Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General D&D Honor Among Thieves premier - Decent Reviews

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves premiered in Austin this last weekend and it got some solid reviews.

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dungeons_and_dragons_honor_among_thieves

Granted this was reviews from the premier but some of these reviewers are reliable and have a good reputation. The Austin Chronicle in particular is usually pretty harsh and they gave it good marks.

Lately, I've been unable to trust professional reviewers for two reasons; either they're getting paid by a studio for the review, or they're trying to show their willingess to "play ball" to secure access to future releases. Or both.

In general, I've always paid more attention to medium or negative reviews than positive ones, not only for movies, but for other goods and services. Positive reviews at best claim that the thing being reviewed "works as intended," but often don't add anything more. Less positive reviews, on the other hand, will either cite specific issues, or will "out" the reviewer as having some personal issue that has nothing to do with the thing being reviewed. In either case, I know what I'm getting from the review.

Coming back to this movie, nothing in the trailers "sold" me on it (the "five questions" scene was fun, but predictable). To get specific, I'm not a fan of "pretty face" actors. Occasionally one will impress me with their acting or comedic ability, but too many don't. So far, Pine hasn't. Plus, the trailers were very heavy on effects, which tells me nothing about the movie except that they're going to give me an over-the-top sound and light show. On this, I think the review from RogerEbert.com make a good point, i.e. that "practical" effects can help a scene feel more real than OTT CGI.

I hope people enjoy it, but I won't be seeing it until it shows up on Netflix (the only streaming service to which I'm subbed), or until a trusted friend tells me that it's worth watching.

Glancing at review sites I tend to follow response tends to be on mediocare, but positive, side. Honestly not bad.

It looks like a subscription service movie to me too.

Looks like campy, silly fun to me. Will probably watch at some point, but I am not expecting high level plot or storytelling. Trailers have a very spectacle-meets-quips tone, so I expect a few smirks and eye-rolls while watching (which is fine).

I don’t really get that bent out of shape about most fantasy and sci fi films, as I sorta live by the idea that if I start taking DnD too seriously, I’ve probably gotten to old for it.

The exception are movies based on beloved sci fi and fantasy books, which I am happy to rage about when they are done poorly. But generic DnD movies? I am much more forgiving, personally.

I genuinely would like to watch the movie, I thought the trailers looked like fun. When it comes to reviews, I don't listen to or seek out many. Not because I don't trust them or think they're being paid off. I just find that so many people can have wildly different opinions that a bunch of reviewers aren't a good place for me to go to know if I'll enjoy a movie. I'll trust them to talk about technical quality and such, but that's honestly not what I care about so much. I have two or three reviewers I pay attention to because their tastes in films generally align with mine, such that if they think the film was good, that's an indication that I'll probably like it. And honestly they'd have yo seriously pan a movie to get me to skip it since I have a generally good sense of what I like and don't like.

Looks surprisingly competent considering general expectations for where the bar is in regards to D&D movies. From what I have heard it sounds like they really went for the 'marvel'-esque spectacle and quippy humor sort of thing. Positive feedback I have heard likens it to the 'absurdist hijinks that players get up to'. Which while entertaining on the table, isn't quite what I look for in my D&D stories, if you catch my drift-I'm more interested in something that would leverage the Forgotten Realms IP with a more serious intent than something that aims to capture pop-culture's perception of a wacky D&D session first and foremost.

I'm sure it'll be right up the alley of a lot of people though, that sort of thing is very popular in media lately.

I chose to view it through the lens of where past D&D movies ended up. General Audiences panned them because they took themselves too seriously, the acting was bad, and the story was ridiculous.

This one seems to try to get around all that - the only weakness it may have is all the exposition needed for the non D&D players. Having competent actors that can sell the story is also a big win.

I wouldn't call Pine or Rodriguez pretty - though they have both done serious roles and demonstrated acting chops - they are average looking. They both need a lot of time in makeup.

It looks rather funny. Im not gonna soil it by reading criticism. They've said the Joker was bad that movie was actually quite good

Would be nice to get a more serious movie set in Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance. In the tone of books by R.A. Salvatore or Hickman and Weis. We have many examples of fantasy films and series that are successful without being silly and "light".

Baldur's Gate HBO series.

Looks like a fun movie! Glad to hear it is getting good reviews.

I am ready to watch it!!!

If you had to choose one city in FR to have a Rome style HBO miniseries set in, which would it be?

Not Forgotten Realms, but Sigil.

Yes, I almost edited my post after thinking about that. Baldur's Gate, is probably the most monetized city, Waterdeep is probably the most well loved city in FR, Athkatla is the city someone who loves Shadows of Amn too well would choose, but Sigil might just be the right choice.

Extraplanar isn't as much of a barrier to entry it once was, so I could see it being viable.

If that ever happens? Count me in too!

Gosh, could you imagine, all the factions and political maneuvering builds up to the point where it erupts into street violence, the city-state at war from within, only for the Lady of Pain to float overhead and turn all the combatants into red paste...

+1

Twilight War trilogy or anything involving Erevis Cale or Khelben Arunsun would be very cool too.

Waterdeep or Cormyr

Seems to me they are trying to mimic the Marvel template. The trailer I saw lost me at the Led Zeppelin soundtrack. I love Led Zep but it feels out of place in a fantasy setting.

Interestingly, Led Zep almost did the soundtrack for the Ralph Bakshi animated Lord of the Rings film.

Plant is a big fan of Tolkien, so that tracks. Is Led Zeppelin actually in the movie or is it just for the trailer?

I didn't feel the same way about the music in the trailer, not that I liked it, but I didn't find it as disgusting as using a cover of Come Together for the Justice League movie, this type of thing has become so overdone.