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I had such hopes for this latter volume, seeing as the story got somewhat more faithful to the source prior this episode (though a lot of weird additions and changes remained), which I hadn't expected, but vaguely appreciated.

The arc this episode went through could have been so amazing. I remember the books sort of breezed through it a bit, but the plot points contained within made sense and were pretty epic, I have to admit.

But this one, while preserving some plot points, went into weird directions with others, and I can't help but feel annoyed that such minute things as the surroundings for certain scenes were needlessly changed to something that didn't really feel like a necessary or warranted change.

I mean, the episode ticked many of the boxes in terms of plot points, but the delivery was very much disappointing. Mixed with some weird additions and changes, it just fell flat for me.

And the two heavy-hitter plots, Dijkstra and Geralt, neither hit as heavy as they should've in my opinion.

I don't really have much hope for the remaining two episodes, but we'll see...

I've only now reached "maturity" in some sense with DnD, having played four characters in various campaigns, two of which are still going on. I don't consider myself the hardest fan of the franchise, but this movie was way more entertaining, impressive and enchanting than I had expected.

So, this comes from someone who's barely made it past amateur in the game and its lore: This was a complete treat in all of the ways I could've hoped for.

The script, the story itself, is surprisingly good. The comedic nature made it hard to be immersive, but it was. Plenty of easter eggs and references, some of which were later revealed, but it was quite fun to notice them and savour them in the moment, without the non-dnd friends realizing the depth of some funny or impactful moments.

They chose a lot of hard ways through, by which I mean they did not scare away from doing big, hard-to-get-right things. And I would say they got most of everything pretty close to right. Right enough that I simply have no complaints.

It really did feel like an entire campaign. The fun part was also to see, how a lot of the dialogue and actual things that happen were very close to how things would play out in a campaign we'd play. Having a brilliant plan A, then resorting to plan B, then just having chaos direct the story, having the party adapt and just improvise things like we would do. It was such an endearing experience in a way, but even looking at it all outside of this perspective, it truly feels like the story really carries its weight on its own merits, and would very likely impress most of those without these experiences or "connections" sort of.

The cinematography was beautiful, and often reminded me of Lotr, the only movies to date that have managed this genre without being corny or awkward or too limited. We had big shots of the sceneries, good pacing, various interesting places and milieus... it all works so well, it's hard for me to wrap my head around that after so many years since I've last experienced this. In Tv-series realm we did have the first few seasons of got, and maybe a few others, but this is truly on the exact level of the greats.

While this is much more comedic and adventurous-y than lotr or got, it does work in the context. For me, dnd has always been about funny moments and encounters, things going wrong and having these grand adventures where a group of people just somehow make it and save the day. It kind of reminds me of pirates of the caribbean in many ways. And that was another great series, although I wouldn't count it in this exact same genre, or maybe I'm more thinking of "theme" or something.

This is like if Lotr was more like Potc, and based on dnd. It's fun. It's actually very immersive, and definitely impressive. It has its heart-breaking moments too. It really does have a lot of the things a good production should.

It is a great piece of entertainment, a truly worthy experience, and I can't help but hope that they manage to turn this into a franchise and keep up the level of greatness.

10/10. I will be rewatching this very soon with a bunch more of my friends, and I bet I'll find even more little details and easter eggs to enjoy.

Go watch it. Pay for it. You'll love it, I'm sure.