I think the platonic friendship between Holga and Edgin was really cool, strongly disagree that making them family would have been better. How refreshing to have man and woman best friends with no romantic tension. Also, almost no mention of all the great practical effects

Holga literally meet Edgin in a tavern tho and they became friends, bonding over the care of Edgins daughter, they showed that to us clearly. I also think its important that Holga is not Edgins biologial family, she is a platonic friend of the opposite gender without any romance or blood, its just pure friendship, but she is still just as much of a mother to the daughter.

Favorite Easter Egg: Bag of Holding I like how though you can see it, they never say that Simon has a bag of holding. Instead, Edgin is just always telling him to "Hold this". Awesome Easter egg!

I liked when Holga suggested to tie the rope on the axe and throw it. That’s a dialogue that comes directly from most tables.

Considering these half-baked plots we’ve been getting lately I was really happy that we got a coherent story and characters with overall positive messages throughout

Helga literally just randomly meets Edgin in a tavern and was charmed by his daughter. They did explain that and it's the thing that you said you wished happened.

The exposition dump at the beginning also served to give an insight into Edgin's personality, with how he began the story. Also, "Jarnathon" was totally a DM who was put on the spot when a player asked for an unimportant NPC's name.

As far as Edgin not being a spellcaster, it seemed to me like all of his 'spells' were just reflavored as natural charisma; suggestion, charm person, calm emotions, and bardic inspiration all played more understated than Simon's more fantastical magic.

Regarding Holga's death/return... I'm a tank in my heart of hearts (even when I shouldn't be, its a personal flaw). I've died in game, standing between the danger and the egg heads. A lot. When she was dying and comforting THEM. Expressing pride that she did her "job"... I felt "seen".

Re: the Holga timeline. Edgin states that Holga was also at rock bottom. They met at a bar because she was looking to get drunk. She left her tribe to be with Merriman. While living with Merriman, she would get drunk and stay out til all hours. (See their conversation) She met Edgin and they decided to start robbing people. While doing that she helped raise Kira. Meanwhile poor Merriman is sitting at home worried about his lover. She obviously visited him frequently because she gave him a walking stick and they used to ramble. But then she'd leave again. Finally when she was sent to prison, he broke up/divorced? her. So, in essence, being there for Edgin and Kira cost Holga her man. It's an interesting twist, the man staying home and waiting for his woman to come home to him.

Holga had most definitely taken the tavern brawler feat. She could use basically anything as a weapon.

I think the paladin was less player who couldn't show up but DMPC that the DM realized was problematic. Here he is Mr Perfect can do anything better than anyone. Comes in, gives them the quest, drops a bunch of lore on them, and the DM has him not able to go with them because... reasons.

As for "Holga's rage" it was the Potatoes. It was established quickly that she gets angry when her eating potatoes gets interrupted. So it was a visual cue/gag that shows up before she gives epic throwdowns

One little thing I liked, though it only showed it once, was in the final fight scene. The wizard is clearly concentrating on a spell, which ends after she takes a hit.

I think my favourite moment was something fairly subtle. When the Paladin gets into a duel with the top henchman, they choreography is very fast (and possibly sped up) and it made me go, "oh these are higher level characters because they must have 'Extra Attack' to be fighting this quickly".

I was under the impression that Ed, Holga, Simon, and Forge were a party prior to working with Sofina. That's the connection I thought that they had.

The paladin was clearly the overpowered DM NPC who was there to set the party on the right path, then leave so he didn't overshadow the PC's too much. I admit I was expecting him to show up again during the climatic battle.

One thing you didn't mention Kelly about the alleyway escape scene and that didn't even occur to me until now is the whole time Edgin is trying to break out of the rope, his couple of comments "we got them now!" and so on were clearly Bardic Inspiration to keep the Barbarian in top form.

The Holga/Edgin connection: Holga was broken after her split with Bradley Cooper’s character. She got kicked out of her tribe for him, and after him she was completely alone. Then in a tavern she runs into Edgin, a newly single father struggling with raising his child and she steps in and helps him, becoming a new family. They helped fill the holes in each other’s hearts and did it platonically which I loved

I feel like they spent so much time critiquing they clearly missed the plot connections they were confused about. All have clear and strong motivations, and Holga's timeline makes total sense. It's like they missed the whole exposition sequence where Holga clearly developed a massive bond with Kira. She was even the one that got her the amulet. Heck, Ed even had a flashback about it all lol. The whole first chunk of the movie is about their connection.

