I think if there is a sequel, it needs to be the exact same cast. But different characters

“But wait! We approved your pardon!” Is like. A perfect joke

SPOILER When the Dragon Statue came to life I leaned over to my friend and whispered "The spell is animate objects, so they only need to break her concentration" and then Doric threw the thing and it stopped and I had the biggest smile on my face, because I knew! I knew what was going to happen! And it did! Cause it was dnd! That was my favourite moment :)

But Haley! Of course there was a good reason for Xenk not to continue on with the party! Their friend who was guesting in the campaign while he was in town had to go home!

I see no one noticed my favorite Easter egg. The Bag of Holding. You see Simon wearing it but it's never mentioned by name. But you have multiple scenes where Edgin turns to Simon and says, "Hold this."

This movie really reaffirmed how much I love practical effects and costumes

I absolutely love the scene where Simon, even after listening to the DMPC explanation the bridge trap, just steps up an triggers it anyway. You can just FEEL the DM glaring daggers at the one Dumba$$ player.

The magic item getting completely forgot about in the third act is SO d&d 🤣🤣🤣

I think why Regé-Jean Page didn't stay and help. Is because he wasn't asked to help. Which myself as a DM find hilarious because my party never ask for help when I'm shoving it right into there face. And my party will get the portal gun it's just so good.

I think we all know, in our hearts, Edgin is a mastermind rogue with proficiency with a lute.

A person in the party w just an awful name to actually say is SO dnd

I think a mechanic of giving up spellcasting to go ham into wildshapes would be objectively really cool

"I know in my heart, Edgin has, like, 6 hit points." 😂

For me the "abandoned" plot of the helm of disjunction was real-game-like where you make overcomplicated, multi step plans but in the end party ends up resolving the problem with some last minute, jackass idea 😅

Three things: 1. The way I see Doric's wildshape, is that she focused on that ability to the exclusion of magic. The rigid leveling system is a game mechanic, and not reflective of limitations within the world. After all, NPCs and monsters don't typically have levels, they just have whatever ability makes sense. 2. The whole thing of going through all that trouble to get the helmet, only to wind up not using it and instead coming up with their rediculous heist plan...To me that was the most D&D moment in this entire movie. 3. The term McGuffin is massively misunderstood by people. None of those items are 'McGuffins', the same way the One Ring is not a McGuffin. Nothing that has any emotional or narrative importance beyond wanting it is a McGuffin. The Arc in 'Raiders of the Lost Arc', the bag of money in 'No Country for Old Men', the gold in 'The Itallian Job', and 'The Holy Grail' are all McGuffins because these things are never used to effect change nor do they have emotional meaning to the protagonists beyond "I want this thing".

Honestly I so expected the Harper backstory to be a lie that it threw me for a loop when it *wasnt* and I love that

My friend pointed out (or saw a comment somewhere) that said the paladin was very much just a dmpc. Only there for a bit, kinda op comparatively then dipped after that quest.

It was so much fun and my father who had the "Dnd players are weird basement dwellers" viewpoint, loved it. Like he understood why i like the game because the movie was relatable to general audiences. Also first thing I did after was ask my Dm "Can i have a tiny chonky dragon as a pet". Cause omg that dragon was the chonkiest boi and so cute.

I loved the chemistry between Pine and Rodreguez too. The fact that she was more into taking care of his daughter than attracted to him... then we find out why, and it's amazing.

I read Xenk's character leaving as him being played by that one player who is extremely good at the game but has a super busy schedule so was only able to jump into the game for a few sessions and had to leave. Just casually strolls in, plays the best character at the table and leaves. Iconic

12:15 I read the paladin as a temporary dmnpc or player cameo character, so it felt right for there to be no reason for him to leave. I know my friend has been absorbed into TWO SEPARATE TTRPGS because he was supposed to play a minor villain/temporary character and then the players refused to let him go. The paladin's player was just better at saying "sorry I have work" and I LOVE THAT FOR HIM.

