Like, she should have been a level 20 wizard with Boon of High Magic and Spell Recall, so she can cast Wish three times in a row. I guess they are saving all that wizardry awesomeness for Szass Tam.
Dunno if she had any boons but
Her 9th-level spell was Time Stop so that's what would have been Recalled.
Sofina is a total ******* badass and I love it, I just wish they made her more powerful to fully showcase the full might of wizards. Like, she should have been a level 20 wizard with Boon of High Magic and Spell Recall, so she can cast Wish three times in a row. I guess they are saving all that wizardry awesomeness for Szass Tam.
She cast a fair number of higher level spells; the Sofina character sheet is pretty accurate to what she did in the movie, though she also used
misty step, change self, and animate objects and/or summon construct. Probably also glyph of warding, black tentacles spawned in the vault with Sofina nowhere nearby.
8/10. I saw it with all of my D&D friends, and a couple who haven't ever touched D&D, and they all liked it. I think it was a little cheesy at times, and the plot was a little underwhelming, but I actually think it was fairly well written and enjoyable. A lot of what I think about it has already been written here, about five times over, so I'll remark on something else that I appreciated. While not all of the dialogue and story was perfectly written, there was one scene that I think worked really well.
When Holga died, and they decided to use the tablet on her instead, it was actually delicately handled. The dragonfly landing on Pine's arm, a brief glimpse of his wife (reminding us of the earlier scene), and Pine's acting overall pulled it together. I think that a lot of other movies would have drawn this scene out by replaying the dialogue from his wife, and I liked that they trusted the audience enough to not go that far. Sure, you could see it coming from a mile away, but it was still a nice scene.
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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
When Holga died, and they decided to use the tablet on her instead, it was actually delicately handled. The dragonfly landing on Pine's arm, a brief glimpse of his wife (reminding us of the earlier scene), and Pine's acting overall pulled it together. I think that a lot of other movies would have drawn this scene out by replaying the dialogue from his wife, and I liked that they trusted the audience enough to not go that far. Sure, you could see it coming from a mile away, but it was still a nice scene.
Actually that is one of the scenes that really annoyed me in the movie, everything about that scene felt really contrived and you could piece together what was going to happen a mile away
Personally I did not even notice Holga getting stabbed in the action and to me it just looked like it happened out of nowhere with her being stabbed being revealed only after the battle was over, will need to watch the movie again to see if the movie actually shows her getting stabbed but if it is the case and the stab happens off screen then that has got to be really lazy film making.
That said however as soon as you see her slumped against a rock after the battle you know exactly how things are going to happen, of course you probably already figured from the film's inception that Edgin was not going to resurrect his wife and something would happen to prevent this from happening but as soon as you see Holga slumped against the rock you know without it even having been shown that surprise surprise she just so happened to be stabbed with a red wizard blade and they are going to have to use the tablet to resurrect her.
I dunno, for me just how predictable and contrived the scene was kind of killed any emotional impact the scene might have had for me, it was just like we all know what is going to happen so just do it already.
A solid 4-5/10 - it's a "family film" that's acceptable to watch in the company of a child that's capable of sitting through a film. I didn't go see it with a child, I went with a lady friend that's kinda had the "proximity effect" of mildly interested in the hobby because we're dating. She enjoyed it more than me, significantly so.
Good Fantasy Films:
Lair of the White Worm, Lord of the Rings (animation), Excalibur, Time Bandits - ok, they're all solid for me.
Bad Fantasy Films:
Lord or the Rings/Hobbit "hey stupid here's an emotional bit", Narnia, Harry Potter... I could go on.
Yeah, it just wasn't "for me" and that's ok, I'm an adult now and... I got ice cream and takeout (UK cinema). I enjoyed the takeout more than the film, but yeah, the date went well, so... Oh, the film? Forgettable, Rodriguez and Pine were "good" given the trash script - "comedy" just annoyed me, but I wasn't expecting much there anyway. No JoCat(?) on the soundtrack was a bonus. I was mostly bored and when I got up to go toilet, took a leisurely look at the Upcoming Films posters in the hallway without hurrying back. I hope the actors involved enjoy their money - which I don't begrudge them for this. It wasn't "art" or "moving" or anything really.
