In spite of the fact that it (reportedly) had about half of the budget of the rather embarrassing D&D film that was released in theaters a few years ago, this Sci Fi Channel movie is superior in almost every way, both as a tribute to the game and as film-making in general.
One of the main reasons that this film stacks up favorably against its predecessor is due to the fact that it seems to have been made by people who have actually played the game, or at least read the rulebook. Fans of the pen-paper-and-dice adventures will be happy to recognize the setup of the story: A party of adventurers (Fighter, Priest, Mage, Barbarian, Thief) journeys through a series of dangerous locales (haunted forest, goblin village, trap-filled dungeon, etc.) in order to recover the powerful artifact that can save the world from certain doom. The somewhat trite storyline is what lends the movie some of its charm- it feels like an adventure that you would actually play in the game.
The cast of unknown actors and actresses do a good job with the decent script they are given to work with. There is not a whole lot of character development, but the cast does a good job of actually coming across as medieval adventurers, as opposed to Hollywood actors with swords and silly costumes (as in the original movie). they avoid the use of any anachronistic modern slang or demeanor. More importantly, they follow most of the rules of D&D adventuring (the types of spells and methods of spellcasting, searching for traps and secret doors, barbarian rage, etc). Though veteran players will be shocked and dismayed that they ignore the most important adventurer's rule: always protect the Cleric.
My main objection to the film is that things happen too fast - many of the events that should be significant in the story just don't feel significant. Powerful characters, both good and bad, are defeated and sometimes even killed much too quickly and easily- I think the movie would be much more effective if it made these events seems more important- perhaps through better music, perhaps through cutting away to other scenes and then coming back in order to make the fights seem longer, and also by taking more time to show how the characters react to things as they happen. These are the kinds of things that would have turned a decent film into a very good one.
One of the main reasons that this film stacks up favorably against its predecessor is due to the fact that it seems to have been made by people who have actually played the game, or at least read the rulebook. Fans of the pen-paper-and-dice adventures will be happy to recognize the setup of the story: A party of adventurers (Fighter, Priest, Mage, Barbarian, Thief) journeys through a series of dangerous locales (haunted forest, goblin village, trap-filled dungeon, etc.) in order to recover the powerful artifact that can save the world from certain doom. The somewhat trite storyline is what lends the movie some of its charm- it feels like an adventure that you would actually play in the game.
The cast of unknown actors and actresses do a good job with the decent script they are given to work with. There is not a whole lot of character development, but the cast does a good job of actually coming across as medieval adventurers, as opposed to Hollywood actors with swords and silly costumes (as in the original movie). they avoid the use of any anachronistic modern slang or demeanor. More importantly, they follow most of the rules of D&D adventuring (the types of spells and methods of spellcasting, searching for traps and secret doors, barbarian rage, etc). Though veteran players will be shocked and dismayed that they ignore the most important adventurer's rule: always protect the Cleric.
My main objection to the film is that things happen too fast - many of the events that should be significant in the story just don't feel significant. Powerful characters, both good and bad, are defeated and sometimes even killed much too quickly and easily- I think the movie would be much more effective if it made these events seems more important- perhaps through better music, perhaps through cutting away to other scenes and then coming back in order to make the fights seem longer, and also by taking more time to show how the characters react to things as they happen. These are the kinds of things that would have turned a decent film into a very good one.
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