I absolutely loved Doric but I may have been blinded by my crippling love of pretty redheads

while I absolutely agree that some of the choices were to appeal to a broader audience, a large amount of the nitpicks with mechanics in the movie aren't actually nitpicks if you look at it as a homebrew heavy 3.5 campaign. You could take a feat multiple times to get more wildshapes as a druid, and if you wanted you could even focus into wildshaping at the expense of spell casting. Attuning to an item above your level took a check, and failure meant you couldn't try until a long rest (I think, it's been a while since I've played older editions). I don't actually think the red wizards were a big thing in 5e, but they definitely were in 3.5.

I just got home from seeing it and the practical effects were my FAVOURITE. It really emphasised how only 5% of the Guardians trailer in the previews was probably real lol. I loved how the portal wand was just a Thing the barbarian had. I think we all know a barbarian who didn't hand something over to be identified because they thought it was a useless item 😆

I am absolutely convinced that Xenk was designed to be a NPC, hence the hilarity of his exit from the party :")

Why do bards and barbarians always get along in these things, think about it; Dimension 20: Gorgug and Fig end up being bandmates and best friends. Critical Role: Scanlan and Grog are brothers from other mothers, this movie Ed and Holga are basically Kate and Allie (if you don't know what that is, it's a tv show about two divorced women who decide to create a blended family with each other figuring it would be easier and cheaper to raise their kids together instead of on their own. It was made in the 80s and starred Susan St. James and Jane Curtin). I have a hypothesis, barbarians and bards are generally the most hedonistic characters, and their love of life's pleasures creates a bond between them.

D&D Beyond did indeed release stats for the Hither Thither Staff, among other things, free to add to your account.

Safina’s redeeming quality is killing all the rich assholes with the fog at the end

I do wish they had taken the easy layup of queer representation by giving Holga an estranged WIFE instead of husband. Michelle Rodriguez is bi, after all.

If you have a problem with the name Edgin Darvis, then whoo boy, don't ever watch Brennan Lee Mulligan's player characters 😂 "Evan Kelmp" and "Abraham Merhermblur" come to mind... And this is D&D: tragic backstories are required. No, no, I'm serious. My current character had a perfectly happy life and family, and my DM's first reaction when I gave him my backstory was, "Oh, don't worry, I'll fix that." Within like three sessions, his father was zombified and then killed by a party member, and his mother was kidnapped by human supremacists. If you don't make your character with a tragic backstory, the DM will do it for you 😂

Love this! My personal headcanon is that the theoretical player learned to get out of their own way and believe in themselves through playing Simon. Simon seems like a character that a player used to explore their own personal growth in a safe environment. So yeah, he wasn't too exciting on-screen, but just wait for that player's next character!

Xenk's exit was entirely a "too good" character and the DM going "can you please play another character?"

The "straight over the rock" joke was improv? Oh, thank you, Cosmos! Also, I was *this* close to openly sobbing over Edgin choosing to bring back Helga and the "M Night Shyamalan'ed " flashbacks to show me "you totally missed that she's her MOM!"

My thought on the paladin who absolutely is the best character: He is the DM's character from a previous campaign. The DM has to bring him in to help out, be super awesome, help the party with their issues, but ultimately he can't like... stay ya know, he's not a player, but he has to be doing his thing elsewhere the DM's not going to do something terrible to him to keep him from participating so he just is like "You've got this" and leaves. I think this movie is just SO genuinely good because it knows what it is, it knows who it's for, and it isn't trying to be perfect. They knew when they were making it that the druid shouldn't have that many wildshapes. They knew the hand spells don't... exactly do that. But they know how to make a scene fun, and enjoyable, while still following the correct STRUCTURE, and that's fantastic. Like Haley said, I can see a player saying "Hey I want my druid to be able to wildshape as many times as they want." "Okay but if they do that she's not gonna have any other magic, that's going to be her main thing, are you okay with that?" "Can I turn into an owlbear?" "Ye-" "Absolutely." The biggest flaws in my book were the lack of LGBT representation, I know it's for general popularity but this is the year of our lord 2023 and I am TIRED, and no handsome nearly seven foot tall half orc I can headcanon as my personal boyfriend. Tragic. One incredibly minute thing I don't thing the fight scenes get enough credit for either is the choreography. Like... can we take a second to appreciate how EVERYBODY IS FIGHTING TOGETHER? Like it's not just "Oh Simon and Serafina are fighting each other because they're the ones who do the magicy thing and everyone else is standing around going, 'You can do it, Simon!'" like Simon's attacking her with a spell, Olga's throwing knives, the druid even in humanoid form is like swinging her around, the bard's going at her with a sword, none of the characters are idle during fight scenes and that is SO RARE in fantasy movies like this and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Also some people complained about the portal staff being too convenient and I'm just like, yes? Was that not intentional? Like, have we all not had a moment where the party has somehow unfixably flubbed the one thing they were supposed to use to get through a puzzle or area and to keep things rolling we've been like "Oh but uh you happen to discover the staff is actuaaaalllyyyyyy...." and then immediately regret it because now we have to deal with the fact that our players... NOW HAVE THAT ITEM OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE but like GOOD DMs we don't just go "And you immediately lose it!" no. We are good DMs, we improvise. We let the players keep the stupidly powerful item we gave them without thinking. We are here to make sure our players have fun and damnit we will MAKE. IT. WORK. We give them challenges, ways they have to use it creatively. Oh no, the painting is face down, what do you do about that?

