Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness (2012)

That was an excellent one.

Let's be realistic.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

As someone who has played D&D for years, I can only marvel how this movie even manages to exist. It feels like someone literally took their campaign notes and used them as a script. It's not a movie inspired by roleplaying games, it's not based on any single campaign. It simply is a campaign, word for word.And for what it is, it's amazing. The world of Dungeons & Dragons is transferred to the silver screen in all of its geeky glory. Men of might and valor set worth from their rural origins to battle great evil. Necromancers openly walk the streets, mass murdering people left and right with their black magic. Because that's what you do when you're evil. Loot is gathered, and even sold in stores, using the geekiest names imaginable. Dragons are slain, forces vanquished and damsels saved. It's glorious.It's also stupid beyond all belief, don't get me wrong, but that's how we like it. The acting is surprisingly decent, given the budget, but it's still pretty terrible. The technical aspects show the lack of budget and the story... well, as stated, I think they simply used the campaign notes instead of writing an actual script.This movie has a lot of "so bad it's good" value to it, especially if you're a gamer. It's bad, it's oh so bad, but it's entertaining as well. Exercise caution and bring a bowl of popcorn.

I liked this movie a lot more then I thought I would. I've been a D&D enthusiast for many years so I might be somewhat biased but trust me, like you, I think I have an idea of what makes a bad movie. Terrible wooden acting...well, we can check that off because the people in this movie can act and could only be held back by their respective scripts and/or directors. Cinematography is thought out and enhances the movie well enough. I also liked the costumes and while acceptable I think Bezz's make-up could have been done a little bit better. Many D&D references were threw out without being totally obvious and it really added to the lore. This is not your average sci-fi channel garbage. Groundbreaking it is not. But, what it does it does well. Acceptable script, capable actors, decent costumes and good cinematography in a genre that is starved for something even half-way decent. Thank you to everyone involved in this movie. I give this movie a solid 7. But, most importantly its in my personal collection.

I have read a number of reviews of this movie that seem to judge the film simply by its limited budget.Personally, I have watched this move over and over several times and I rate it the best of the three. Two was pretty good and one just showed how much a plentiful budget does not make a good film.The acting is universally sound and in some cases very good indeed. In particular Barry Aird's necromancer and Lex Daniel's assassin are very entertaining. The two highlights are Aird's character quoting Mark Twain (he doesn't reference him directly of course) and Daniel's character explaining his touching religious devotion. That speech has resonated with me since I first saw the film, and you to may also find yourself reflecting of how many of the under-people you would like to liberate from the celestial grind wheel.If you're a fan of this genre (fantasy) you will very much enjoy this film which benefits greatly from being set in an evil-aligned adventuring party.Strongly recommended 'over a beer' viewing.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I watched it expecting cheesy fantasy action with a dumb plot, bad acting, and blatant appeals to fans of the game like Wrath of the Dragon God did. It delivered on some of those things, but it far surpassed my expectations.The most wonderful thing about this movie was how many risks it took. It was not a traditional fantasy movie at all. The protagonist is a good knight type but he teams up with a very evil party. The writers didn't assume its audience was dumb and that they'd need a clear good guy and a clear bad guy. I appreciated that so much. The character dynamics are excellent and you're constantly wondering where everyone stands. The good ones have flaws and the evil ones have relateable and redeeming qualities. They're complex, it's really wonderful. Hollywood doesn't do that much any more. The ending is also very non-traditional. Some may find it disappointing, and to some degree it is, but I thought it was effective. It's elegant in its simplicity.I found myself wondering what would happen next the entire film. At the end I wished it were longer. The dialogue was well-written and well-delivered, which is more than I can say for a lot of Hollywood blockbusters.Special effects were sub-par but that's easily forgiven, I thought they were pretty excellent for the budget. There was some cheese and some of the film will definitely be lost on people unfamiliar with Dungeons and Dragons. I imagine that's why it has such a low rating. I gave it 10 to boost it up, but IMO it deserves a solid 7/10 or more.