Well done to the nerds that made it, but knowing the material - which they certainly did - it's just not enough to make a good film. Maybe the coming "tv" series will be ok, depends on the age demographic it's aimed at, but I'm not hopeful after this.
Also since it was mentioned earlier in this thread I also think the Green Knight was a good movie, definitely not a movie for everyone and the film does have it's problems but I thought it was really interesting, a much more psychological test of honour and courage than the traditional action oriented approach that I thought was really good.
The Green Knight is underrated and doesn't get the attention it deserves. Dev Patel is stellar in the role of Gawain and I'd even go as far as saying the story feels more like a D&D adventure than any fantasy film made since the early 80s.
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INSPIRATIONS:Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
I liked how they showed attunement even if they fudged the actual mechanics of it with him suddenly attuning in a split second after hours of failed attempts.
That was one of the favorite parts of the movie, actually, since 5e's basic attunement rules are kind of lazy and boring and I homebrew items all the time that have more story-based attunement requirements
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
When Holga died, and they decided to use the tablet on her instead, it was actually delicately handled. The dragonfly landing on Pine's arm, a brief glimpse of his wife (reminding us of the earlier scene), and Pine's acting overall pulled it together. I think that a lot of other movies would have drawn this scene out by replaying the dialogue from his wife, and I liked that they trusted the audience enough to not go that far. Sure, you could see it coming from a mile away, but it was still a nice scene.
Actually that is one of the scenes that really annoyed me in the movie, everything about that scene felt really contrived and you could piece together what was going to happen a mile away
Personally I did not even notice Holga getting stabbed in the action and to me it just looked like it happened out of nowhere with her being stabbed being revealed only after the battle was over, will need to watch the movie again to see if the movie actually shows her getting stabbed but if it is the case and the stab happens off screen then that has got to be really lazy film making.
That said however as soon as you see her slumped against a rock after the battle you know exactly how things are going to happen, of course you probably already figured from the film's inception that Edgin was not going to resurrect his wife and something would happen to prevent this from happening but as soon as you see Holga slumped against the rock you know without it even having been shown that surprise surprise she just so happened to be stabbed with a red wizard blade and they are going to have to use the tablet to resurrect her.
I dunno, for me just how predictable and contrived the scene was kind of killed any emotional impact the scene might have had for me, it was just like we all know what is going to happen so just do it already.
I thought the scene was well intentioned and appropriate but it was def predictable and extremely poorly acted from everyone but Chris Pine... His daughter looked like she was struggling to show sadness and she just looked awkward. For me the only thing that saved it was the flashbacks that showed Holga's relationship with the girl but at the same time just reinforced her bad acting.
There was a lot of thirst over Xenk in my friend group. Doric was indeed the MVP.
I am absolutely a simp for both. I would totally shell out 69pp for Xenk's bathwater. Ha! I would not drink it, but I would use it as a substitute for holy water in my spells!
Her 9th-level spell was Time Stop so that's what would have been Recalled.
I do not think she had any boons, or else she would have cast it multiple times. And she only had ONE 9th level spell, so I was a little disappointed by that.
Sofina is a total ******* badass and I love it, I just wish they made her more powerful to fully showcase the full might of wizards. Like, she should have been a level 20 wizard with Boon of High Magic and Spell Recall, so she can cast Wish three times in a row. I guess they are saving all that wizardry awesomeness for Szass Tam.
She cast a fair number of higher level spells; the Sofina character sheet is pretty accurate to what she did in the movie, though she also used
misty step, change self, and animate objects and/or summon construct. Probably also glyph of warding, black tentacles spawned in the vault with Sofina nowhere nearby.
It would be nice to see her cast multiple different 9th level spells though.
Like imagine seeing psychic scream on the screen! Heads explode! That would have been so freaking totally awesome!