One thing I haven’t heard anyone else comment on is the way in which the arena ends up feeling like the miniatures on the grid in the center of the table. Whenever it cuts to scenes of the aristocrats betting on the games, I couldn’t help but see that. Maybe I’m seeing something that isn’t there, but i couldn’t see it any other way. Especially when the the gelatinous cube came in fitting perfectly within a square. I knew instantly that every block was exactly ten feet by ten feet.

It’s a bit weird that you didn’t talk at all about the theme of “found family”, to me it was pretty prominent, especially at the end when Edgin says that he is with his people.. everyone in the group was failed by their families and found a new family in the party.. and it’s like that irl too, a lot of friends group are like new families we choose for ourselves. Btw I really enjoyed the movie, it’s so much fun!

My favorite part of the Druid chase scene was how perfectly it encapsulates what happens when a great PC plan utterly COLLAPSES when the dice don’t go their way. We’ve all been there and it was percect

Did anyone notice that Edgin did in fact casted Suggestion on Sofina when she turns on them in the backstory sequence? He whispers in her ear not to hurt anyone, which is why she does a non-lethal timestop.

Edgin says during his backstory that after meeting Holga in the tavern, she become like brother and sister. So it was an adoptive sibling situation there.

The paladin, for me, was more of one of your DM's favorite characters that always make a cameo in their campaigns. I've seen it a ton of times on my games.

Hugh Grant was gold in this movie. Chris Pine was also excellent. Great movie for casual viewers as well as fans of D&D.

Xenk as the insanely OP DM PC was still my favorite. The bridge scene, where he's explaining the puzzle, and Simon takes a wrong step is a classic DM nightmare moment. A whole setup ruined b/c of a player screwing around, and then the 30 second "really??? really???" stare. I fell out laughing in the theater. After that, we get an arcana check and then "Oh look, a magic item that bypasses the whole damn thing, how convenient." That whole scene was brilliant and relatable.

Kinda Spoiler Warning I guess: Fun Fact about Dorics abilities: WotC published NPC statblocks for the main characters of the film via D&D Beyond a few weeks ago. In Dorics statblock she has an ability called "Change Shape" which basically functions like Wild Shape with the exception that she can use this ability not only to change into beasts but also into an owlbear. She can use this ability five times per long rest as a bonus action. Adding this to the two Wild Shapes she has as a druid would explain the seven beasts that were part of the chase sequence

Regarding edgin not casting spells: the directors intentionally made it that way as they didn't want too many people casting spells. Classic campaign start. Edgin and Holga met at a bar.

Fully agree with Monty’s final comments on it capturing the spirit of D&D. I feel like historically there’s been a trope in media of overly self-serious D&D players speaking exclusively in Shakespearean English and dramatically describing their epic heroics. I’m sure there’s a table somewhere that fits that perfectly (and more power to them), but every game I’ve played in has been lots of jokes and hijinks with the occasional emotional character moment or sobering reminder that we’re trying to save the world. This movie felt like the latter, and I loved it.

Very fun movie. I hope it makes enough to get us a sequel. There's no limit to where they could take this story.

I loved the moment when they sprung the trap on the bridge and couldn't get across. Oh? what's this walking stick? No, it's a teleportation wand. Felt like the DM was just like "shit, they messed up the dungeon already, um, you have a magic item."

i got into a debate about Edgin's class. My thought is he's the only multiclass character. He was a rogue while with the Harpers (for all the reasons you guys brought up) BUT once his wife dies and he leaves the harpers, he starts pulling in levels of bard. Because I would say he provides A LOT of bardic inspiration to the party throughout the movie, biggest one being helping Simon finally attune.

Edgin 100% was using charisma, Bardic Inspiration, and expertise all time. He is great at a few things, but is okay at a lot of things. The party members meet in the most DnD way possible "I want to join you" The fact that they only want gold is VERY DnD.

Holga and Edgin met in a bar where she saw him at his lowest and presumably herself as well and they said she felt bad for the child so she helped him raise Edgin’s child. My guess is since she wanted a family of her own but was having romantic issues at home with her halfling husband.

Simon using prestidigitation and telekinesis to rob his audience was timeless. I'm going to have to use that next time I play a sorcerer.

