Dungeons & Dragons

Ridley and Snails are thieves in the underclass of their world. Breaking into the magic school to steal they are captured by Marina but, when her master is killed, the thieves find themselves drawn into an attempt by the evil Profion to use the power of a lost sceptre to seize control from Empress Savina, who is trying to reform and make all men equal.

It is hard to really judge the plot of this film because I'm sure it could have been a rollicking, engaging "swords & sorcery" affair and it is only the delivery here that has turned it into a massive, insulting pile of rubbish. The way that the characters have to explain every single action in BIG LETTERS for the audience was something that grated on me and took me from thinking of it as lazy writing to finding it offensive that the writers thought I was too stupid to follow the story myself. Instead of being a strong narrative the film is just a basic adventure for kids, with effects and noise to keep them distracted. As such it is still only so-so because even children might struggle to care about the unimpressive CGI backgrounds and action set pieces. It'll please the very undemanding genre fan under 12 years old but unlikely many others.

The characters are another major failing – who thought that writing obnoxious, annoying or smug characters across the leads would cause an audience to be engaged by them? With this to work with, is it any wonder that the cast are roundly poor? Whalin must have thought his luck was in when he landed this role, but he messes it up with a performance that shows he is out of his depth and unsure of himself. McLellan is bland and quite irritating for the majority of the film but her faults pale in comparison to a trio of performances that stick in the mind as the worst of the film. Irons hams it up with all the carelessness of a pro who knows an easy payday when he sees it – he is hilariously terrible at times. Payne's blue lipstick seems to have affected his voice and every line is delivered as a sneer – it is never menacing and quickly becomes tiresome. However the worst performance is form, surprise surprise, Wayans who made me understand what Spike Lee's Bamboozled was getting at. He is a shrieking, mugging ethnic cliché – even worse than he usually does and even more annoying. The odd cameo from O'Brien or Baker do nothing to stop the rot and the cast add to the impression that this was cheaply made without much love.

Overall a poor film that will probably only appeal to kids. The plot is badly delivered and the effects are not as impressive as director Solomon was clearly banking on them being. The cast are lost in the middle of it all and not a single on of them gives a performance that you could call "good", all in all producing a pretty poor attempt at a blockbuster.

I've been playing or DMing (A)D&D for most of my 38 years. Even before I hit my teens I was writing better scripts for adventures then exist in this movie; there are so many plot holes the truck hasn't been built that's too big to drive through them, and despite having a cast of actors that aren't all that bad, the acting is in most cases similarly dreadful.

So, if you've ever played (A)D&D do yourself a favour and DON'T watch this movie, to avoid all the hair being ripped out of your skull whilst watching. If you've never played (A)D&D then STILL DON'T watch this movie - rent out Willow or Princess Bride or Ladyhawke or Lord of the Rings to get an idea about how good a campaign/adventure could be; watching this will just put you off ever playing the game.

I'm not a film critic but I am a film fanatic, and if I'm completely honest the reviews are a little harsh to say the least. this film is not perfection and nor is it remotely close to what so people have described as " a waste of time " I found this film a good watch and would happily watch it again. if you like fantasy then you will like this film. full stop fully intended. I rated this film 7 stars an feel this is a fair representation of the film rather than the usual one. this film has a fully thought out and cleaver plot and the biggest ending cliff hanger ever left upon a fantasy film that leaves you wondering about what happens to the characters! this film was a fun hour or so and I have convinced my closet friends to watch it themselves. give it a go, what's the worst that could happen!

"Dungeons & Dragons" is so terrible, I can't help myself from laughing at people who say they liked this film.

This is one of the worst mistakes ever made in Hollywood. I had an inkling of what the end result of this film would be; however, I wanted to give it a chance.

The first problem is the lack of plot to accompany the numerous action sequences. It seems to me that the action was supposed to be the main draw. I can only assume the writer forgot that there are people who actually like to see a film with BOTH action and story when they see a film. In addition, the cause of fighting the villain is so stupid; who cares.

The second problem I see is casting. Combine an unestablished actor with little film experience and zero talent with a very talented veteran, Jeremy Irons and you have a disaster for a film called "Dungeons & Dragons."

"Dungeons & Dragons" should have stayed locked in a dungeon in a far off place so nobody has to go the suffering I did when I saw this film. If you see this film, good luck.

This movie is what defines "nothing special". You watch it, you like some parts, some you don't, and you will never think about it once you leave the theater.

As a player of the Baldurs Gate computer game, the D&D cosmos is nothing new to me. But in this movie, most of the inherent magic of this fascinating world was simply let out for poor effects and cheap character stereotypes. The female mage has nothing to do but to look nice and to scream in moments of danger. She hardly ever uses her magic abilities, and therefore is a splendid example of the poor role play adaption this movie is. She is no mage - she is simply a damsel in distress.

The humor of the movie also is very simple and nothing to really laugh about. That is, if you leave out Jeremy Irons' incredibly bad acting - his bad mage routine should be added to acting books under the chapter "how to overplay a character". But, to be true, those were the most funny moments of the movie, so at least Irons was good for something here...

All in all a rather unspectacular start to the new wave of fantasy films which will accompany the giant blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" production. I pray to God that the Tolkien adaption will be far better than this mostly trashy b-movie.