And there is also Time Ravage, which totally fits the theme of Thayans and bringing people closer to death. People would suffer from old age for 30 days before they die, so that is like a really long torture session.
I do not think she had any boons, or else she would have cast it multiple times. And she only had ONE 9th level spell, so I was a little disappointed by that
…
It would be nice to see her cast multiple different 9th level spells though
It should be noted:
While downplayed for the statblock to keep her at CR 15, within the confines of the film itself, I think it can be argued she cast two level 9 spells in the final fight - Meteor Swarm and Time Stop. Meteor Swarm is just one of those things that is really punishing to see on a monster’s stat block and can even pose problems for le el 20 adventurers - not exactly a spell you want to give to your “hey, did you have fun watching the movie? Okay with these NPCs!” monster statblock.
It was great; I look forward to future movies set within the world.
While this was a light-hearted romp; there is now enough sway we can get so many different styles for future flicks…can you picture a “Curse of Strahd” movie?
I gave it a 7/10. It did have some pacing issues especially toward the beginning.
And it felt that they went a little too “it’s your turn to shine” as they introduced each character. They stand by while Doric does her thing when they first meet her. They stand around as Xenk does his thing when the Tay assassins show up, they stand by while Simon does all his stuff at the theater and reverse gravity.
Some of the dialogue was a bit clunky. Didn’t care for Hugh Grants dialogue much.
I did find it funny Simon claiming magic doesn’t solve all problems when that is a common theme in “casters are OP” comments on these forums. And the characters in the cage toward the end of the maze/arena scene looked like the characters from the 80’s D&D cartoon.
I also felt some of the scenes were a little too “side questy” and could have been more focused for movie purposes. But it does fit the whole D&D vibe.
Much of this is on point, and I appreciated the 80's cartoon reference very much too. However, I would argue that Forge Fitzwilliam's (Hugh Grant's) dialogue was on point, because they wanted to create Forge to be a witty and charming yet still evil and conniving villain. The "Moment to Shine" parts could've used some work, but it makes sense to showcase the abilities of each of the new character's abilities for people that aren't big on D&D or don't even play it. 9/10
I do not think she had any boons, or else she would have cast it multiple times. And she only had ONE 9th level spell, so I was a little disappointed by that
…
It would be nice to see her cast multiple different 9th level spells though
It should be noted:
While downplayed for the statblock to keep her at CR 15, within the confines of the film itself, I think it can be argued she cast two level 9 spells in the final fight - Meteor Swarm and Time Stop. Meteor Swarm is just one of those things that is really punishing to see on a monster’s stat block and can even pose problems for le el 20 adventurers - not exactly a spell you want to give to your “hey, did you have fun watching the movie? Okay with these NPCs!” monster statblock.
Probably worth noting that according to her stat block, one of those isn’t a spell, but a 1/day ability with the word order switched around. Seems like how they get around the RAW about how many slots she would have. I’m not saying I had a problem with it, just an observation.
Really hope a sequel gets made. But would love to see it meta.
Not the movie itself, but bring back the same actors, playing (potentially) different characters in a different setting type thing.
To me, if they are trying to set up a franchise, they do a movie centered on Xenk, with a different group of characters. And after a few movies, bring the whole band together to fight sass tam as the Thanos-level boss.
Probably worth noting that according to her stat block, one of those isn’t a spell, but a 1/day ability with the word order switched around. Seems like how they get around the RAW about how many slots she would have.
I think it's mostly that they nerfed it to do half as much damage (20d6 instead of 40d6). My suspicion is that meteor swarm is one of those spells that does more damage than it's actually supposed to and might see a revision in One D&D, the standard for level 9 area damage is 14d6. Sure, meteor swarm doesn't carry a status effect (which other level 9s, like psychic scream, do) so it should do more damage, but that's more an argument for 20d6.
