People have tried to make live-action Dungeons & Dragons films before and the results were not great. More than a decade later the game itself is more popular than ever thanks to YouTube videos and this feels like an underexploited franchise. This revival is instantly recognizable as being far more successful even from its trailers. It’s easy to see why: it appropriates the Marvel formula of combining action with humor and of taking the lore seriously while not obligating casual viewers to study up on it to enjoy the film. Needless to say, I’m all for it and I’d love to more fantasy films made in this style.
Bard Edgin Darvis relates his backstory while pleading for early release from the prison of Revel’s End. He was a Harper who eschewed his vows by becoming a thief but this results in his wife Zia being killed by the Red Wizards of Thay. He raises his daughter Kira with the help of his friend the exiled barbarian Holga and later tries to steal a Tablet of Reawakening to revive his wife. This was the crime that led to him and Holga being imprisoned. Back in the present the two break out of prison and go look for Kira. She has been under the care of another participant in the failed heist Forge Fitzwilliam and are surprised to learn that he has since made himself the Lord of the city of Neverwinter. The audience will not be surprised to learn that Forge has betrayed them and works together with Sofina who is secretly a Red Wizard. Furthermore Forge has convinced Kira that Edgin is an irresponsible father and a criminal and that he is the better guardian for her. The two escape and after hearing that Forge is reviving the previously banned gladiatorial games that will a great deal of wealth into the city, decide to rob his vault and retrieve Kira. But to do that, they first need to recruit a team.
Just as the MCU films were an extended love letter to long time comics fans, this one is pure fan service for long time Dungeons & Dragons players. It keeps dropping names like Baldur’s Gate, Waterdeep, Mordenkainen, and tieflings that it doesn’t elaborate on and that casual audiences will not know. Yet every role-playing gamer will feel like they’re coming home to an old friend and this is exactly the right approach to take with the franchise. To others, these names combined with the elaborate visuals suggest a rich, wide world of possibilities while to fans it’s like a dream come true to see these visions fully realized with all the resources that a big budget Hollywood production can bring to bear. True, the locations, CGI work, fight scenes and costuming aren’t quite top notch, but they’re good enough. Add to that a playful sense of humor, respect for the source material and not taking things too seriously while not allowing things to go completely off the rails either, in short, the by now well-polished MCU formula, and it transfers over perfectly even though this isn’t a Disney film.
There are a few things that could have been better. One is that the locations are sorely underused. There are so many amazing locales, Doric’ forest, the homeland of Holga’s Uthgardt tribe, the Underdark and so on but in each place they stay barely long enough to take a quick look around before it’s off to the next spot. I could hardly believe that they would show the Underdark and not have a single encounter with a Dark Elf there. They didn’t need to make the film longer but I don’t think they needed to show off quite so many different places in one film either. Another thing is how absurdly common powerful magic and magic items seem to be. It’s crazy how they talk about the Helm of Disjunction as being an ancient powerful relic and Ed is all, “let’s go find it!” I suppose that too can be interpreted as part of the joke of Dungeons & Dragons campaigns but I kind of dislike how magic does all of the heavy lifting here. For example, Doric in owlbear form is far more powerful than Holga in a physical fight. Come on, let the non-magic users pull off some cool feats too.
As I’ve written many times already, the MCU films seem to have pretty much run their course so I’m really hoping that the D&D franchise can pick up the slack. It may not be great art and they’re not making deep statements, but it sure is fun entertainment. They’re not limited to just the Forgotten Realms either. They can delve into the horror Ravenloft, the space adventures of Spelljammer, even the epic battles of Dragonlance if they want. The possibilities are endless. Let’s hope they don’t mess it up.