I think the biggest revelation for me as a GM was using the actual act of attunement as an opportunity to journey into the mind. They used it for a conversation but you could make that spotlight anything you want. Like, you could have a whole adventure inside that world. Way cooler than the sort of check mark it typically is in games.

Really liked your review. Totally with you on the Bradley Cooper scene. Loved the idea. It.was perfectly strange and heartfelt but the.optics looked so bad. Worse yet, because weve all seen halflings done so much better. Also, yes the.paladin walking Over the rock? Priceless. Best joke in the film

for someone how has never played a single dnd game i loved this movie. it was easy to understand for me. i was used to other fantasy series and movies. so i had some familiarity with shapeshifters, giants, dragons, mimics (those fake chest things). i felt like i didnt miss any major important parts. even though i didnt understand everything i still enjoyed it. will definitely watch more dnd stuff.

The Hither Thither Staff felt like Simon's player rolled a Nat 1 and then the DM had to fix something and then the players kept using it in ways the DM didn't expect.

I thought that Edgin was a rogue and that's why he didn't cast magic, like he just liked his lute but to me he definitely seemed more like a rogue than a bard

The hither thither staff made me grown out an "Oh fuck you", fun idea but gods the trouble making

Jarnathan got a full belly laugh from me man, I 100000% have thrown out some shit like that in my games

I really like your point about how all the main characters are basically pure human for the marketing and initial launch of this IP. To reach more people. People gotta consider more stuff like you did. 👌

In my superheroes game, one of my PC's literally has a portal gun as his super power. I have regretted the decision to allow that almost every session.

I shockingly enjoyed it, it had some solid easter eggs, but how it felt like a real telling of any of a dozen campaigns I've been through, 100% agree.

Yeah Doric is basically made for me. Druid, Red Head, Cute Pixie girl.

I loved it. Bit gutted that the film itself kinda fell off people's cinema schedules in the second week - so I'm hoping it recovers the box office gap in paid-for home viewing etc.

I absolutely loved the movie, the speak with dead scene is so great! I'm in the middle of whether or not they could have had more variety in the cast, I feel like Guardians of the Galaxy shows you can put your big name actors in makeup and Pine is a much bigger name than Pratt. Idk still think the party fit a party of first time players though.

I actually loved this film so much more than I thought I would! Everything just lined up to make a really fun, cute and surprisingly heartfelt film. I thought Michelle Rodriguez was so good as Holga. And Chris Pine of course is charismatic in everything.

My sister and I got into SUCH an argument on the way home from this movie about whether or not Ed was a bard or rogue! I thought he started as a rogue, wife died, he tried to become a bard to forget his past, and THATS why he couldn't cast spells--because he was NEVER a real Bard. My sister argued that he was a Bard, but his magic was invisible--like when he gives a speech to the crew before the heist, he was giving them bardic inspiration, we just didn't see it because it would be confusing to a non-dnd audience.