The prequel book D&D Honor among thieves: Road to Neverwinter really defines the back stories of Edgin, Holga, Simon, Forge, and Kira.

I feel like they simplified the classes to their core content. The bard became the person who talks and schemes, the barbarian hits things and takes hits, the sorcerer casts spells, and the druid turns into animals. Keeps it nice and simple for the sake of the movie, but you still get the main thing that defines the class they played.

The reason that makes the most sense for why they didn't have the other characters doing spells, is that to someone outside of D&D, they would get confused. If you had them using spells, the audience that isn't initiated in the game, would just say "Why do they need this guy to cast spells when they could do it?" Trying to explain to the audience in a good time frame that the Bard's spells are different than the Sorcerer's spells would just be too much. Not to mention if they had shown that the Bard had something like Healing Word, they would wonder why he can't just use Healing Word to stop his wife from dying.

Absolutely loved it!! SHOCKED you guys didn't say anything about the party that rose up next to them in the arena, it was the original cartoon characters from the TV show dungeons & dragons!!! Hope they expand the world of D&D to the big screen 🤞

Edgin is a multiclass bard. He eluded to it in his backstory, as him being a Harper bard wasn’t paying the bills so he started stealing. He just has no spells. But he sings, gave out bardic inspiration all movie long, and persuaded and received a lot. Face of the party bard/rogue

This may have already been covered by another commenter but I totally saw Holga get tagged by the knife in that final fight. It was at the very end when the whole party was going shot for shot with Sofina I may be Mandela effecting it but I seem to remember a overhead or elevated shot looking downward at the fight with sofina in the middle and each character making attacks in rapid succession. If I remember correctly, holga comes in from the left side of the screen, strikes at sofina, maybe strikes a glancing blow and in a cobra like moment, you see sofina’s arm/hand strike at her and the momentum carries holga offscreen,not to be seen until after the fight

Seen it twice now. It still holds up on second viewing. I absolutely adore the found family of Holga, Edgin and Kira.

To address the criticism against motivations for the heist, the money was Simon's motivation, Doric wanted to get back at Forge, Edgin wanted the tablet to resurrect his wife and Holga wanted to help him (and if there's gold too then bonus). That was pretty clear to me and I never had an issue with motivations.

Watching the review now. You guys are super sleeping on that Ed and Holga motivation is to get their daughter back. Simon literal arc is proving to himself that he is a worthy spellcaster. I agree we needed more with Doric and hoping there is something on the Blu-ray.

Took my wife to see the movie, one of the remarks she made during the movie, was “this is what your games are like?” And I responded with “yes this is the kind of stuff we are imagining going on when we role play”

SPOILERS *** One thing I really liked about the movie was how you could subtly see them rolling high and low in different situations. Like when the sorcerer uses a minor illusion so they can sneak past and then gets his foot stuck on a cobblestone. Or they come up with an incredible plan to use dimension door and wildshape to get past a ward but then the sorcerer trips on the way in. Totally the kinds of things that actually happen in a real session.

My 9-year old son asked me what Charisma is on the way to the theater. When they introduced the Paladin, I learned over. "That's Charisma!"

I liked how they distilled the classes from the game into their most important aspect in the movie, having everyone casting spells would be to confusing. The Bard inspires and uses charisma, the Barbarian is strong and reckless fighter, Druids turn into animals, Wild Magic Sorcerers cast spells and dont really have controll of their magic.

Also I kind of have to disagree with Monty on Holga's connection with the daughter. I mean I get the whole, it would make more sense if she was a relative to the deceased mother and stuff but personally I really like the aspect of two random people coming together and forming a bond to complete an objective, that objective being to raise a child. I especially like it because it's so rare to get a movie where the main male and female protagonists don't get together in the end but instead just really close friends. We really need more of, the opposite sex can just be friends not just be a couple. But again, I do just like the concept of Holga who decided helping this random dude with his baby was the right thing to do with no prior relationships beforehand.

****SPOILERS**** I understood Edgan's statement of bringing back his wife and not her mother to mean his motivations were selfish. He was concerned about his loss and not her loss. I thought it poetic that it in the end his chose to revive the mother figure in his daughter's life. The paladin's moments all screamed borderline 'DMPC' and I thought it funny that he ended up stepping away, choosing not to join the group, and stating that it was their story and their quest, lol. I also think the audience is suppose to discover the closeness of Holga and Kira alongside Edgan. Edgan seemed almost baffled when Kira ran past him to Holga when they first reunited. It gave me this impression that the intention was that we, the audience, were to slowly unwrap the relationship between them the same way Edgan was.

