Quote from: Batjon on June 04, 2023, 04:31:42 PM
I agree.  Most people I know liked it and I was confused because I thought it was trash.

Its aimed at Guardians of the Galaxy fans. So for some that quippy bantery style is going to get really old really fast.

Quote from: Omega on June 05, 2023, 07:04:35 AM

Quote from: Batjon on June 04, 2023, 04:31:42 PM
I agree.  Most people I know liked it and I was confused because I thought it was trash.

Its aimed at Guardians of the Galaxy fans. So for some that quippy bantery style is going to get really old really fast.

Especially in the hands of weaker writers & actors.

Quote from: Persimmon on June 05, 2023, 07:43:30 AM

Quote from: Omega on June 05, 2023, 07:04:35 AM

Quote from: Batjon on June 04, 2023, 04:31:42 PM
I agree.  Most people I know liked it and I was confused because I thought it was trash.

Its aimed at Guardians of the Galaxy fans. So for some that quippy bantery style is going to get really old really fast.

Especially in the hands of weaker writers & actors.

Exactly. GotG I enjoyed a bunch because the writing was good and the characters three-dimensional and interesting.

If this movie was aimed at me, Hasbro's aim is Stormtrooper-level.

So I watched this on Paramount+ the other night; I have a free subscription through Walmart. Anyway, I had a few drinks first and just told myself, "Pretend you are watching a movie made about a D&D campaign." And I was surprised that I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The conceits of D&D/Forgotten Realms are taken mostly seriously and there's an actual plot that moves along and the acting is pretty good. Chris Pine has the exact sort of seriousness mixed with a bit of smarmy attitude to pull off carrying the movie. Michelle Rodriguez cannot act, but that's okay because she's literally a barbarian and utters random throwaway lines as needed. In true D&D fashion some of the characters forget they have appropriate abilities. Also in true D&D fashion, they abuse the fuck out of their abilities and come up with some very creative ways of solving problems.

The cameos of the old cartoon characters made the entire movie worth watching, too.

I'd rate it a B+ summer movie. I hate that Hasbro/WotC might actually make money off this, but for once they seemed to have done something that treats the property with a decent amount of respect.

It was okay I guess.  Caught it at the discount theatre.  Really generic and dull and bloodless.  Very much a second edition movie.  I guess they didn't want to ruffle any feathers.  Anyhow the owl bear, displacer beast, and mimic need their own show.  The fat dragon was pretty funny too.

Quote from: Brad on June 17, 2023, 11:26:24 AM
I'd rate it a B+ summer movie. I hate that Hasbro/WotC might actually make money off this, but for once they seemed to have done something that treats the property with a decent amount of respect.

If it helps, they didn't make money on it. It was a big flop theatrically. (This was discussed in the media forum.)

I thought it was okay. With the state of the portrayal of the hobby what it is and has been for the past ten years, anything is okay - imagine how glad I was the first one came out back in 2000 was it?

The movie itself was alright, though the speak with the dead part was trying to be funny where it really was not. What I did like was the nod to the party of the cartoon being participants in the tournament. And I did remember thinking, okay, they know their lore better than the first time around. I guess it's something.

Finally got to see the movie with one of my players and...

Was surprisingly not bad really. Really appreciated the use of practical effects for several things like the Dragonborn and Aaracokra.
 
But fucks sake they really really wanted to ape Guardians of the Galaxy! Reminded me of watching Godzilla: Final Wars and realizing the director really really wanted to ape The Matrix.
 
Overall the comedy was surprisingly reigned in and not as hokey as some of the adverts were making it out to be. Its mostly just frequent snarking eachother and some actually funny gags along the way.
 
The plot was ok. But there was ALOT of WHF? moments like the situation in Neverwinter.
 
Thanks to the director/writers running their hateful mouths off, nearly did not see it. And had I red some of their later comments I'd have just flat out refused. Concerning the kids from the animated series.

I just watched this movie last night.  It seems alot of us are coming late to the party.  Overall I enjoyed it.  I'd rate it a solid "B".  Some minor spoilers below:

I wish we would have seen more classic races and monsters, like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, etc.  We briefly saw a dwarf in that maze at the end of the movie, and there was probably an elf or two in the background somewhere else, but major races and monsters received very little screen time, which I thought a bit odd.  Aarakocras and Tieflings have better casting agents than Elves and Dwarves, apparently.

Likewise, I was surprised there were no Drow at all in the Underdark scenes.  Too problematic, maybe?