ly the villains, I mean Sofina is pretty self explanatory but Hugh Grant's character? I know he is greedy and wanted the treasure which is why he was working with Sofina and why he betrayed the rest of the group, but why take on the adoptive father role of Chris Pine's daughter and why lie and betray the party after he had already gotten the treasure? Why was he logging the forest pissing off the Emerald Enclave if he was only playing the role of Lord of Neverwinter to abscond with the treasure? And how exactly did he and Sofina put Lord Neverember out of commission in the first place? Also there is a scene where he is about to kill Chris Pine's character and then Sofina convinces him to let Chris Pine participate in the Arena for some reason? What reason would Sofina have to allow the party to live just to participate in the arena other than the fact that the movie needs the party to foil her plans? In the end she becomes the engineer of her own downfall yet there is no practical reason for her to do so? I know every story has plot holes and I try to be forgiving to an extent as most stories need some semblance of suspension of disbelief but there are so many moments in the movie where the plot holes are so gapingly huge and frequent that they become impossible to ignore.
I'll take a crack at these.
Hugh Grant's character was completely consistent, he's not just greedy, he's a narcissist. He didn't adopt Chris Pine's daughter because he loved her. He did it because he wanted to mold someone else to be like him, he actually says this. As you note, he's also greedy. He betrayed the party after getting the treasure, so he could get more treasure. And so they'd be out of the way when he and Sofina were taking over Neverwinter. Why he was logging the forest is unexplained, I'll grant you that. But it's also irrelevant to the story. Probably, it would give him more money. Or maybe there was some kind of internal political reason he had for it. He had to keep up appearances while he was half-assing being lord of neverwinter. But whatever the reason, that would be at best tangential to this story. What's important is that he was doing it and it gave a character a motivation. Explaining it would have just slowed down the pacing.
Sofina put Lord Nevermeber out of commission with magic. NPCs don't have to follow PC rules, so its easy enough to say there was some homebrewed ritual or spell she was using. She puts Chris Pine in the arena because that means more zombies for her army (plus a good persuasion roll from Chris Pine). She knew this group from two years ago as a pack of bumbling fools, and they'd done nothing to alter that reputation. She had no reason to think them a threat, so why not get a few more zombies in the deal?
In what way? Just asking out of curiosity as I was looking out for things like this and honestly can't recall many, only one that comes to mind is the Paladin remarking that there is evil about just before those assassins show up which I can only assume is a nod to the Paladin's divine sense ability? That and the speak to dead spell. Other than that I can't recall many nods to character features and abilities in the movie? The Druid's wildshape has her turning into an Owlbear which is not possible in the rules as written as Owlbears are technically monstrosities and in the scene where she turns into a fly to spy on the vault she burns 7 uses of wildshape as she turns into several different creatures in the one encounter when rules as written you can only use it twice per short rest, sure it is how I wished wild shape worked and it makes it more fun to watch as a movie but not an accurate nod to the ability as it is written in the rules, also this was the only aspect of the druid they showed there were no hints of the other druid abilities such as the spellcasting and speaking with animals and whatnot, same for the other characters, apart from Chris Pine playing the lute there were no real nod to any other Bardic abilities, no Barbarian rage, I don't recall any Wild Magic surges apart from the change of gravity when they first meet up with the sorcerer again but not sure if that was supposed to be a wild magic surge or just him flubbing the spell?
The directors (aka the DMs) said many times that they weren't trying to make a RAW movie. So, turning into an owlbear is a houserule. As is getting waaaaay more wildshapes than she should have. Maybe that's the deal the player made with the DM, extra wild shapes in exchange for spells?
Chris Pine was rolling high on tons of persuasion checks (not exclusively a bard thing, but definitely a thing bards do). You could make an argument for bardic inspiration in many of his interactions, particularly those with Holga. He nailed several performance checks. And maybe he did cast a spell or two, but they were charm person or something similar that wouldn't be as obvious.
In both cases, I can see story reasons for the directors not wanting to have either character using spells. It would completely undercut Justice Smith's arc if half the party is throwing around spells like it nothing while he can't manage to even attune to a helmet. It's one thing to make him seem not very good at magic, but if everyone else starts doing it, it would make him incompetent. Also, the other characters would know how magic works, so they wouldn't need to ask him how it works. So he wouldn't be able to explain to the other characters (and really, the audience) how magic works in D&D.
