I can't believe how much I enjoyed it!
I'm a huge fan of the fantasy fiction genre but I can't say I enjoyed the first Dungeons and Dragons movie. For me it was a huge let down for what I had expected. Maybe there was just too much to cover, too wide a world and too much opportunity for it to come out childish.
The second movie was a b-movie, without question, yet I found myself liking certain ideas and elements, mostly things like the in-joke of the thief who acts like he knows everything but is just extremely lucky, or the way the heroes organized themselves to kill the dragon, even the difficulty with the arm teleported into a wall. It wasn't a terribly good film but I thought it was much better than the original.
And now the Book of Vile Darkness.
The trailer I saw looked crap to be honest and most showcased the low-budget look of the movie but maybe guerrilla film making suits these guys because the story was good and the theme was great; a darker take on the D&D movie.
My first reaction was that the acting was bad but having watched it I'd say that it wasn't that bad at all, though some of it needed work. I thought the lead was bad at first, but he grew on me. He definitely has some bad lines and his delivery is not always all that it could be but more than once I found myself really getting into it. Some lines, unfortunately, were not written with an ear for how they would be spoken aloud but for every bad line I heard a character utter, I found another than was surprising well put forward. There were moments when I was really enjoying the delivery.
The dark characters theme was a really great idea and the magic seemed to suit the tone perfectly, being subtle in places and heavy in others, without feeling out of place. The filmmakers don't over use it, thankfully.
After the first 15/20mins (after the credits - which were quite interesting presented with the setup), the show manages to find it's stride, much like many of the actors getting into their roles, once the lead falls in the dark band of mercenaries, and after that you find yourself surprisingly enjoying much of it.
The idea of a young man, pledged to an order of withering knights having to join up with the very people he's trying to stop and even become like them to try and find his father was surprising well done and though you can tell by the look (high fps will do that) that it is shot low budget, you can see where the money went by the end. One scene 3/4 of the way through showcases some interesting CGI work that was not only interesting but pretty damn chilling.
I even found myself getting edgy at moments, nervous that the lead might be found out.
Honestly, I thought I'd give it a look in for a few minutes and maybe try to watch it later, I even fast-forwarded a few moments here and there at the beginning (first 10mins after the credits), but when I found myself still watching it by the halfway point I went back and re-watched the start. When I looked down and realized I was nearly finished, I was actually annoyed that it didn't have long to go.
Likely, I'll end up considering it a guilty pleasure, but I already don't like calling it that. Really, it's one of those properties where, if you are at all interested in fantasy gaming, role-playing or reading, something will catch your interest and you'll likely find yourself watching on. I was surprised! Look how often I've said that so far!
All in all, if you like D&D, Descent, Pathfinder or any property like it, I'd advise you to give this movie a chance, and if you take it for what it is you'll probably enjoy it - IMO it easily tops the two previous D&D movies and part of me wishes they had lead with this movie as the first. Most of all, though, I hope that people don't watch it thinking about how bad the other ones were. For ideas, presentation and effort alone it's worth watching.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE though, is that if you intend to watch it with your kids, make sure you've seen it first, it IS surprisingly dark, with adult themes and nudity.
"What the hell is a Fuzzy! And why do they make such good Druids?!" - Spoony