Paladins are my favorite D&D class, and the Paladin in the film was my favorite character.  I really liked how he was portrayed.  They somehow managed to make him a straight-laced stick in the mud (the typical Paladin stereotype) while also making him the coolest character on the screen.  You would think those two things would be mutually exclusive, but kudos to the writers and the actor for making it work.

Chris Pine was excellent in his role.  His character may not be a badass on the battlefield, but his character has the most depth by far and he is definitely the heart of the team, while still being very much a scoundrel and rogue.  Pine portrayed this very well.  This character definitely had the most meat on its bones.

Rodruguez was ok.  I didn't love her, but didn't hate her.  The sorcerer was ok, though he probably had one too many sarcastic lines.  The Druid was ok.  She was cute and feminine looking, so the casting could have been worse.  Hugh Grant was good and nicely cast.

I was expecting the movie to be woke, but it was surprisingly not woke.  I thought for sure that at least one of the main characters would be LGBTQ+, but I believe there were zero LGBTQ+ references in this film.  It was actually very pro-hetrosexuality, with each male lead character expressing interest in women, and each female lead character expressing interest in men.  Very shocking, but actually nice to see.  WotC's Jeremy Crawford apparently had no influence on the movie in this regard.   

All in all, it was a rather fun, breezy, lightweight movie.  It had a bunch of D&D-isms, but I wish there would have been more classic D&D races and monsters in the film.  And more dungeons would have been nice as well.  As someone else said, this is a Neverwinter city heist adventure movie, rather than a movie about dungeon crawls.  And it wasn't really old-school D&D, but I think most old-school gamers can still enjoy it.

Quote from: Crusader X on June 25, 2023, 11:52:38 AMI wish we would have seen more classic races and monsters, like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, etc.  We briefly saw a dwarf in that maze at the end of the movie, and there was probably an elf or two in the background somewhere else, but major races and monsters received very little screen time, which I thought a bit odd.  Aarakocras and Tieflings have better casting agents than Elves and Dwarves, apparently.

That was probably the worse aspect of the film. Way too much emphasis on nuD&D races, barely a mention of elves or dwarves. Otherwise it was a mostly forgettable, but largely inoffensive movie that didn't entirely suck and kinda sorta tried to stick to the lore.

I finally saw it. It was OK. Vox Machina was actually better than the D&D Movie, though.

Quote from: Crusader X on June 25, 2023, 11:52:38 AM
I wish we would have seen more classic races and monsters, like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, etc.  We briefly saw a dwarf in that maze at the end of the movie, and there was probably an elf or two in the background somewhere else, but major races and monsters received very little screen time, which I thought a bit odd.  Aarakocras and Tieflings have better casting agents than Elves and Dwarves, apparently.

My son hadn't seen it, so I watched it a second time with him as a watch-party on Father's Day. It was still fun.

The sorcerer Simon is half-elven -- it's mentioned multiple times, and he has pointy ears. Also, the barbarian Holga's ex-husband Marlamin is obviously a halfling.

Nearly all the featured monsters are from first edition:
- owlbear
- intellect devourer
- dragon
- displacer beast
- mimic
- gelatinous cube

There's also a few blink-and-you'll-miss-it references to axebeaks, rust monsters, and a few others.

(double post)

Quote from: VisionStorm on June 25, 2023, 03:35:51 PM

Quote from: Crusader X on June 25, 2023, 11:52:38 AMI wish we would have seen more classic races and monsters, like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, etc.  We briefly saw a dwarf in that maze at the end of the movie, and there was probably an elf or two in the background somewhere else, but major races and monsters received very little screen time, which I thought a bit odd.  Aarakocras and Tieflings have better casting agents than Elves and Dwarves, apparently.

That was probably the worse aspect of the film. Way too much emphasis on nuD&D races, barely a mention of elves or dwarves. Otherwise it was a mostly forgettable, but largely inoffensive movie that didn't entirely suck and kinda sorta tried to stick to the lore.

Uh... you two miss the elf city in the trees the Tiefling was helping? There were some elves there. I noted some pointy ears.

Theres halflings as more than background.
 
Also Aaracokra were a PC race as of 2e. Half dragons and Saurials were also around as of 2e. Just not prominent.

More interesting was the LACK of any weird wotc races prominent.

Something that I noticed through the movie and got me thinking.

Is Edgin really a Bard? I can not recall him doing a single Bard thing. And no bad singing is not a bard thing.

Is the Tiefling really a Druid? Like with Edgin she never once casts any spells and all she seems to do is wildshape far more than normal.

But is it wildshape? What she does is more like Shapechange or polymorph self.