Holga was definitely raging in the two fights where she solo'd 5-6 guys. She just didn't go all anime and yell "barbarian rage" before she started. Rage can look a lot of different ways.
As far as wild surges. Only one seems about right. They are pretty rare in game, in my experience. I'm playing in a party with a wild magic sorcerer right now, we're well into 5th level, and they've not had one even once -- and they roll for it a lot.
She puts Chris Pine in the arena because that means more zombies for her army (plus a good persuasion roll from Chris Pine). She knew this group from two years ago as a pack of bumbling fools, and they'd done nothing to alter that reputation. She had no reason to think them a threat, so why not get a few more zombies in the deal?
For this one, I think the opposite is actually true.
If I recall, she specifically said they managed to best both the Neverwinter guards including the Captain (or whoever with the cool axe) and the undead Thay assassins, so that is why she wanted them in the arena. So she seemed actually impressed with them at that point. She's figuring it's not a matter of just some more random recruits, but some possibly powerful recruits. (She wouldn't have known about Xenk's help with the Thayans, of course.) After all, she figures there's no way they can stop the beckoning death since not even the other zulkirs could, so why let them go to waste when they can be elite zombies. Four more when you are converting an entire city is negligible. But four more who managed to defeat your previous elite warriors? Go for it!
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There was a lot of thirst over Xenk in my friend group. Doric was indeed the MVP.
Dunno if she had any boons but
Her 9th-level spell was Time Stop so that's what would have been Recalled.
She cast a fair number of higher level spells; the Sofina character sheet is pretty accurate to what she did in the movie, though she also used
misty step, change self, and animate objects and/or summon construct. Probably also glyph of warding, black tentacles spawned in the vault with Sofina nowhere nearby.
Pretty sure Sofina had 2 concentration spells going at the same time at points.
8/10. I saw it with all of my D&D friends, and a couple who haven't ever touched D&D, and they all liked it. I think it was a little cheesy at times, and the plot was a little underwhelming, but I actually think it was fairly well written and enjoyable. A lot of what I think about it has already been written here, about five times over, so I'll remark on something else that I appreciated. While not all of the dialogue and story was perfectly written, there was one scene that I think worked really well.
When Holga died, and they decided to use the tablet on her instead, it was actually delicately handled. The dragonfly landing on Pine's arm, a brief glimpse of his wife (reminding us of the earlier scene), and Pine's acting overall pulled it together. I think that a lot of other movies would have drawn this scene out by replaying the dialogue from his wife, and I liked that they trusted the audience enough to not go that far. Sure, you could see it coming from a mile away, but it was still a nice scene.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
- Litany Against Fear, Frank Herbert
Actually that is one of the scenes that really annoyed me in the movie, everything about that scene felt really contrived and you could piece together what was going to happen a mile away
Personally I did not even notice Holga getting stabbed in the action and to me it just looked like it happened out of nowhere with her being stabbed being revealed only after the battle was over, will need to watch the movie again to see if the movie actually shows her getting stabbed but if it is the case and the stab happens off screen then that has got to be really lazy film making.
That said however as soon as you see her slumped against a rock after the battle you know exactly how things are going to happen, of course you probably already figured from the film's inception that Edgin was not going to resurrect his wife and something would happen to prevent this from happening but as soon as you see Holga slumped against the rock you know without it even having been shown that surprise surprise she just so happened to be stabbed with a red wizard blade and they are going to have to use the tablet to resurrect her.
I dunno, for me just how predictable and contrived the scene was kind of killed any emotional impact the scene might have had for me, it was just like we all know what is going to happen so just do it already.
A solid 4-5/10 - it's a "family film" that's acceptable to watch in the company of a child that's capable of sitting through a film. I didn't go see it with a child, I went with a lady friend that's kinda had the "proximity effect" of mildly interested in the hobby because we're dating. She enjoyed it more than me, significantly so.
Good Fantasy Films:
Lair of the White Worm, Lord of the Rings (animation), Excalibur, Time Bandits - ok, they're all solid for me.
