It’s a great fun movie. The plot’s great, the pacing is great, the references are great, the comedy is great. It’s a fun adventure with a relatable team of misfit heroes.
It takes some liberties with the game mechanics to accomplish this. If you can’t forgive that, you’ll have a rough time, especially if you like wildshaping druids and spellcasting bards.
While it does skirt some game mechanics, probably due to it being a movie and it's a strange medium to adapt, it also does some really cool subtle things with the mechanics. For example, in the final major fight all of the characters attack in the same order. They're in initiative!
This, pretty much. Pretty hard to be 100% game accurate and make a good movie. Appreciated where they took license, and where they stuck to some (often, obscure) lore.
They also show one of the characters, the bad guy if I remember, having to use concentration for a spell!
But they do pay attention to a lot of fine detail. Such as the battle sequences where the party always remains in turn order properly.
Such a fun movie that felt just like playing a session or three with friends.
This is the most accurate description, IMO. If you’re looking for something that’s going to incorporate all the game mechanics into the story, and do so accurately, this isn’t it.
If you want a great time at the movies with excellent comedy, action, and characters you care about - while still holding true to the fantasy and adventure spirit of D&D?
Buckle up, baby.
One of the rare movies that starts shaky and then finds its footing and breaks out into a conditioned run by the end of it. Didn't go in expecting much, got a good time.
Rest ye Jarnathan, you deserve a break.
Edit, and the dragon! My wife is obsessed with dragons and she was in love with the one in the movie, it's like her favorite dragon now.
First off I mean this in a good way. I thought it felt a lot more like a movie of how real life players would play the campaign, rather than an attempt at a movie adaptation of a book. And having played D&D, I think it made the movie more relatable to the core audience.
So definitely recommend it.
Plans that are doomed to fail, improper use of a magic item, overpowered npcs to nudge the players back in track? Yeah they nailed it.
I honestly enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. They is a chonky dragon. I repeat, a chonky dragon!
:3 yes please
The best part of that was learning that the chonky dragon is actual canon content. Not made up just for the movie.
Thought I'd hate it. But all in all i came out of the cinema with a positive experience. The plot is kinda basic, but it captures a homebrew dnd campaign pretty well. It's a lot of fun
As not a player I liked it. Light viewing, funny and they managed to show low rolls pretty well
Recently watched it. As a DND movie I give it 9/10, a nearly perfect DND movie
As a movie, maybe 7/10. It doesn't take too many risks, and it won't make you cry.
It's like a dumb heist movie, and very enjoyable.
I think "dumb heist movie" is a perfect description. I never found myself invested in it, but it was basically fun to watch.
As far as franchised products based films it's very rewatchable and I imagine will be a comfort movie on the future.
Id put it just a little below the Lego Movie for quality for what's essentially an advertisement movie. No complaints however.
As a D&D fan it hits the sweet spots of references but not to feel like it's pandering (see Super Mario Movie). For a die hard D&D fan you can feel the die rolls going on in the movie.
I imagine Hasbro will kill or ruin Studio One somehow which is a shame I would want more of these kind of D&D movies
"Feeling the die rolls" is very accurate. My group of friends plays 5e pretty regularly, and we all enjoyed the movie a lot.
Not just feeling the die rolls, I could also feel the DM going "oh crap, the bridge is gone now, how will they get across? I know, I'll give them a portal gun." And then for the rest of the movie the DM going "oh crap, they have a portal gun now, how am I going to stop them from bypassing every challenge with it?"
As a D&D player, that was my favorite part. The times when the party was getting creative and you could see the DM say, "Ok, roll for xyz to see if that works."
So many times when I thought, "Yeah, I could see us coming up with that." Followed by, "Oh yeah, our DM would definitely do that." And yet it managed to have enough heart and be generally entertaining enough that your non-D&D friends will enjoy it too.
It was such a fun movie! It was much better then it had any right being! With that said, the things I appreciated was, the world felt lived in, they didn't make a big deal out of races other then humans, just continued on like "Yeah, bird people, that's a thing we all know is real and accept".
