Rating
Synopsis
A thief, a barbarian, a druid and a sorceror undertake an adventure to recover their stolen loot, long lost daughter, have a few chuckles and all that without rolling a single 20 sided dice… die… dices
MPAA Rating
Rated PG-13 for some cartoony style violence, sing songs and Michelle Rodriguez being all Michelle Rodriguezy
Plot
Edgin Darvis is a Harper with only 5 Strength and 7 Intelligence but 18 Charisma thanks to his unique Chris Pineyness. What’s a Harper you ask? I don’t really know, but it should be googleable. He lives a simple life solving crimes by day and at night he returns back to his wife and child to have tomato soup for dinner. It’s a tale as old as time, a song as old as rhyme.
But then, oh no, he arrests the wrong dudes, red wizards in this case, and just like in many other old timey tales, the bad guy’s friends kill his missus. Not his kid however, she’s grand because this is PG-13 and after a few years drinking away his sorrows, he’s put back on his feet by Barbarian Holga (Rodriguez). Sick of being a good guy whose wifey gets stabbed, he demands a character change from the DM and becomes a thief, undertaking many a heist with a hodge podge team of characters full of derring-do (not unlike a certain role playing board game)
But then, more oh no, he’s double crossed by a wizard….ess(?) and ends up locked up in a prison chopping ice, ne’er to see his daughter again. Unless, he can some how get free, attempt to reunite with his daughter and get up to shenanigans along the way – which (spoiler alert) he does *
*it’s not really a spoiler, more the central plot to the movie
Will Edgin reunite with his daughter, renounce his thieving ways and live life on the straight and narrow? Roll a D20 and if you get a 16 or higher I might tell ya!
Pros
- Chris Pine’s natural charm works as the bard/thief
- Doesn’t take itself seriously – like comic book based movies
- Apparently there are quite a few in jokes/references for fans of the game
Cons
- While Rodriguez doesn’t do too much wrong, the role feels type cast
- Like a lot of D&D campaigns, it probably should have been shorter
- For a budget of this size some of the effects were lacking
Verdict
I’ve never played D&D – I have played a couple of similar role playing games, but D&D never piqued my interest. Hence I think a lot of the references in the movie may have been lost on me, however that does not mean the movie was not enjoyable on some levels. I think a decent balancing act was done here of keeping fans of the game happy while not alienating non players (NPCs?). Chris Pine brought all his rogueish charm to the role and while typecast, Michelle Rodriguez does a decent job as the Barbarian Holga. Regé-Jean Page playing the straight man to Pine’s foolish oaf works quite well and a lot of the jokes land.
That said, it is about 30min too long and while well worked at times some of the jokes seem a little tired and forced. It feels a little as though the cast and crew were having a bit too much fun and maybe the cutting room floor should have seen a little more action. All in all though I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, the trailer didn’t really do it justice, and I give this movie a solid 6 (out of 10, not 20 – that would be madness!)