100% agree! The movie was a really fun couple hours that was a great representation of the 'feel' of a campaign. I really appreciated that they didn't go into explaining the rules or explaining magic. I think that was a wise decision . And speaking of rules, it looks like they really leaned heavily into the 'rule of cool' when they were deciding what they wanted to showcase on the screen! Like the number of times the Druid could wild shape. I went to see this with my dungeons & dragons group, and my comment to them after it was over was that this movie was not going to win any awards for best screenplay, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to introduce people to dungeons & dragons!

When the Barbarian got stabbed during the fight, you can actually hear the sound effect of it happen and then she disappears from the fight. I thought it was an editing mistake of them adding a weapon sound effect when one wasnt present, but in actuality they were setting up the knife. It was a well done and subtle moment that I'm sure a lot of people miss.

I feel like Monty had to go to the toilet or something near the start cause Hulgas timeline seemed pretty clear to me. She left her tribe to marry Bradley Cooper. She got depressed and started frequenting bars, she saw Edgin being a drunk and felt sympathy for his baby so started looking after the baby with him. They become friends, everyone gets older meeting Hugh Grant and Simon then go on the one last "quest" to get the tablet but get arrested.

Spoiler for Holga at the collapsed bridge . . . I loved how when they're trying to cross the downed bridge and she's like, well, I have rope. I think it's 50 feet? And the chasm is so much bigger than 50 feet. How many people have said that in a game? 😂

Spoilers below: . . . . . . . . . . On the interpersonal attachments, I thought they were better laid out than Monte made them seem. Holga and Edgin met in the Tavern when Edgin had her watch his daughter and came back to see them bonding, at which point they stuck together. They met Simon when Forge put his crew together. Doric and Simon had history from Doric having courted her before. So there were definite ties and reasons for them be together (Holga and Edgin had been together for a while before being recruited, Simon was in Forge's crew, and Doric was someone from Simon's backstory). Yes, Doric had the most tenuous reason to stay around, but given her primary goal was to stop Forge from clearcutting her forest, it was enough for me. Overall, it felt like a D&D game to me, but it stayed out of the weeds to keep it approachable for non-gamers. It was a narrow rope to walk, and I feel they stuck the landing.

I think it’s kinda funny the way you guys interpreted the Paladin, because I had a much different interpretation (I kinda saw him as this super badass DMPC that the DM wanted to show off for the portion he appeared in)

This was a great movie. They made it interesting for newcomers and fantasy lovers, and they threw in enough for d&d players and enthusiasts to enjoy. Loved it. 10/10 fantasy, 8/10 overall.

My favourite scene was convoy infiltration. The amount of DnD bullshit at play with the portal staff and them doing it all right in front of the convoy was both hilarious, and yet looked like a very plausible scenario for a DnD campaign. I cannot stress how much that use of the portal staff looked like it came right out of an r/dndmemes post, and how much I loved it.

Baldurs Gate 3 gives Barbarians improvised weapon proficiency and the ability to use an improvised weapon (or use a creature AS an improvised weapon) as a bonus action. Watching Holga fight really plays into my opinion that this is a *fantastic* design decision that should be rolled into core D&D. It also counters a lot of the limited complexity of the class by giving you so much fun stuff to do

I was pleasantly surprised how funny the movie was! I actually really liked how Chris Pine seemed to use his bardic spells in really low fantasy way. He would give Pep talks and sometimes the players would use the inspiration and sometimes they might forget to use it until later in the campaign 😂 Spoiler: For example he spends a lot of the movie trying to give confidence to Simon, telling him he believes in him and it takes the whole move for him to listen to it and successfully cast his spells and harness the helmet

The holga fighting with every single item she could grab was gold to me it was everything I think of when a barbarian fights

it was a lot of fun! i don’t even really want a sequel, BUT i absolutely want more DnD movies! i loved the movie!

It was a great adaptation of D&D! There were lots of goofy antics, but the villains and the world were still taken seriously.

Holga the barbarian is by far, my favorite character in this movie!

