Dungeons & Dragons (2000/2023)

D: Courtney Solomon

New Line / Silver Pictures / Behavior Worldwide / Sweetpea (Thomas M. Hammel, Kia Jam & Courtney Solomon)

US/Czech Republic 🇺🇸🇨🇿 2000

108 mins

Fantasy/Adventure

W: Carroll Cartwright & Topper Lilien

DP: Douglas Milsome

Ed: Caroline Ross

Mus: Justin Caine Burnett

Justin Whalin (Ridley Freeborn), Marlon Wayans (Snails), Zoe McLellan (Marina Pretensa), Lee Arenberg (Elwood), Kristen Wilson (Norda), Jeremy Irons (Profion), Bruce Payne (Damodar), Thora Birch (Empress Savina)

This 2000 fantasy-adventure, loosely based on the interactive role-playing game, truly is an abysmal piece of work, unlikely to appeal to those who don’t play the game and likely to cause incredibly annoyance to those who do.

The hackneyed, typical quest plot follows a pair of thieves who seek out a magical amulet to help an empress defeat an evil lord. 

The entire production feels rushed, as though it had to be released into cinemas prior to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the first film of which released a year later.  The story is lame, the dialogue is corny and the performances are tonally inconsistent, ranging from campily hamming it up (Jeremy Irons) to overly serious, as though this was an adaptation of Shakespeare (Thora Birch).  These might have been forgiven had the visual effects carried the film, but the cheap, shoddy-looking CGI don’t even come close to passable.

One of the worst films of the year 2000 that only escaped the ridicule it deserved because the infamously terrible Battlefield Earth was released the same year.

2/10

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES (12)

D: Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley

Paramount / Hasbro / Entertainment One (Jeremy Latcham, Brian Goldner & Nick Meyer)

US 🇺🇸 2023

134 mins

Fantasy/Adventure

W: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Michael Gillo & Chris McKay

DP: Barry Peterson

Ed: Dan Lebental

Mus: Lorne Balfe

PD: Raymond Chan

Cos: Amanda Monk

Chris Pine (Edgin Darvis), Michelle Rodriguez (Holga), Justice Smith (Simon), Sophia Lillis (Doric), Hugh Grant (Forge Fitzwilliam), Chloe Coleman (Kira Darvis), Regé-Jean Page (Xenk Yendar), Daisy Head (Sofina)

Though I’m familiar with the role-playing game (Dungeons & Dragons), I can’t admit to have ever played it, so I can’t comment on how true it is to its source material, however I can comment on this movie’s narrative simply as a fantasy-adventure.

Chris Pine & Michelle Rodriguez star as a pair of escaped convicts who attempt to clear their names against the con man & wicked sorceress who double-crossed them, the former of which has abducted the daughter of Pine, poisoning her against him.  Pine & Rodriguez enlist the help of an amateur wizard (Justice Smith), an Elvish Druid (Sophia Lillis) and a partially-immortal Knight (René-Jean Page) to succeed in their mission.

The plot is quite derivative of regular quest storylines, but the film remains fresh and fun due to the energy of the performances and the light-hearted approach from the directors and co-writers, Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, who balance the drama & comedy elements almost perfectly.

Forget all about the 2000 version of Dungeons & Dragons, as this reboot does, and have some fun with a film that is more entertaining than it really had any right to be.

6/10