New Dungeons and Dragons movie starring Chris Pine

The film makers clearly agree with you.

FWIW (quibbles about “literal” meaning “figurative” aside), I agree with @mono. To me, the “Dungeons & Dragons” license means the most generic possible fantasy setting. I know there are lots of other settings, but Forgotten Realms is the big one, and it just screams “generic kitchen-sink fantasy land” because that’s kind of the purpose–that’s how they sell books and get new people into the hobby (especially preteen boys, which was the target audience when Forgotten Realms was created).

Isn’t saying it’s generic sort of like saying it’s the first big one and because of that other systems got modeled on it?

Far from.

What it was, was a collation of fantasy tropes, creatures, magic, etc from across all the extant mythologies at the time. Fantasy existed, the various creatures existed, what D&D did was borrow elements from all the disparate sources and merge them into a single setting. Hence the generic, as you would have everything from middle eastern, to Japanese, to Scandinavian folk creatures along side Celtic species, and Tolkien inspired creations. Much like how a little over a decade later Final Fantasy would do the same.

For me anyway, DnD being ‘generic’ mostly means it’s cover all the bases. You can run most any kind of campaign within the constructs of DnD. Tolkeinesque can be done. Warhammerish can be done. Space sillines can be done. If you can come up with it, it can probably fit within the Forgotten Realms and many ideas are already crammed in there. Which is fine for a game/setting that is meant to be used by as many folk as possible. But on screen it feels like the hodge-podge it is. Even the old cartoon had a tighter idea of it’s world than this film did. It could have focused on the Harpers and the character’s place with them, but just used that as another cameo.

Now, I did enjoy it, I just hoped for better. Especially after reading some of this thread.

Then why pay for it? You can certainly make a bland, generic fantasy setting without a license.

I have to agree with @roguefrog here, D&D is more about the system than the setting.

Well, in this case D&D was more about the brand than either.

People know what D&D means and have an idea what to expect. Yes, you could create an equally bland new medieval fantasy movie franchise, but that doesn’t happen very much anymore.

What was the last one? How to Train Your Dragon?

Not one-offs, movies with franchise potential.

I wouldn’t have thought that the license would be worth paying for, but I’m guessing somebody made the calculation (well, estimate) that the name recognition would be enough to put butts in seats. I certainly wouldn’t have gone to see it if everyone (well, most people) in this thread hadn’t convinced me it would stand on its own merits. And to be fair–thanks, people in this thread! I had an absolute blast and hope they make another. Now, I wasn’t going in expecting something on the level of, say, Lord of the Rings, so maybe having the D&D brand helped set my expectations.

And for the record, I would probably agree that D&D is (or should be) more about the system than the setting. But honestly, a movie about, or taking place in, a game system is going to be terrible. For example, there were some comments upthread about Chris Pine’s bard character not using the right powers or something. (I don’t mean to be dismissive here, I’m just not a D&D expert and I’m not going to get it right.) In my opinion, he was the perfect representation of a bard, because what he did was tell stories to charm, motivate, and manipulate people (both friends and enemies), and that’s exactly what a bard should do, regardless of whether it happens during a battle or is accompanied by music or magic. He kept saying that what he was good at was “planning” but he was demonstrating leadership and motivation–exactly what a high charisma score does for you.

I suppose you could make a good movie in or about a game system if it were metatextual in all the right ways, but that would be really, really hard.

Until I read this thread I didn’t know he was supposed to be a bard. It’s not that he doesn’t use the “right” powers, he doesn’t use any to my eye. Being a charming bullshitter is not specific to any class, and “bash someone with lute” is not a bard power - it’s just an idiotic combat strategy.

But hey, much as I love fantasy and love D&D, fantasy movies always seem to disappoint me. I should probably stop bothering.

Maybe that’s the key. I don’t particularly like fantasy or D&D. It’s D&D for folks who don’t give a damn about D&D.

Which is probably what you want as a studio if you’re looking for market share.

Well, agree to disagree then. I thought that him carrying around a lute (in a D&D branded movie) was a big flashing “I’m a bard stereotype” sign. And being a charming bullshitter is, to me, definitely a bard power, though as with most powers, other classes are allowed to do it at times. ;)

And honestly:

I’ll own this. Though it’s not that I don’t give a damn about D&D, it’s that my experience is mostly limited to Infinity Engine CRPGs and the like. I could 100% see how if someone cares a lot more about D&D than I do, this would be disappointing, and just feel like a generic fantasy movie with a few fan-service callouts (owlbears, the cartoon party cameo, etc).

Here are his official stats:

He may not have “cast” any spells with visible effects like wispy musical notes flying through the air, but it all looks okay to me.

To me, the reason it felt D&D and not just a generic fantasy movie, is that it managed to evoke the feeling of playing D&D, and goofing around with the other players at the table.

For the record, this is exactly what I’m looking for in a D&D movie. Unfortunately, for me it didn’t evoke that feeling at all, but it actually kind of makes me feel better that someone got that sense from it.

Wasn’t this movie meant to kick off Hasbro’s expansion of the brand into other forms of media, in part to take advantage of the rise in popularity of D&D due to productions like Critical Role? They’re listed as one of the production companies, though admittedly I’m not familiar enough with the business to know if they were involved beyond IP control.

Hard same. It felt like the writers had done a tabletop RPG campaign before.

Their brand recognition seemed targeted to this larger subset of folks, evoking Neverwinter, the Underdark and Baldur’s Gate names.

Worked for me.

Nice!

Hey, is there a Monster Manual entry for the pudgy dragon? Please let there be a Monster Manual entry for the pudgy dragon!