With no spoilers, I heavily appreciated the "dragon scene", it was an interesting take that made it fresh but was still an incredibly dangerous situation for the characters.
It's fun. Don't expect anything extraordinary and you won't be disappointed.
Some of the plans they hatch really feel like the wacky stuff players come up with.
Definitely go in with exceptionally low expectations if you want to have a good time. I was fairly optimistic based on the
reviewsrampant shilling on Reddit and was pretty disappointed. If you’d asked me for a score right after I watched it I’d go 4/10. In hindsight it’s more of a 6 if you allow that it’s supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek and the stilted dialog is a feature rather than a bug.With those caveats it’s a perfectly good way to waste two hours if you have nothing better to do. It has no memorable lines or scenes, and is just an average hot-topic-of-the-moment throwaway action movie.
It is very good. Feels like DnD as played by players and a dm that has to adapt to their stupid ideas.
To be fair, the DM had to adapt to his own stupid ideas at various points too.
Exactly. Lots of house rules at this table.
It is some times campy, but in a good way. It doesn't take itself too seriously. Overall al lot of fun and a lot of great references for fans.
Highly recommend it!
I had a great time watching it. It’s definitely worth checking out even if it’s not for you. There’s enough fun to justify it.
I loved it. Campy as fuck but awesome.
I really enjoyed it. Its very self aware and a fun silly adventure story.
It’s a cute movie. Some scenes are funny to watch because they reminded me of what my group would come up in a situation.
It's something we haven't seen at the the movies for a while. A nice fun action romp. Think what Marvel films used to be at the start when they were self contained stories and not just set up for the next movie. It somehow manages to be exactly like a D&D game while also being completely enjoyable even if you don't know what D&D is.
You people don't understand how grateful I am that this movie wasn't shit. It was very 'safe' sure but I don't care. This movie was good enough to warrant a sequel and that's all I ever wanted I am ecstatic about this movie.
It is funny, charming, and ISNT HORRIBLE! We might get sequels! Shows! I don't care! It just isn't a shitshow most game-movies are
I loved how it referenced a ton of things from D&D in terms of both tabletop stuff and TSR novels etc, but didn't try to cinematize the plot of any book in particular nor really focus on any particular book storyline etc.
I honestly loved it. I felt it was a decent movie with lots of easter eggs and iconic lore/characters in it, that was made by somebody who appreciated the source material. This is as opposed to say, the Mario movie which felt more low "let's toss in as many game characters and references as we can, then add some plot to that". D&D was a savory soup with just about the right amount of spices, meat, and vegetables.
Mario was still an ok soup, but it had less broth/base and an almost overwhelming number of chunks of stuff in it.
Lol the party from dungeons and dragons was too old. The kid was like an adult. It was a funny reference but maybe should have stayed in the background.
Frankly I hope they don't make a sequel. I'd be happy for another one with different characters, or maybe a spin off based on one or two of the party, but they should let this be a standalone success
Super underrated!! I didn't expect to be laughing the whole time. Loved it!
It's quite good. Far better than I expected it to be.
+1 i loved it
I enjoyed the movie. Watching it felt like a DND campaign.
A brilliant little romp. Stays faithful to core DnD mechanics, without diving into the detail, getting bogged down and alienating people who don't play.
Jarnathan for president!
There would have been so many ways to make this movie suck. IMO they avoided all of them. I loved it.
Many people are saying that it was faithful to DND mechanics, but I personally don't care about that so much. I loved how it captured the feel of an evening of dnd at the table with my friends. The lightheartedness, the nonsensical stunts, the banter. It even makes fun of insane DM puzzles at some point. You can really tell the writers have some love for DND.
It's an absolutely fine action fantasy movie. Expect a middle of the pack Marvel movie but it's D&D. Lot's of fun lore for newer and older Forgotten Realms nerds.
We had fun at the movies when I watched it with both my DnD and Pathfinder group.
Honestly better than most of the Marvel projects since Infinity wars in my opinion.
I enjoyed it a lot. It has just the right amount of humour, and it was suprisingly loyal to D&D lore.
