Beware fat dragons, cheating halflings, and bald Wizards in red robes…

My sister and I were never D&D people, never even heard of it until Stranger Things. We only recently started a campaign with some friends who have experience with the game. That said, you don’t really need to know anything about D&D to enjoy this movie. It was a smut free, refreshing, family adventure film. It wasn’t a great movie, but my cinema expectations have fallen pretty low—it did its job, it provided clean entertainment.

Spoiler Alert if you haven't seen the film and don’t want the entire plot revealed.

THE UNIQUENESS OF THE PLOT: Chris Pine plays a former peacekeeper whose vocation doesn’t pay enough to support his wife and child so he steals. The consequences get his wife killed so he befriends a barbarian woman and tries to get a magical tablet to bring his beloved back. He ends up getting caught, along with Holga (the barbarian), and their other friends get away. One of them, Forge, promises to take care of Pine’s daughter until he can return. Pine breaks out of jail with Holga and finds Forge betrayed them with the help of a red wizard. Now, Pine has to find a way to get his daughter back. This is where the plot, as a writer, goes crazy but it feels authentic to D&D style. Pine decides they need money to hire people to get his daughter back. They get the gang together, consisting of a sorcerer with low self-esteem and a very talented Druid girl. Then they need a magical helmet to open the vault and the only one who knows where to find it is an annoyingly upright Paladin. Basically, obstacles come out of nowhere and scenes play out with a sort of randomness; which, after playing D&D, makes the film feel like you’re playing the game.

WHAT I APPRECIATED:

-Honest to goodness fun: Chris Pine’s humor basically held the whole movie together, but it wasn’t crude or inappropriate. His interaction with the Paladin was the most entertaining one.

-A Clean family movie: No unnecessary foul language, gore, or smut. I was afraid they were going to have some pointless politically correct romance between the Druid girl and the dopey sorcerer, but she only consents to allow him to court her in the end (which was a relief).

WHAT COULD’VE BEEN DONE BETTER:

-Holga’s relationship with her ex-husband: The movie tries to skim over the fact that Holga’s husband basically commits adultery when she gets caught for stealing and he remarries. He claims her depression (from leaving her people to be with him) and stealing was a reason for him to leave her. So, instead of helping his wife deal with that depression, and having a talk with her about stealing, he gets a new woman and we’re supposed to be okay with him because he’s diminutive and helpless looking. Holga’s not angry with him (and I guess we’re not supposed to be either), he’s not angry with her and neither is his new wife. Everyone’s just cool with each other for non-existent, convenient reasons.

-Chris Pine’s daughter served as his character’s motivation, but her performance was flat: She believes Forge’s lies that her father abandoned her for money. When he finds her, she isn’t happy with Pine for leaving her but, for some reason, she’s okay with Holga. That didn’t make sense. Holga left her too, for what she believes to be the same reason. The daughter didn’t have much to do, other than be led around by Forge, and be Pine’s one goal.

Overall, the film was my first D&D cinema experience, but you don’t need to know much about the game to enjoy the world. With what’s in theaters, this is a good choice for starved movie goers who want fun and family friendly.

Article by Hannah