Bad Fantasy Films:
Lord or the Rings/Hobbit "hey stupid here's an emotional bit", Narnia, Harry Potter... I could go on.
Yeah, it just wasn't "for me" and that's ok, I'm an adult now and... I got ice cream and takeout (UK cinema). I enjoyed the takeout more than the film, but yeah, the date went well, so...
Oh, the film? Forgettable, Rodriguez and Pine were "good" given the trash script - "comedy" just annoyed me, but I wasn't expecting much there anyway. No JoCat(?) on the soundtrack was a bonus. I was mostly bored and when I got up to go toilet, took a leisurely look at the Upcoming Films posters in the hallway without hurrying back. I hope the actors involved enjoy their money - which I don't begrudge them for this. It wasn't "art" or "moving" or anything really.
Well done to the nerds that made it, but knowing the material - which they certainly did - it's just not enough to make a good film. Maybe the coming "tv" series will be ok, depends on the age demographic it's aimed at, but I'm not hopeful after this.
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I really liked it. It reminded me of many D&D sessions I’ve played and ran, like it was actually a movie about D&D characters.
The Green Knight is underrated and doesn't get the attention it deserves. Dev Patel is stellar in the role of Gawain and I'd even go as far as saying the story feels more like a D&D adventure than any fantasy film made since the early 80s.
INSPIRATIONS: Clark Ashton Smith, Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, M. John Harrison, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Terry Pratchett, China Miéville.
SYSTEMS: ShadowDark, C&C, AD&D.
GEAR: pencils, graph paper, dice.
Too late now, but wish there were also two poll options for:
1) Haven't seen yet.
2) Not intending to see.
And also, I have to lie on the poll to view results (as haven't seen yet - I'll vote 5 just so I can see if it's worth going!) :(
That was one of the favorite parts of the movie, actually, since 5e's basic attunement rules are kind of lazy and boring and I homebrew items all the time that have more story-based attunement requirements
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I thought the scene was well intentioned and appropriate but it was def predictable and extremely poorly acted from everyone but Chris Pine... His daughter looked like she was struggling to show sadness and she just looked awkward. For me the only thing that saved it was the flashbacks that showed Holga's relationship with the girl but at the same time just reinforced her bad acting.
I am absolutely a simp for both. I would totally shell out 69pp for Xenk's bathwater. Ha! I would not drink it, but I would use it as a substitute for holy water in my spells!
I do not think she had any boons, or else she would have cast it multiple times. And she only had ONE 9th level spell, so I was a little disappointed by that.
It would be nice to see her cast multiple different 9th level spells though.
Like imagine seeing psychic scream on the screen! Heads explode! That would have been so freaking totally awesome!
And there is also Time Ravage, which totally fits the theme of Thayans and bringing people closer to death. People would suffer from old age for 30 days before they die, so that is like a really long torture session.
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While downplayed for the statblock to keep her at CR 15, within the confines of the film itself, I think it can be argued she cast two level 9 spells in the final fight - Meteor Swarm and Time Stop. Meteor Swarm is just one of those things that is really punishing to see on a monster’s stat block and can even pose problems for le el 20 adventurers - not exactly a spell you want to give to your “hey, did you have fun watching the movie? Okay with these NPCs!” monster statblock.
It was great; I look forward to future movies set within the world.
While this was a light-hearted romp; there is now enough sway we can get so many different styles for future flicks…can you picture a “Curse of Strahd” movie?
Much of this is on point, and I appreciated the 80's cartoon reference very much too. However, I would argue that Forge Fitzwilliam's (Hugh Grant's) dialogue was on point, because they wanted to create Forge to be a witty and charming yet still evil and conniving villain. The "Moment to Shine" parts could've used some work, but it makes sense to showcase the abilities of each of the new character's abilities for people that aren't big on D&D or don't even play it. 9/10
Orange Juice!
Really hope a sequel gets made. But would love to see it meta.
Not the movie itself, but bring back the same actors, playing (potentially) different characters in a different setting type thing.