I went to see it with my friends, the dnd group, I really enjoyed the film, some of my friends thought it would be better if the story was treated as an actual campaign, like it would cut to a group playing through the scenarios and rolling dice etc, I'm so glad they didn't do that although I was thinking it would be fun if there was an after credits scene where it's the cast playing themselves playing a game of dnd but as it was I still loved it, burst out laughing a lot, thankfully it was just us in the cinema, it was exactly what I wanted out of a dnd movie

Hey, I wanted that promotional popcorn bucket from AMC. Was so sad I couldn't get it

I enjoyed this movie so much, as someone who plays a lot of the modules with their groups (currently in a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Wild Beyond the Witchlight and Spelljammer campaign + having finished Rime of the Frostmaiden) I was so excited to see the Sword Coast on the big screen and point at places and names and characters and go: "I've been there! I know where/who that is!" And I LOVED Xenk so much, I could feel the DM behind that character, I could imagine one of my DMs playing a character like that who takes things too literal. It was so so good, I adored the practical effects and the party had such nice chemistry, it was just so awesome

I too hope that this movie isn't the "Serenity" of D&D but merely the first of a long and storied series of masterpieces.

If they want to expand this universe on film and TV, having the different characters in this movie making occasional cameos early on would probably be a good way to go about it. I suspect the setting of Neverwinter could function as a hub for quite a few adventures, introducing other characters that could make cameos later on in other movies and TV-series and so on. Something fun they could also do is to do a Pratchett, and have a recurring fun character like Cohen the Barbarian as the universe expands - that would be a ton of fun.

I’ve never found someone who appreciates Chris Pine to the same level as me, and I am deeply grateful. Also your hair looks amazing ^_^

You failed to mention that quite often DMs have to 'fix' party 'errors' that destroy their plans for the plot of the adventure so having 'convenient' items does happen at the table.

I somehow found this channel through the Shrek video, so to hear you describe yourself as a D&D Content Creator is so unexpectedly HYPE! Spoilers, I WILL be bingeing your whole channel over the coming weeks, probably out of order, so expect to see my comments sprout wildly about the place. See y'all there! ;)

Simon is like the perfect example of wanting to play a magic user but putting your stat points in the wrong place to cast the magic you need.

Great review... My one question tho... Was Edgin a bard, or actually a rogue with a lute? Hmmm.... Also, I don't think the point of the Helm was to get past the magical door. It was for Simon gain his confidence, which he needed for the final battle.

Re: the unlimited Druid Wildshapes WotC has long been looking to change how wildshape works and in one of the earliest UAs for the new corebook rework they did make it so higher-level druids could switch forms an unlimited amount of times within a certain timespan. Sadly that version of the druid also made the all animal shapes one of 3 **really** underpowered templates(that all just used your own HP) so the community were very unhappy with that druid. WotC promply dropped the golden nugget of infinite form switching real fast...

I remember one thing I went absolutely wild about was the sending stones. I mean, after listening to arc 2 of uc and you guys using the stones as phones it both just made sense that they were used as ear pieces in the movie and was very exiting to see on the big screen. My personal favorite instance of "rule of cool" in the movie :)

The Practical effects were so good. The first dragonborn made me smile to see

Spot on. Agree on so, so many points. If I had anything to pick about the movie or your review of it, it was nits (damn those nits). What I do have issues with are the channels who are hating on the flick over those aforementioned pesky nits. Nobody should be complaining about getting to see an Owlbear onscreen in their lifetime. Awesome review, well done! Liked and subscribed.

For your consideration: I think Sofina is doing bits all throughout the movie, she just doesn’t need anyone to think they’re funny but her. Revealing a wildshape by pointing and screaming, jumpscaring both Dorick and us? Funny. Revealing she has disguised herself as Edgin’s daughter by laughing in his face? Funny. Having her fifth level Bigby’s Hand engage in a hand wrestle with the sorcerer’s second level Earthen Grasp rather than just counterspelling it outright? Funny. I love this evil wizard, her flair, and her weird sense of humor

As an old Grognard Im not just satisfied, but also know that the writers played D&D in the 80s, using the rules from 1978 to early 90s. Principally because we didnt had the videogame mentality to kill all foes, and insíred by films like Jason and the argonauts and Simbads, running from the powerfull monsters it was th common choice of action. Plus some ^broken magic^ like the staff used as portal gun and the Druid with her transformations it was accepted,

On the topic of forgetting to roll dice, I once introduced a creature that looked different to everyone who saw it, looked like everyone's favourite animal, and for ten whole minutes, all the party could do was argue about it. Like, I just sat their laughing so hard with tears in my eyes because it was peak hilarity for some reason, and like, fictional creature, fictional beings, but the party were So Invested in fighting about it... no matter what else they tried discussing, it always came back to The Creature. I don't think anyone even attempted an investigation check, so it just... was.