Haven't seen it yet but looking forward to it, I've heard lots of good things
It's a good fun time. The stakes aren't massive so it feels real. The characters are a lot of fun, and have a good variety to their personalities.
I really liked the visualization of magic, it looks great, and really breathes life into the spells we've played with for years.
And the practical effects are great. The movie uses costumes, props, and setpieces for a lot of creatures and spells which gives it a very real look.
It's been out long enough that it's starting to get some opinions that hate or nitpick it to death, but I think the fact it got so much overall good reception from the DnD crowd when it first came out says something. And once you realize it's a visualization of a session between players and the DM, a rewatch to catch the little details that were missed before makes it even more enjoyable.
I really enjoyed it. Probably a 8/10 for fantasy movies, 9/10 for D&D movie. Maybe a 7/10 for a movie in general? It's hard for me to say because I loved it.
It was so much better than we (wife and myself) expected it to be. Strongly recommend it to casual d&d enjoyers (such as we are), there was one or two things that didn't work, and the writing was cliche at a couple points, but the acting was superb and the visuals were awesome. more hardcore people will probably find more nits to pick, but I think it'll be appealing to a broad audience, d&d fans included. I hope it earns the studio enough to try to make another one, especially if they can bring back the main cast, they had really good chemistry.
My group and I went and saw it together, and the consensus from us 6 is that it was awesome!
Much better than I thought it was going to be.
Never played DnD but i enjoyed the movie!
Both myself and my wife really enjoyed it. I have played D&D for a long time and my wife had never had any interest in it.
I thought it was a lot of fun. Not a D&D fan though, so I'm not sure what the hardcore fans thought.
My wife and I really liked it!
It's actually really good. I highly recommend it. It's a fun fantasy movie on its own, plus it has good comedy and satisfying references
It was a really fun movie, and while not top-tier cinema I'd definitely rate it as good. The actors did well, the dialogue was great, and there were so many easter eggs.
And you definitely felt in parts that it was a D&D game. The characters doing stupid things, the GM throwing a lifeline here and there, the sequence of combat in some of the battles...
I'm sad it came out at a bad time, I think it could've done better.
as someone who casually plays D&D, I loved it. It seemed chock full of references and was genuinely funny
it is great I actually went to see more then once
It's good in a cheesy, nerdy way
The druid uses a sword. Made of metal.
Other than that it was entertaining, however from a critical standpoint it seems like they tried to fit too many storylines into a movie that wasn't long enough to support them. Could have easily been 2, or 3 movies worth of content.
I loved it. It was fun.
I didn't think it was. I'd definitely be down for more movies in the dnd universe though if this was an example of what they'd be doing if that helps at all. Probably not a theater level movie but a good home movie or fun with friends watching for sure.
Great movie. A lot more fun than I expected with some terrific action and legit good laughs.
great movie, loved it.
As others have said. It's a very fun movie. Try to spot all the Easter Eggs ;)
Is it high art? No. Enjoyable? Very much.
I thought it was great! It was enjoyable for me (D&D player) and family/friends who have never played D&D.
Great movie
It's not. Really fun and well made
Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter is about intelligent nobility and mostly rich guys doing good things whereas D&D has always been about dirtbags trying to scam a buck. It has more in common with Conan, Jack Vance's Dying Earth, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser, Elric of Melniboné (and outright stolen concepts from everywhere).
Yeah the new one is great, I was afraid they'd water-down any violence or horror too much. Didn't make a lot of money :(
I had a great time with it! Showed it to friends who knew dnd and some who didn’t and they all had a blast!!
It's so good, fun, funny and exciting. Loved it.
I saw it last week and I think it's brilliant.
It was fun, but the CGI was dated in parts. Overall, glad I streamed it instead of seeing it in theaters
I loved it and thought it was worth the price of admission.
It's good even if some mechanical inaccuracies bother me (Mostly the fact that the bard casts zero spells)
I'd say it's okay, not bad and not particularly good.
Please no links to streaming sites or downloads please.
It was ok. Had it's moments
It's amazing. Highly recommend it!
