Dungeons And Dragons

A film with high aspirations that shot itself in the foot more often than an Italian battalion before a major battle. Firstly there was no extended title, it was just Dungeons And Dragons, not Dungeons and Dragons: The Wand Of Power or whatever. Without a secondary title it was far too easy to mix up the film with the game, especially when searching for information on the internet. And why an original story? With an abundance of existing spin-offs - the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels for example - there is plenty of material to furnish a decent film version surely? Obviously not. They decided to create a totally original world instead, maybe to cut costs who knows, at any rate the film suffered badly and managed to ostracize those who were anticipating seeing well loved characters brought to life on the big screen.

The allocation of budget seemed haphazard, some background effects were well done whereas more prominent effects were shite. What is the point of having a great looking orc walk past in the bar when the dwarf hero looks like a third grader at Hallowe'en? This could have been a classic that paved the way for Lord Of The Rings, instead it is widely perceived as little more than a joke or a tremendously wasted opportunity.

Other unanswered questions: When did Jeremy Irons suddenly forget how to act? What was the scripwriter thinking when he created Snails? did he mistakenly believe that JarJar Binks was a popular character in the Phantom Menace? if so, you have to ask what planet he comes from! I can only assume that the studio had major interference in the movie making process, thinking that they would add to market appeal by adding certain characters in who really didn't fit or hiring someone with a big name who really didn't give a shit about the film.

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