Probably worth noting that according to her stat block, one of those isn’t a spell, but a 1/day ability with the word order switched around. Seems like how they get around the RAW about how many slots she would have.
I’m not saying I had a problem with it, just an observation.
To me, if they are trying to set up a franchise, they do a movie centered on Xenk, with a different group of characters. And after a few movies, bring the whole band together to fight sass tam as the Thanos-level boss.
I think it's mostly that they nerfed it to do half as much damage (20d6 instead of 40d6). My suspicion is that meteor swarm is one of those spells that does more damage than it's actually supposed to and might see a revision in One D&D, the standard for level 9 area damage is 14d6. Sure, meteor swarm doesn't carry a status effect (which other level 9s, like psychic scream, do) so it should do more damage, but that's more an argument for 20d6.
I'll take a crack at these.
Hugh Grant's character was completely consistent, he's not just greedy, he's a narcissist. He didn't adopt Chris Pine's daughter because he loved her. He did it because he wanted to mold someone else to be like him, he actually says this. As you note, he's also greedy. He betrayed the party after getting the treasure, so he could get more treasure. And so they'd be out of the way when he and Sofina were taking over Neverwinter. Why he was logging the forest is unexplained, I'll grant you that. But it's also irrelevant to the story. Probably, it would give him more money. Or maybe there was some kind of internal political reason he had for it. He had to keep up appearances while he was half-assing being lord of neverwinter. But whatever the reason, that would be at best tangential to this story. What's important is that he was doing it and it gave a character a motivation. Explaining it would have just slowed down the pacing.
Sofina put Lord Nevermeber out of commission with magic. NPCs don't have to follow PC rules, so its easy enough to say there was some homebrewed ritual or spell she was using. She puts Chris Pine in the arena because that means more zombies for her army (plus a good persuasion roll from Chris Pine). She knew this group from two years ago as a pack of bumbling fools, and they'd done nothing to alter that reputation. She had no reason to think them a threat, so why not get a few more zombies in the deal?
The directors (aka the DMs) said many times that they weren't trying to make a RAW movie. So, turning into an owlbear is a houserule. As is getting waaaaay more wildshapes than she should have. Maybe that's the deal the player made with the DM, extra wild shapes in exchange for spells?
Chris Pine was rolling high on tons of persuasion checks (not exclusively a bard thing, but definitely a thing bards do). You could make an argument for bardic inspiration in many of his interactions, particularly those with Holga. He nailed several performance checks. And maybe he did cast a spell or two, but they were charm person or something similar that wouldn't be as obvious.
In both cases, I can see story reasons for the directors not wanting to have either character using spells. It would completely undercut Justice Smith's arc if half the party is throwing around spells like it nothing while he can't manage to even attune to a helmet. It's one thing to make him seem not very good at magic, but if everyone else starts doing it, it would make him incompetent. Also, the other characters would know how magic works, so they wouldn't need to ask him how it works. So he wouldn't be able to explain to the other characters (and really, the audience) how magic works in D&D.
Holga was definitely raging in the two fights where she solo'd 5-6 guys. She just didn't go all anime and yell "barbarian rage" before she started. Rage can look a lot of different ways.
As far as wild surges. Only one seems about right. They are pretty rare in game, in my experience. I'm playing in a party with a wild magic sorcerer right now, we're well into 5th level, and they've not had one even once -- and they roll for it a lot.
For this one, I think the opposite is actually true.
If I recall, she specifically said they managed to best both the Neverwinter guards including the Captain (or whoever with the cool axe) and the undead Thay assassins, so that is why she wanted them in the arena. So she seemed actually impressed with them at that point. She's figuring it's not a matter of just some more random recruits, but some possibly powerful recruits. (She wouldn't have known about Xenk's help with the Thayans, of course.) After all, she figures there's no way they can stop the beckoning death since not even the other zulkirs could, so why let them go to waste when they can be elite zombies. Four more when you are converting an entire city is negligible. But four more who managed to defeat your previous elite warriors? Go for it!