Dungeons & Dragons: Ehre unter Dieben

Ich hatte eigentlich keine Lust, mir diesen Film anzuschauen. Er hat mich aber angenehm überrascht. Das Handlungsschema ist klischeehaft, es wurde aber durch viele originelle und sympathisch verspielte Details ergänzt. Dazu gehören auch die Dialog-Spiele, die davon zeugen, dass die Autoren schlauer sind, als es bei solchen Streifen üblich ist. Falls das Niveau hochwertig bleibt, wird es eine erfolgreiche Reihe sein. (23.06.2023)

Fantasy with a heart. Here you can clearly see that this is not part of the mass production line of Disney executives, with bored filmmakers counting the days until the end of the shooting; you can see the love that was put into it. Where there's supposed to be a situational joke, it's there at the right time and it cheers you up, where there's supposed to be a bit of a song, it's there and it warms you up. It's chock full of ideas you've always wanted to see on the silver screen, but filmmakers never had the imagination to materialize them. Simply put, an awesome feel-good thing that hasn't been done here ... well, maybe since Matthew Vaughn's Stardust. And Chris Pine, the older and grayer he gets, the more charismatic he becomes, I wish he was in a really big movie. I can even imagine him as the new Bond. (19.05.2023)

Guardians of the Fantasy. It has more drive and it’s more fun than all the comic book movies of recent years. But have to be aware this is not standard-issue fantasy, but a cheeky popcorn Marvel movie in a fantasy guise. (31.03.2023)

Nonstop epic fantasy adventure game packed with action, humour and heart! One of the biggest surprises and the funniest movie of the year. There hasn't been a better fantasy film since Warcraft and LotR! I've never played D&D, but it has the feel of any other RPG and that was plenty enough for me to enjoy on the big screen. We've got a likeable bunch of main characters. Chris Pine as lead is admittedly the most redundant as he has no special abilities, but then again he takes care of the humor and he does it well. Michelle Rodriguez has probably the most interesting role here, she is the strongest of all, so she takes care of the contact fights. Justice Smith is a proper magician, but he just needs a good work out to become a full-fledged Mage. Sophia Lillis the druid has a great shapeshifter ability and a delight as well Regé-Jean Page as Paladin was the best fighter and again brought another funny element to the film, shame he didn't get more space. I also liked the villain. Hugh Grant was ordinary, but Daisy Head as the Magus was was really good. The film impresses with a very frantic pace, where it doesn't get boring for a moment, rushes forward like a Shinkansen, has great playful visuals and very good CGI. The action scenes may be smaller, but they are well shot with decent choreography. The fat dragon and the final maze were great. (A promise of a more epic battle perhaps in the eventual sequels?). I must also praise the script, which managed to surprise a few times. Some of the plans and contrivances are very intelligently thought out and playful. The humor is a great draw, where I laughed in good taste almost the entire film – the graveyard scene had me in stitches. If that wasn’t enough, the emotions work too – the whole theater had a tear at the end and I honestly can't remember a fantasy film where the comedy, drama, action and the characters work. A full Package as it should be. I want to see it again immediately and let the second part be on its way. 9/10. (04.04.2023)

Excellent stuff! The jokes, the visual effects, the twists, everything works to perfection. The smart script and the pinpoint direction of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are supported by great performances. The perfect chemistry of the protagonists, comparable to Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, pulls the whole film forward. Chris Pine is great, he truly enjoys his role as a Harper, and in the strongly dramatic sequences he doesn’t leave a single eye dry. Michelle Rodriguez as the female version Conan the Barbarian is having an incredible career comeback. The heists, the exploration, the rescues and the fights are executed with incredible wit and inventiveness. Balfe's music is top-notch. This is something you can count with almost any time, and I am already looking forward to watching it again. (01.04.2023)

A flat storyline with a variation of the same plot seen hundreds of times, but with an excellent group of likeable characters and a truly amazing villain. The whole thing is dynamic, funny with some great scenes (the fat dragon) and a charismatic lead in Chris Pine. It's obvious that it was made by someone who has a feel for the material and a respect for fantasy. The potential for a sequel or saga is there, but next time it should be either darker or more original. (01.07.2023)

