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...

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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%.]


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!
 

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JohnSnow

Hero
I would bet big money that the majority of times B2 was run, it was with AD&D.

The notion that there was some sort of firewall between BD&D and AD&D is largely apocryphal.
I think a tremendous number of us ran some hybrid of B/X and AD&D back then.

It was much easier to find the tables in the B/X books than in the 1e DMG. But the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio had way more monster/foe options than the Basic and Expert books did. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who used the AD&D Classes and Races pretty much as soon as I could get my hands on a Player's Handbook.

I know for a fact that the first time I played The Isle of Dread, we were using AD&D characters. So yeah, a hard firewall it was not.
 

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Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
Back up to a 90% with 39 reviews from a check a couple minutes ago.

New Shazam, 54% critic (150) but 84% audience (250 reviews). Mainly posting this as a comparison when the D&D movie is released to compare both scores.
The militancy, let's say, of some DC fans in the modern movie era is a real headscratcher to me, who remembers DC from a time when it was the kinder, gentler comic book company. (Pre-Identity Crisis, in other words. RIP Sue Dibny, you deserved a lot better.)
 

Sacrosanct

Legend
I think a tremendous number of us ran some hybrid of B/X and AD&D back then.

It was much easier to find the tables in the B/X books than in the 1e DMG. But the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio had way more monster/foe options than the Basic and Expert books did. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who used the AD&D Classes and Races pretty much as soon as I could get my hands on a Player's Handbook.

I know for a fact that the first time I played The Isle of Dread, we were using AD&D characters. So yeah, a hard firewall it was not.
For sure. That seemed pretty typical for me too. We reran modules like KotBL, Castle Amber, Lost City, and IoD many times, and most of those were with AD&D characters.
 


teitan

Legend
I stopped watching Vox Machina this season. The premiere - let’s watch DMPC dragons be kewl while PC’s do nothing - I’d need Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons to describe my reaction to that.

I hope HAT is better. From the trailers, I think it is, by far.
Those would be called NPCS. 🤪 they were very powerful dragons. They actually were a real and dangerous threat, that’s what truly ancient and powerful dragons would be like. You should check out DCC dragons if you thought that was intense.
 

teitan

Legend
I would bet big money that the majority of times B2 was run, it was with AD&D.

The notion that there was some sort of firewall between BD&D and AD&D is largely apocryphal.
Yeah I agree. The BX thing is largely a modern phenomenon. I am sure some people stuck to it but most leapt to 1e and BECMI rarely went beyond those first red box experiences before moving to advanced from most accounts but I don’t doubt the sourcebooks had an audience of players mixing and matching.
 

Those would be called NPCS. 🤪 they were very powerful dragons. They actually were a real and dangerous threat, that’s what truly ancient and powerful dragons would be like. You should check out DCC dragons if you thought that was intense.
I didn’t think it was intense, I thought it was boring.
 

JohnSnow

Hero
Yeah I agree. The BX thing is largely a modern phenomenon. I am sure some people stuck to it but most leapt to 1e and BECMI rarely went beyond those first red box experiences before moving to advanced from most accounts but I don’t doubt the sourcebooks had an audience of players mixing and matching.
I know that we played a little fast and loose with the tables. The B/X ones were easy to find. The 1e DMG was…lengthy.
 

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