It's not bad, no, it's actually nice enough, they did try to make something acceptable. Still, it's more an adventure film than a dungeons and dragons one.
Its good points:
the red witch was cool, and the Holga character was my favourite.
I feel like the main character wasn't quite right, though. I'm not sure if there's something that Chris Pine could have done more, or differently, it's just that he was pretty much his usual self, which was not quite right here, too modern, too American, not really convincing as a bard, no.
Nationality may also be Hugh Grant's problem in this specific film, because he did his part right, but was too much his usual self and too English.
This is fantasy, another world, so I don't think they were the perfect choice.
Still, it was nice , Holga was right and the ending just what I thought it should be, since Holga was the only mother the child had ever known. aAnd as I said, the red witch was cool.
The plot in more details:
Edgin is his name, according to internet, I could not really understand it while watching it. He's a bard working with a special order that works like cops, but he's clearly tempted by all the riches the bad guys have, and at the end of the movie he will reveal that he took some of it and that's what brought the bad guys to his door.
At the start of the movie he's in prison with Barbarian Holga, and they escape together, just before they were pardoned, I think, but they didn't know that and he didn't want to risk it.
He's married and has a baby but one day he gets hime to find they killed his wife, although she managed to hide the baby.
His wife was the best thing in his life and he loved her deeply, and always will, but life goes on and he has a daughter (Kira), so he partners up with a thief (Forge) and a sorcerer(Simon) who's not really the best at his job yet. After he learns of the Tablet of Reawakening, he doesn't tell his daughter his plan but he wants to steal it to resurrect his wife, it's all he thinks about.
Things go wrong though, and he's captured with Holga (of course, since we meet them in prison). It was naive maybe or simply desperation, but he entrusts his daughter to Forge... the thief. Of course it turns out it wasn't the best thing at all.
After their escape, they meet Forge who is now a Lord after something 'happened' to the previous one. He's working with Red Witch Sofina, and we know Red Wizards are bad, Edgin used to hunt them in his 'previous life'.
What's worse if that Forge told Kira that Edgin left her for some Tablet of Greed, that he cared more about money than her, and not knowing any better she believes him and treats him like a good uncle. Even if angry at her father, she's still happy to see Holga though.
Forge wants them arrested again but Sofina has other ideas and wants them dead. Holga fights the guards alone and once freed they can go, but Kira is still there, and they both want her back.
They plan to rob Forge. By doing so they would also get the tablet back, so he could get his wife back and Kira would know the truth. They find Simon and he's the one to suggest asking Doric's help. She's a druid, and can change into any animal, therefore she can sneak inside the castle and learn about their defences and such.
She spies while Forge and Sofina explain the security measures to their guests for the upcoming Games. It's great defences, and Simon thinks only some Helm can manage it, but it's supposed to be lost or something. They use a special talisman to talk to the dead, to some warriors that were part of what was once Holga's tribe before they sent her away (because she got married; not sure if the objection was because he he was not part of the tribe or because he was small, a halfling?, in both cases it was a jerk thing for them to do, jerks).
Edgin can only ask three questions and he has to ' wake' more than one warrior before he finds the information he needs - and they leave the last one awake, not asking the third question... poor guy. That talisman sure was powerful, it could be used again and again... ...
They retrieve the Helm with the help of a paladin, who is a true paladin in both words and actions, but Simon is too unsure of himself and his own worth to be able to use it, so they use another plan.
It would have worked somehow, but they were all tricked, because the secured room had no treasure in it, because Forge intended to steal it all. Simon, Edgin and Holga are all captured and trapped in the Games.
They escape and Doric tells them of the boat that some men have loaded with all the treasures, so they steal it . When Forge sees that, he tries to use Kira as hostage, but Holga won't stand for that.
Now they have both Kira and the treasure, but they realise that Sofina wanted the Games to gather such an immense crowd so that she can unleash that sort of red mist that the Red Wizards used to destroy the Paladin's country and people, turning them all into some sort of undead devoted to their cause.
As our heroes see that, they hurry to spread the treasure from high above, making it fall down from an air balloon after teleporting it there, so of course people rush to where the riches are , thus leaving the area that Sofina was about to cover in red mist... ... well, it's not clear to me why is this such a defeat , the people are still all around and if she kept going she would get them all anyway, we saw that the Paladin's people tried to run and were all caught in it... unless now these people got too far away, but it didn't really seem the case... or maybe it was because maybe they kept followings the air balloon... yeah maybe... probably...
Sofina is right pissed and fights them all at once, she's powerful but they work together, they let her think that her time-stopping spell worked once again (like it did when it got Edgin and Holga arrested). We saw earlier that they gave Kira some sort of amulet that can make her invisible when she wants to, and now she uses it to put anti magic bracelet on Sofina. Doric and Holga fight her, Doric in the form of an Owlbear, and they win, but Holga is fatally wounded and dies. Kira cries, Holga was the only mother she ever knew, in a way, they love each other, Holga was always there for her growing up, and Edgin realises that this is the right thing to do.
He misses his wife terribly, but he's the only one, Kira never really knew her, and he knows that he can't let Holga die, so now he uses the tablet to bring her back; Kira is happy while Holga is surprised that they 'wasted it' on her.
Edgin. Chris Pine (though he often looked like Pierce Brosnan in this bearder look)
Holga. Michelle Rodriguez
Simon. Justice Smith
Doric. Sophia Lillis
Forge. Hugh Grant
Yendar. Regé-Jean Page
Sofina. Daisy Head
Kira. Chloe Coleman
ITA Dungeons and Dragons - L'onore dei ladri
