explore new territory. I would definitely tune in for new episodes which I assume are in the pipeline since Syfy has backed the series. And it’s also possible that they could be looking at turning it into a television series like they did with Sanctuary a few years ago. If you are new to web-series, this is a good place to start because it’s a quick watch and it’s not as rough around the edges as some other Internet productions. Just don’t go in expecting the same production values that you would see on a Prime Time television series (even one from the cable channels), and you should not be disappointed.
Watch Reise: Kingdom Falling Online at Syfy.com
