Dungeons & Dragons

3/13/2018

Campy, amusing heroic fantasy with – you guessed it – dungeons and dragons. RELEASED IN 2000 and directed by Courtney Solomon, "Dungeons & Dragons" chronicles events in the kingdom of Izmer where the idealistic Empress (Thora Birch) advocates equality between the mages and commoners while the power-mad Profion (Jeremy Irons) plots to overthrow the Empress with the help of his formidable henchman Damodar (Bruce Payne). A ragtag team is assembled to save Izmer by apprehending the Eye of the Dragon: Two thieves (Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans), a beautiful mage apprentice (Zoe McLellan), a dwarf (Lee Arenberg) and an elf girl (Kristen Wilson). The first shot with Irons hamming it up as the diabolical Profion made me bust out laughing. In other words, the movie telegraphs from the ge

8/28/2023

I saw this at the time it was released in 2000, and I couldn't quite fathom how Oscar winning Jeremy Irons ("Profion") ever found his way onto the screen for this nonsense. The whole thing centres around his megalomaniacal desire to depose the Empress (a shockingly wooden Thora Birch) and seize her sceptre that controls the white dragons. She's having none of that, so he must now seek out the red "Rod of Savina" via his menacing henchman "Damodar" (Bruce Payne) for that controls the red ones. Meantime petty thieves "Ridley" (Justin Whalin) and his pal "Snails" (Marlon Wayans) manage to get embroiled in the plot after a visit to the House of Magic goes a bit awry. The scene is now set for some silly, set-piece escapades with some basic special effects, a daft cameo from Richard O'Brien (rea