This movie slapped. That's it. That's the whole review

I stumbled over this video while trying to rationalize my love for Honor Among Thieves and well well well if this isn’t one of the best criticisms and breakdowns ever! Loved and agreed with every shrewd point!

i kind of liked that all of the characters were humanoid. it felt like people around a table genuinely playing a campaign lol

Every good DM knows how and when to bend the rules and let there players do wildly improbable but very cool things. this movie was no different and i love it

One of my favorite headcannons is that Xenc's player just left mid campaign and left the DM scrambling to find an excuse. Has happened to parties I have been in, its lretty accurate.

Honestly, I loved it for its storytelling. It understood that a small, personal story is more engaging than a large, impersonal story. And in DnD, any good DM knows that the best story is a personal one. Yes, the party is of people who will immediately dive into combat to stop a fanatical follower of Szass Tam from creating an army of the dead, but a save-the-world story is routine, there’s little personal. You just show up, beat up some baddie who probably has no clue who you are, and leave, having saved a bunch of complete strangers. But they made sure to make it personal with the party. For Edgin, it was about rekindling his bond with his daughter, getting back on the man who betrayed him, and processing his grief for his wife in a healthy manner. For Holga, it’s about getting the child she took under her wing back, and getting closure on a past romance with a man who she’s better off as a friend to. For Simon, it’s about conquering his self-doubt, so he can be more than a so-so sorcerer whose self-doubt cuts into the well of charisma he draws his magic from. For Doric, it’s about her protecting her found family, and learning to trust humans, even though she joined the table later on, her character arc feels incomplete. And for DMPC Xenk, it’s about making sure what happened to his people and family doesn’t happen again. If they never got to grow, if they never got to face someone who wronged them in the past, if there was no personal business, it would not work. A DnD campaign always must be personal for all party members, and it gets that right!

My favorite small reference was that one of the groups in the tournament was the party from the original Dungeons and Dragons cartoon from the 80s

fantastic review! I absolutely agree. Curse of Strahd would hit some pretty intense notes if they pulled it off.

Super fun video! also I love your new haircut Haley your whole self is very red today and I like it

Finally, someone to comment on the daughter combo with the adult actors, was so good

I did, in fact, just pause this video to watch the entire movie (loved it, of course!), and now I'm back!

I watched this with my nephew that I'm trying to get into dnd, and was exactly telling him about all the things you're referencing....the bad ideas, the good rolls, the terrible rolls, which one is which class.....I think he's in. This movie is watching someone's campaign. Shouldn't be possible, they did it.

I think if you were to stat out Edgin, he would be a mastermind rogue, not a bard

Thank you for this indepth review! First of your videos I watched. Subscribed.

Loving the haircut! You look ##$%ing awesome!

The "is that Bradley Cooper?" part just got me hard. Made me think of the "we love him for some reason" line from bojack.xD

I think my favorite part about the practical effects was how it made it look almost like the kind of stuff you'd see at a con or a larp.

Xenk is not DMNPC, he's DM's best friend who's always too busy to play, so when they got him for a few sessions he was made an OP paladin with backstory directly connected to the plot :D

I spent the entire movie imagining myself as the dungeon master of this campaign and looooooved every second of it.

The hilarious thing is that Doric's wild shapes actually make sense if you take 5 minutes to read the PHB. She turns into an owlbear, so clearly she has polymorph prepared. Even assuming she DOESN'T have 7 uses of wild shape (2+a wisdom modifier of 5 from a score of 20 is 7) she could still make up the remainder with 2 polymorphs, minimum. Doric's wild shapes aren't a problem, people just love a problem

Edgin isn't a bard though. He's a paladin holding a lute, convinced he is a bard now

Other than Doric's slingshot most of her action was through her wildshape stuff and being part of heist sequences. So as a character she contributed a lot but the actor didn't get much of a chance beyond reacting to what others said, I felt. If there's a sequel I hope she gets more of a chance to do stuff. There was still a lot going on so it didn't bother me too much. They could have kept Simon prime magic person and maybe had her do a goodberry for a quiet moment or something, talk to trees. Something obvioously within the nature trope, but it's fine. Wildshape was her thing. I guess you could justify this as some sort of alternate Druid where wildshape was emphasized at the expense of spellcasting? There were a lot of little touches in the movie that made me very happy, screenwriting stuff that I began to suspect people forgot how to do, they did. Happy I saw it. I'll let it rest and watch it again to see how much replay value I can get out of it. The panic NPC name joke never gets old :)

Jarnathan is the goat

I was very glad to have read both prequal books before the movie. It made the movie that much better.

