Dragones y Mazmorras 2

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 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.

The first D&D movie was largely hated by D&D players, partly because it wasn't a good movie, but also because it was not very much like D&D the game.

Perhaps because of the cool reception of the first, this was changed dramatically in the sequel. It now really is like the game, sure to provide lots of geek moments where viewers try to guess which spell is being cast or what magic item is being used. The characters also tend to act like D&D characters, and they actually explore a dungeon.

Unfortunately, as a movie, it has some shortcomings. For one, much of the acting is uninspired. Not bad, but about a wooden as a dummy of Keanu Reeves. The first movie also suffered from this problem, but in this movie, it's probably because most of the actors are new, this generally being their first film. Exception being Tim Stern, the guy playing the Rogue, who brought some life to his character.

The characterization and dialog isn't great, either. Less character development than in some commercials, even though this is a fairly long movie. But I chalk that up also to the inexperience of the screen writers (though also is relatively common in D&D games, so perhaps is a feature, not a bug).

When it comes to special effects, they are about on par with Sci-Fi channel offerings. Slightly better. Lord of the Rings it ain't. But not terrible, either.

Still, just judging it as a fantasy movie, it's much better than most other low budget ones. Worth watching. And for D&D players, it's a lot of fun.

I was someone that had mixed feelings on the original D&D movie. I thought the script was clunky, the acting was awful as far as good guys were concerned, it contained wildly inappropriate dialog for the setting, and the tone made light of what could have been dramatic events. On the other hand, the movie looked good, had a couple decent fight scenes and the huge Dragon war at the climax was dynamic and exciting. Still, with it's less than impressive reception, I figured this would be a series of one.

Imagine my surprise when a sequel was announced, and even greater shock when I watched the films premier and found it to be everything I felt it's predecessor lacked. The acting, while not Oscar worthy, was perfectly reasonable work from a handful of unknowns. The plot is treated seriously this time around, with a minimum of cliché and jest (Although there are two laugh out loud moments) and actually features an intelligent foe with a genuinely epic plan for the forces of justice to combat. Speaking of which, the heroes are a nice diverse bunch, and the film manages to showcase each one's unique talents well.

As for the action and eye candy, there's plenty. The fights are staged better than 90% of the action flicks on the shelves, with realistic flow and quick pace. The special effects are among the best I've ever seen in a non-theatrical film and are leaps and bounds above any other Sci-Fi premier yet broadcast (Though not quite as good as a theatrical release). The final battle is not as kinetic as the first films finale, but manages to be a fitting climax to the quest.

If this is what this crew can produce with a terribly low budget, I say give them 70 million bucks and get Dungeons & Dragons III in theaters ASAP!

I should be in geek heaven. Another Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) movie? After the critical hit that the first one took, I wouldn't have thought it possible ... but clearly someone has more faith in the franchise than the viewing public.

Wrath of the Dragon God is better cinematically than the original, but just isn't as much fun. While the first went for all the clichés (including the initial tavern rendezvous) and the full-on dragon war climax, the latest seems oddly low key ... despite its typically apocalyptic plot line.

Over a century has passed and Damodar (Bruce Payne) has returned from undeath with another foul plan for world domination. A band of experienced adventurers is hastily assembled - representing all the major character classes (a fighter, mage, cleric, rogue and barbarian) - to thwart him. And that's pretty much it.

There's a decent dungeon crawl sequence and some okay fight scenes, but it all seems very pedestrian and just an odd rehash of Hawk The Slayer (still, in my humble opinion, the best non-D&D D&D movie). We do get a pretty 'realistic' cinematic interpretation of Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons, some eye candy in the Xena-esquire shape of the barbarian Lux, fanboy in-jokes (in the shape of adventure module name dropping e.g. 'Barrier Peaks' and 'The Ghost Tower of Inverness' to name but two) and a few snippets of witty banter.

But for my two gold pieces, it could have been so much more. If the movie makers were trying to breath new life into the franchise they should have tried to make something that was dramatically different from the first, not just another version. In this sort of low-budget fantasy adventure fare, one quest is very much like another - whatever trinket the champions are seeking.

And enough with the CGI dragons already...

999 experience points to the writers, cast and directors for effort, but not enough to take them up a level yet.