I went in with a mindset of that this is a dnd session that I've played with my closest friends. And I was just in awe of it. Seeing these locals, scenes, fights, and creatures; I feel like my love for dnd has been brought to a greater height. I want to play a dnd campaign where we start off in a Jail cell and have to plan a way out or even have us be pardoned by the lord of the realm but are forced to do a specific task for them. All of these ideas are just surging through my head, and I cannot wait for the next time I get to play dnd with my friends and geek out over the game we all love.

I feel like they shot extra scenes for Simon and Doric that got cut for length. Would love to see the 200 minute director’s cut with a scene where wanted posters of the party litter the city and Simon is stung by Sophina’s description of him as a petty hedge mage. Hell, she could have used Sending to taunt him personally and mocked him for not knowing the spell himself. How about the scene where Doric actually does leave the party at the beach and runs into some of her displaced wood elf kin on the road escaping from Forge’s deforestation squad that rekindles her resolve to strike him down. These moments would add maybe 5 minutes to the run time but do a lot to reestablish supporting character motivations and ties to the villains.

Guys!!! I truly expected you guys to mention the homage to the D&D cartoon from the 80's. In the arena cage the characters are dressed just like them. I picked them up right away. This movie was the best I have seen in 5yrs! Easily 10 out of 10 for me!

Awesome to see Joe & Jill here. Thanks! Hope this movie helps us get more new D&D players and I hope our community gives them a great welcome.

The relationship with Edgin and Holga was explained, at first, as she felt bad for the daughter who had a drunk as a father and later on when we find out that Holga's marriage was ruined because of her own struggles it really fits into place for me.

I like to think Kira did pick up some tricks from Forge (molded in his image... to a point) and the team now has a Rogue.

As someone who watched this with their whole dnd party and my dad who played dnd long before me and my friends we had a fantastic time and it was a really good movie to us. I do hope this isn’t the end of dnd movies because I’d love to see more.

Edgin IS a Bard even though he doesn’t cast spells. He frequently recounts tales and plays songs that are very impactful to the story and the party. I like to think that he is there to give bardic inspiration frequently even though it isn’t explicitly shown

I get thinking of Edgin as a rogue but for me it seemed as a bard to a T. Bardic inspiration showed multiple times in the movie, convincing Forge to let them fight was suggestion to me haha, and seeing his stat block shows most of his spells are more subtle

Was literally just looking at Ginny Di's community post asking if people had seen the DnD movie, I've finally personally experienced the Dungeon Dude's uncanny and perfect timing I've heard of so much first hand!

Love to see a video where y’all go over the stat blocks that were made for the characters.

Edging and Doric not casting spells makes it easy for non-players to understand why Simon is essential. KISS principle.

The Jornathan stuff was so hilarious to me bc if you don't know what an Aarakocra is, you think that Edgin is desperate to wait for the other judge bc he'll be sympathetic, but a D&D player realizes that they specifically mentioned a race that can fly with that window behind them. It was wonderfully executed, and then I just know the DM was like "JFC, they were going to sign the pardon! Why was your impulse to kidnap the Aarakocra and jailbreak?? You rolled so well on that Persuasion check and you wasted it!"

I remember hearing the half-elf was specifically a wild magic sorcerer. Which would certainly explain both his confidence issues and his inconsistent showings of magic. After all, with Wild Magic you can accidentally explode someone you're trying to charm with magic... or turn yourself into a potted plant while trying to cast *Magic Missile* XD

Pines character was a pretty good bard. he gave the most inspirations

Holga's banishment from the Elk tribe was for choosing to be with Bradley Cooper and she met Edgin after they broke up. That's why Edgin knew about it and asks her if she's sure she wanted to go by her old place on the way to Neverwinter.

I think Dan Wells explained the convenient portal rod best … How many of us have had a player at the table ruin a fantastically planned puzzle (Simon breaks the bridge) and as a DM had to find a way to make it so that the group can still continue with the quest past this point (Ohh wow that’s a portal rod) and then for the players to abuse that in amazing ways (sneaking into the cart, not the vault) and completely let them impact the story (getting everyone out of the arena). If this was specifically set out like this, then absolutely “chef’s kiss”. Really enjoyed the movie.

22:21 A couple things on Edgin, specifically the lack of (obvious) spellcasting or other "Bardy" traits: I think the directors said that he's being played by the guy who doesn't actually keep good track of what's on his character sheet. His "We've got 'em now!" quips as Bardic Inspiration is not really more of a stretch than the Owlbear Wild Shape. I also agree with Monty's points at 35:03 about the needs of the film medium being different.

