D&D Movie/TV The D&D Movie Reviews Are Coming In

While Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves doesn't come out until March 31st, reviewers have seen early screenings--and so far at least—it's all almost all overwhelmingly positive.

Of course, while those who follow genre movie news will know that's not an unusual pattern among early screenings, with things starting to settle down a bit later, Rotten Tomatoes currently has the movie at 100%. We can expect that to drop.

[UPDATE -- the Rotten Tomatoes score is now starting to drop and was at 92% at the time of this edit.]
[UPDATE -- now 84%.]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | Rotten Tomatoes

A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the...

www.rottentomatoes.com

Hollywood Reporter said "An adaptation that will appeal to the nostalgic side of existing fans and entertain those whose eyes glaze over at the mention of Dungeon Masters, bards or druids." Variety's verdict was "It’s at once cheesy and charming, synthetic and spectacular, cozily derivative and rambunctiously inventive, a processed piece of junk-culture joy that, by the end, may bring a tear to your eye." Den of Geek says "At last, here is a crowdpleaser that actually pleases, and not least of all because the stakes are as small as an evening with some mates going on "a quest" by way of a 20-sided die." And Total Film speaks of "A Pine-fuelled mix of humour, handsome settings and high-stakes action turns the beloved board game into a big-screen treat."

Other outlets agree. According to Polygon "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is everything a D&D fan could want" and The Wrap says "This Hilarious Epic Fantasy Is a Total Blast". Deadline also gives it a positive review, saying "With renewed interest in the fantasy genre, it’s good to see something outside of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones getting it right and having a good time. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is also one of the better game adaptations to hit theaters due to all of the elements coming together — a strong cast, a decent story, dynamic direction and pleasing special effects."

Rolling Stone is a little more tempered, however, observing that "‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Proves Chris Pine Can Save Anything" but warns that "no matter how much the creators confess their love of the game, all of those shout-outs to creatures, character types, campaign details and so on feel like annoying distractions."

RogerEbert.com feels that "The film often feels like it’s faking what the creators love about the game instead of trying to translate it from one medium to another."

But so far, so good! We'll have to wait to see if the trend holds up once the movie is out, but for those hoping we'll finally have a decent D&D movie--it looks like there is hope to be had!

 

[DarkCrisis]

I’m usually someone who hates forced “Marvel humour” shoehorned into franchises it doesn’t belong. (Eg Star Wars - the opening battle of The Last Jedi is probably the most egregious example) but I feel it’s appropriate here. D&D is not a serious heavy work with Tolkien level gravitas. It’s a bizarre cobbled together stew of barbarians, weird monsters, robots and whatever else being played with levity and a sense of fun. It’s ok for it to be self aware.

I think a lot of it has to do with the novels.

Look at the very very popular Drizzt books. Or most of the 2E era novels. They are more serious than humorous. Definitely not humorous at the levels of GotG and later Thor films.

That’s probably what diehard fans were wanting. Can you imagine a Drizzt film that’s treated like GotG? Especially his origin trilogy?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I think a lot of it has to do with the novels.

Look at the very very popular Drizzt books. Or most of the 2E era novels. They are more serious than humorous. Definitely not humorous at the levels of GotG and later Thor films.

That’s probably what diehard fans were wanting. Can you imagine a Drizzt film that’s tested like GotG? Especially his origin trilogy?

Drizzt novels does have its moments of humour, mostly Dwarves. Occasional Rumble Belly.

But yeah you could never do Drizzt like GotG, but there are D&D stories with more humour and light hearted. Like Minsc and Boo.

 

[Vaalingrade]

That’s probably what diehard fans were wanting.

And we also see what those maniacs did to Die Hard!

 

[DarkCrisis]

Drizzt novels does have its moments of humour, mostly Dwarves. Occasional Rumble Belly.

But yeah you could never do Drizzt like GotG, but there are D&D stories with more humour and light hearted. Like Minsc and Boo.

Minsc and Boo (and other BG characters) certainly were funny but over all the story of the game(s) was serious.

I don’t think D&D lends itself to serious films though. It’s to high fantasy. The reason LotRs worked so well is because it didn’t have over the top monsters like Mimics and wizards flinging fireballs and magic missiles. It just wouldn’t work IMO.

 

[teitan]

Back up to 91% so this might stick to be "Fresh" rated after all.

 

[teitan]

absolutely. DND was never low fantasy nitty gritty. The first treasure tables had Artifacts, the staff of Power and and rules to generate Hordes of treasure. By the 80's Gygax was actively railing at the "Monty Haul DM's" who were breaking his game but they were also the one's paying his bills.

ehhh if you followed the rules those were extremely hard to find and essentially needed to be planted by the DM. Monty Haul DMs were DMs just handing out treasure like candy and selling magic items. Went against the spirit of the the game but it was fun for people too. The rally against Monty Haul wasn't just Gygax, it continued into 2e as well with lots of warnings about it disrupting game balance and ways to remove unbalancing items from the game before 3e came out and worked it into the expected play style as a gimme instead.

 

[DarkCrisis]

And we also see what those maniacs did to Die Hard!

I couldn’t even finish the last Die Hard film (the one set in Russia) it was so bad

 

[bedir than]

Is Rotten Tomatoes clearing out negative reviews from the general audience of it becomes clear they didn't watch?

 

[M_Natas]

Is Rotten Tomatoes clearing out negative reviews from the general audience of it becomes clear they didn't watch?

If you report them for Spam theirnis a chance that happens.

 

[nevin]

ehhh if you followed the rules those were extremely hard to find and essentially needed to be planted by the DM. Monty Haul DMs were DMs just handing out treasure like candy and selling magic items. Went against the spirit of the the game but it was fun for people too. The rally against Monty Haul wasn't just Gygax, it continued into 2e as well with lots of warnings about it disrupting game balance and ways to remove unbalancing items from the game before 3e came out and worked it into the expected play style as a gimme instead.

I never said it was just Gygax. Generally the railing on either side is naughty word. High magic can be balanced fine with magic items and DM knowledge and ability to prepare for spells. Nitty gritty low magic was always 6th level and below with no magic items. In 30 years I've played with two groups that played that way. I know others play it that way, and others love the monty hall crazy. I love high magic games. I gaurrantee you my players use all the spells you guys whine about and the plot just keeps on moving fine. If the bad guys use all the mechanics, spells, and magic items that the players do it works just fine. Though to be fair at that point it's like managing a project because you have to keep track of EVERYTHING.

the two biggest problems in my opinion are players thinking they have the right to demand anything in a book, which really started to be a problem IME with 3rd edition, and those who expect all the options that they get in thier MMO. To be fair I've seen DM's pull stuff out of WOW or Final Fantasy online and think it's really cool. For me it just sucks the fun right out of it.