Dungeons & Dragons - Die Macht der Elemente

I was amazed when I found out that they were making a sequel to the horror that was the first Dungeons & Dragons movie. Despite the poor quality all around of the first one some people gave the source the benefit of the doubt and were willing to try it again. Thankfully this time the source material was taken more seriously and the project was put into better hands.

The result is a decent film with a comprehensible story, and decent production quality. The cast is by no means A-list, or even B-list; though they do well in their respective roles. The effects are alright, but if the movie had a better budget it would have been even better.

All things being equal this movie is superior to the first. DnD folks out there should like it and appreciate the detail taken to make sure the source material comes through correctly. It's a mixed bag on how much other people will like it. If you are willing to look past the lower grade special effects, and the cast of unknowns then you might enjoy it.

This, my friend, is Dungeons & Dragons. This is not a cinematic masterpiece. This is not Shakespeare. The storyline wont change your future. But it's 1:45h of real entertainment for any Dungeons & Dragons fan.

Unlike the first movie, D&D:Elemental Might go back to the book. Many fantasy movies have wizards and fighters, but I believe the creators actually focused on really bringing the things we recognize from the D&D world into this one. There's a real "party" with classic Dungeons & Dragons professions represented and they really do what is to be expected by their roles. There's real dungeons... There's dragons... and there's even a few unique D&D monsters that is recognized from the books. The villain is more evil. The good is more good. There's heaps and heaps of magic, and even divine magic (which is unique to D&D) plays a great role this time around.

If you ever played D&D and you can accept some budgetcuts on bringing your fantasy to life, get ahold of this movie. If you never played D&D but you are a general fantasy fan, get this movie because it's the most fantasymovie you have seen since Lord of the Rings. If you are neither a fan of fantasy or an oldtime fan of Dungeons & Dragons, you can probably forget about this one and watch something else.

I will buy it and I want to see more D&D movies in the future!

The first few minutes were the visual equivalent of a bad novel's prologue. Rathern than introducing the problem through the story, the bad guy tells you about himself and his plans, although not in enough specifics for it to make sense. Fortunately, the heroes don't watch the prologue, and they're reasonably good at explaining the plot to the viewers as the movie goes on.

The movie did a good job of using D&D terminology (arcane vs. divine magic, etc.) and had the feel of a typical D&D adventure. It was paced fairly well, and the acting was appropriate for an original Sci-Fi channel movie. The special effects were very well done, but some of them weren't too understandable unless you were a D&D player.

If you aren't a D&D fan, there's probably not much here for you. If you are, then it's worth watching, as long as you can avoid speculating on what color certain beasts are or complaining that certain things aren't the way they are in the manuals. Just assume their DM has house rules, OK?

For all of those who play DND and have played DND throughout the years... you may have seen a movie that came out in 2000 that you may have hated or maybe even liked what was called Dungeons and Dragons The Movie. Well in my opinion it was a flop... Well recently they actually made a Dungeons and Dragons 2. I watched it last night even though it has not been released yet (it plays on the Sci Fi channel on Oct 8th) and well... it was great! I was totally surprised with the production. It wasn't cheesy (except a few of the special effects) acting wise or production wise. The movie played out like it was a regular adventure that a DM would make up, the spells were cast properly, the "core" rules were not broken, and most importantly the characters were interesting and were not INVINCIBLE... they are just like us PC's (getting arms eaten or chopped off or getting eaten whole by a purple worm!). So trust me... it was great. Even though it was obviously lower budget than say... Battlestar Galactica. But what DND game isn't low budget.

I enjoyed this more then the first. There was no slapstick comedy which really teed me off in the first film. Although there was a clear leader, it was more balanced on a party of characters. It was more of what I would expect from a D&D movie. The action was well paced, and the plot progressed well. The SFX were decent. A few times the CG wasn't that good but it didn't really detract that much. Ellie Chidzley as Lux was very easy on the eyes. Hope to see more of her in the future.

In overall context of movies maybe 6.5/10. In the context of a D&D movie and to those looking for one I give it 8/10.

Worth a view.