I recently watched all of Record of Lodoss War and that immediately became my recommendation for seeing DND in action. It's not technically a DND setting, but it perfectly portrays how I've always imagined DND worlds, magic, and fights looking. I particularly love how the 3 sources of magic are explained for Mages, Cleric's and Shamans/Druid's

This is a movie that I am hoping gets an extended edition.

The stab in Holga can be seen very quickly during the sequence where they were all in close combat. I thought I saw something that didn't happen until they panned to it later.

Such an awesome in theater experience, really happy to see so many new people falling in love with DND

Personally, I think it makes an enjoyable popcorn movie. Characters were generally deep enough to be interested and had some funny moments.

I thought the Paladin was DMPC. He pretty much solved all their problems and had that fight scene where he alone took down a group of enemies while the PCs could only watch, like in those RPG horror stories.

Saw it night before last, 10/10 film! If i want to go back and see it again, it's an auto 10/10 for me. *SPOILERS:* The way they handled The Red Wizards of Thay, absolutely brilliant. The way the Druid just owlbear Hulk Smashed her at the end?! Amazing! I also really loved how in the arena we got to see the original Dungeons and Dragons animated cartoon characters as one of the teams in the games Something that's really cool for me to see is that WotC is making a Red Wizards of Thay module and they based the character art off of the Red Wizards we've seen in the past as well as the ones they used in the movie. Overall this movie is really good, it has one or two moments where I'm like "meh" but that doesn't discount the entire film!

I've seen it three times and when the party rushed Sophina, she pulled her dagger and stabbed Holga. But then, I was looking for it.

As many have pointed out by now, they've reskinned the Bard's magic to be inspirational and motivational speaking instead. It makes total sense.

I absolutely love the movie. I saw it twice opening weekend. I did want to comment on your remarks about the relationship between Holga and Edgin. SPOILER BELOW? In the film, he explains that she basically came into his life and became like a sister to him and helped raise his daughter. They didn’t really elaborate further. In the prequel novel, she basically picks him up off the ground while he’s in a drunken stupor at a tavern, and basically took pity on him and his daughter, and then just never left their lives. I mean she was feeling abandoned and cast out from her tribe and the ending of her marriage so I guess she just had nowhere else to go.

With how majestic and absolutely flawless the Paladin was, I am convinced that the paladin was an npc character based in the dm’s previous played character

I actually loved the connection between Holga and Kira and think it was a totally believable connection. I would have felt it was a bit of a let down if it was just because she was related. As it stands it's a lovely story about someone who has lost all their family and connection stepping in and forging a family with this down and out dude and his baby. But maybe there could have been a line where she talks about needing to find a family too, at the time when she happened upon Ed in the pub.

I think WotC could learn a thing or two from this movie about character classes as well. Each character and their abilities are well defined. If I could have a druid like we have now, which is just a variant wizard basically, or one like in the movie that can shape change multiple times in reaction (or as a reaction) to the circumstances that would make my druid feel a lot more like a distinct class and really cool.

The prequels (2 books "Road to Neverwinter" and "The Druid's Call" / comic book "The Feast of the Moon") are some light and fun additional material that definitely adds to tighten the party's bonds to each other, as well as addressing more D&D rules. Definitely recommend them!

I also like that they aren't established as being related. Because for me it's more powerful becoming a family when you've lost it all & you find what you needed in strangers. People you would least expect come together & fight towards a common goal, even if it started as a selfish goal it turned around (like the ship at the end). It wasn't perfect but I really enjoyed it, granted I only watch & don't play D&D so whaddo I know...

In regards to Edgin not casting spells: my DND group all went to see this movie together and we determined that he WAS in fact a bard, but the writers didn't want to pull magic casting away from the sorcerer with self esteem issues. Keep in mind that Doric would have been a full caster as well but only really ever used Wild Shape. He COULD have been a Rogue Mastermind, but we all thought it was more likely that the writers for the movie wanted to keep the spell casting focus on the sorcerer. Another thing to keep in mind, and I get that as a movie it's going to be open to criticism, is that even though it's a DND movie they only had a certain amount of time to tell the story. They had two hours to tell an ENTIRE campaign. Some things had to be left out in favor of narrative progression. When you're at the table you have hours, days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years to tell your story and nail down every detail down to the most minute character interactions and relationships. For what they were going for I think they did a phenomenal job.