This is not a game, nope it is a fantasy movie based on the role-playing game by the same name, Dungeons and Dragons complete with wizards or mages, elves, thieves and dwarfs oh and don't forget the dragons. Dungeons and Dragons was directed by Courtney Solomon so I guess you could call her the dungeon master. There were no dice determining the fate of each character and the campaign was not guided by one individual but they were definitely on a quest. This movie starts out in a dark dungeon where slaves are toiling at something then a mage appears and forms a scepter from the metal. The scepter was supposed to control dragons so to test it out they release a dragon they have behind a dungeon wall. It appears that the scepter works but the dragon was just faking it, the mage Profion who is played by Jeremy Irons (Lolita) drops the wall on it and dragon blood spills everywhere. The blood turns to fire when it hits the river. The town folk or slaves gather in amazement to discuss the river that is on fire, this is when the main characters come into play. Ridley played by Justin Whalin is a thief and his best friend Snails, is played by Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie) who is also a thief. They plot to enter the magic school to steal potions and magical items, their big score in the meantime that evil mage is plotting a scheme against the young empress Savina played by Thora Birch (American Beauty). She holds a scepter that also has the power to control dragons. Empress Savina is counseled by Mage Vildan on what to do about giving up her scepter. Profion has a spy that overhears and he instructs his lackeys to steal the scribe and kill Mage Vildan. This is where Marina comes in, she is a mage in training and is played by Zoe McLellan (Mr. Holland's Opus). She exits the magic schools with the two thieves in tow and the scribe after Vildan is murdered. The empress hires a tracker to find these fugitives and Profion sends his people out after the tracker to locate Marina and the scribe, confused ok, a dwarf joins the two thieves and Marina and this is where the quest begins. The scribe is really a map to the scepter that controls red dragons.
This fantasy action film is a campaign that follows all the rules of the game only you don't role the dice. You go along on the journey and you never know what will happen or who will pop up where. As for fantasy movies, this one was fun. I enjoyed the dialog and the action scenes. I was also a fan of the game so it was interesting to see how much of this would be retained. If you don't like fantasy than this film is not for you. If you were into the role-playing games or you like the whole dragon and magical theme you are in for a treat. As for my About-Movies rating I must confess it would not be appropriate for any nudity in this PG-13 film, nor would I like to have seen Justin Whalin or Marlon Wayans nude butt, okay I lied, I don't think a gratuitous booty shot would have hurt this movie. I give Dungeons and Dragons eight couches because I was entertained.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:49:20 AM

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