So einen tollen Film gab es schon lange nicht. Dieser Fantasy-Popcornfilm im Rhythmus von Guardians of the Galaxy spielt in einer neuen, unbekannten Welt. Er ist voll von neuen Figuren, aber trotzdem irgendwie angenehm vertraut. Er fängt mit einer Szene an, die eine Anspielung auf Jurassic Park ist. Dann geht er aber schon seinen eigenen Weg und er macht es sehr gut. Der Plot ist angenehm direkt und nicht übertrieben. Es hat mich eigentlich nicht gestört, dass er nicht besonders überraschend ist, weil der Rest originell ist. Die Beziehungen der Figuren fand ich glaubhaft. Der Humor ist nicht krampfhaft. Manchmal wird der Film langsamer und es treten auch andere Emotionen in den Vordergrund; so wie z. B. in einer Szene mit einem Cameo-Auftritt eines sehr berühmten Schauspielers, dessen Name hier in der Besetzung nicht angeführt ist. Hoffentlich wird es auch lange so bleiben. Die Schauspielerinnen und Schauspieler sind super, außer Chris Pine haben mir vor allem Michelle Rodriguez (die Rolle hat zu ihr wirklich gut gepasst) und Sophia Lillis gefallen. Hugh Grant hat sich bei den Dreharbeiten offensichtlich so wie ich im Kino amüsiert. Die Fantasy-Ausstattung ist nicht überladen, die Actionszenen sind oft einfallsreich. Lorne Balfe hat den ersten Soundtrack komponiert, den ich mir gern komplett anhören werde. Ich hoffe wirklich sehr, dass es einen zweiten Teil geben wird, weil es eine Welt ist, in die ich gern zurückkehren werde. (31.03.2023)

Ich habe nie D&D gespielt, und die Verfilmungen von 2000-2012 sind (zum Glück?) an mir vorbeigegangen, also habe ich Dungeons & Dragons: Ehre unter Dieben mit einer weißen Weste und völlig unbeleckt in Angriff genommen. Ich lobe, dass sich der Film nicht nur auf die Action-Fantasy-Ebene konzentriert, sondern dass es den Filmemachern gelungen ist, den sympathischen Charakteren genügend Raum zu geben, von denen ich besonders den verklemmten Barden Edgin und seine extrem strenge, aber gutmütige Freundin Holga erwähnen möchte. Die Figur des Simon war für mich eine doppelte Tortur: Erstens fand ich ihn nervig unbeholfen und zweitens ist es wirklich schwer, seinen Schauspieler zu mögen. Der Film hätte durchaus eine Viertelstunde kürzer sein können, dennoch hat mir die Vorführung im Kino viel Spaß gemacht - sei es durch die bereits erwähnten Charaktere, die wohldosierte Action, die dämonische Sophina oder mehr als eine humorvolle Szene, wobei mich die Friedhofskonfrontation mit den Untoten und die Begegnung mit dem "chubby" Drachen am meisten amüsiert haben. Ich glaube, wenn ich ein Spieler/Fan des Spiels wäre, würde ich ihm die volle Punktzahl geben, aber als Nicht-Spieler kann ich ehrlich sagen, dass ich definitiv nicht gegen eine Fortsetzung in der Zukunft wäre, wenn die Qualität auf einem ähnlichen Niveau bleibt. (26.03.2023)

It rarely happens that a movie from which I don't expect much pleasantly surprises me to the point of being thrilled. This time, the Americans nailed it and created a genuinely high-quality fantasy, which I love encountering in gaming worlds. The story was well constructed, the acting performances were not wasted, the dialogue had a nice touch of humor, and the action scenes didn't offend me with how they were handled (nor did they lack humor). Hugh Grant's role as the almost arch-villain fit him very well. I missed some blood and unanchored parts of human anatomy here because they are inseparable from the genre. This way, it was almost like a fairytale. A professionally done fairytale. Finally, I know how it would turn out if an owl had sex with a bear after a wild forest party. If you're not a fantasy fan, this may not be the movie for you, but I enjoyed it, and I feel obliged to give it five stars. / "You're getting better. You didn't fly as far." / Lesson learned: Never interfere between a warrior and her potato. (01.07.2023)

An old-school adventure blockbuster that hasn't been done for at least the last ten years. From every dialogue and skit, you can feel that the authors mainly want the viewer, both knowledgeable and unfamiliar with the lore, to enjoy watching it. The characters are very cleverly written to implement all the necessary ills of a modern Hollywood production but at the same time fit perfectly into any D&D campaign. Although the quality bar was not set too high compared to previous attempts at adaptation, I was still pleasantly surprised and left the cinema satisfied while discussing with friends an innumerable number of easter-eggs in the movie. 85% (24.03.2023)