Forge did NOT order them killed... He specifically ordered his men to take them back to prison when there was no one there that he world be trying to deceive. The Wizard ordered them to have them killed. Also, Doric looked just like some of the 2nd edition Tieflings from the Planescape book... I cannot believe that you did not mention Themberchaud... My favorite Red Dragon of all time... Actually my favorite Dragon of all time, with the possible exception of Vermithrax Pejorative from "Dragonslayer" (1981), which, if you have not seen it, is DEFINATALLY worth a watch! Haver you ever read this? Themberchaud's lament "And now I am far too large to ever leave. Even if I tore the entire place down around me, I could not claw my way to the surface from here. Instead, I remain buried in a prison of my parents' making, far beneath a sky I've never seen." I never thought I would feel sorry for a Red Dragon... Look up his back story some time and you will see what I mean... I was so angry when I thought they had killed him off, but thankfully they left him alive in the end.

Concept: They make a sequel with the exact same cast, but they're all now playing completely different characters for another campaign. Except Xenk, who is exactly the same.

The hither thither staff was incredible because I actually have had a DM who gave us a portal gun : 3

To be fair, it wasn't Forge who ordered Edgin and Holga to be killed, it was Sofina.

Anyone arguing the minutia of wild shapes needs a better DM. If one of my players asked me "hey, I want more wild shapes and I'm willing to give up all of my spell slots to do it", HELL YES you can have as many wild shapes as you fucking want! In fact, I literally made a homebrew class a few years ago that does exactly this. I would be STOKED if my players cared enough to ask this without me suggesting it first. If you want something more concrete, just say she has a homebrew spell that she casts to transform, and she spends all her slots on that one spell. Easy. There are SO many ways it can work, you just need to actually TALK to your DM and ask them.

I actually love the fact that Doric DOESNT get character development, because it’s just so dnd. Like, she is that one player that absolutely loves progressing the plot forward constantly and never stopping for character moments, and I love that for her

I just _know_ that the portal painting gambit was something that the DM didn't account for and that's why the duid is unceremoniously KOed to course-correct

11:38 There was a point where I was very genuinely convinced it was a fakeout and that girl she saved was her girlfriend? And boy was I wrong

Can II call you Haley? Can I call you Whipjack? Can I call you Haley Whipjack?

Actually they didn't give Doric Archdruid levels of Wild Shape. Druids get 2 Wild Shapes per Shot or Long Rest. We have to remember this is a movie. So they are going to cut out the boring mechanical bits of how stuff worrks. We can determine that she was taking Short Rests shortly after almost every Wild Shape. Like this. She's a fly gets noticed ends up turning into a mouse. Let's even say that was a second Wild Shape. But now she hides in suit of armor. Takes Short Rest in there. Decides to walk out front door in it. But she's not proficient so she's awkward. And fails to give proper recognition code when spotted by another guard for their alert status they are on. Gets attacked. Turned back into mouse. Eludes them briefly. Gets Short Rest. On move again. Spoted as mouse. Throws self out window. Becomes Hawk, roles bad enough on evasion flys into flag down chimney taking damage from bouncing around in chimney. Becomes cat. Either takes enough damage from the rest of the fall plus fire damage it knocks her out of Wild Shape, or she chooses to become herself and walk out the front door. Out of Wild Shapes. The only people who know who she is are the people in the house. They can't instantly tell somebody. Which buys her enough time to blend in with the crowd for a Short Rest. Becomes an Axe Beak and joins a Ranchers flock. Gets Short Rest. They're not doing anything strenuous. Gets noticed. Runs turns into deer. And Indiana Jones's her way out of the city. All exactly correct. Just not boring to watch due to editing.