Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness (2012)

Too much of everything

Absolutely the worst movie.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Dungeons & Dragons 3 – Book of Vile DarknessD&D has grown adult, and the third movie is finally mature and courageous enough to dare using protagonists who are antiheroes at best, or hellbent villains at their worst. Once again the lower- budget movies' value has to do with its authenticity to the roleplaying game it IS attached to. To give an example to readers:The wizard of the group, actually a wizard by base class and vermin lord by prestige class, is really inspired by a class which the supposedly evil Book of Vile Darkness allows roleplayers to create. Seemingly it is based on the outdated 3,5 or 4th edition of the game-books.The Shadakai Witch then, just to mention one special aspect, is able of healing magic, as is shown in the movie. This is crucial for a disciplined witch is much more subtle than another religious cleric all too eager to pester absolutely everyone with another sermon about why his or her deity is the best choice... My hint is comparing her to the main evil witch of 'Hansel & Gretel – Witchhunters', as that one was well-performed, and showing a veteran, no-nonsense wicked evil lady.Just as a paladin does not start all-flawless among the do-good- meddlers, so does evil not automatically mean perfection either. Roleplayers of D&D call it levels. Levels of Experience, which is in example earned by adventuring and vanquishing foes, means growing levels of competence. To give some well known examples: 1: Gandalf from Lord of the Rings was a wizard. Gandalf the Grey was a lower level than Gandalf the White ( or Black, if Evil), for the change of robes signaled it. 2: A boyscout age 12 could be considered a ranger level 1, but to form guys like Aragorn, Lord of the Rings, or Jon Snow,Game of Thrones, it would need a progressive development which roleplayers would consider the accumulation of advanced levels of experience in the ranger character class. 3: In real life a paramedic is a less competent healer than the accomplished doctors, still both could be considered to be of the healing class. The details then come due experience gain which is symbolizing the increasing of competences (and special effects for movies). This movie is mostly for adults. It gives hints at sex, murder for fun, personal gratification & profit, uses the concept of 'Liquid Pain' from the written Book of Vile Darkness, and uses monsters, like the Undead Child, to grow beyond & above the monster-slayer stereotype. Technically it remains a lower-budget work, still the actors are motivated, aware of what role they play and doing their best in a humorous yet darkly crueler way. It makes this movie outstanding among roleplayers, as 'good-guy charades' are considered a more proper, but actually only more stupid, moralist & hypocrite way to make use of Dungeons & Dragons. Context: A knight who was just a little bit befuddled by his supposed deity's reaction to his dedication awakes left for dead and has to face the selfish task of rescuing his father along with the chance to fight some real Evil. Contrary to dumbest and most crude approach he cannot just draw his sword and make all the bad guys jump into it. Henceforth he has to learn how to infiltrate a villainous group of evil adventurers, play along with their goals, and ultimately remember his real priorities. To the benefit of the audience this is achieved without making the other characters ill- portrayed or suppressed! A Non-Roleplayer can rightfully vote it 0 to 10 by taste. But as one of the movies blending acting and roleplaiyng into one the achievements, many unique and first time dared, should result in a rating of 6 to 10. My class-choice by book? Base Class: Wizard; Prestige Class: Diabolist or Disciple of Mephistopheles. ;-)

I have read a number of reviews of this movie that seem to judge the film simply by its limited budget.Personally, I have watched this move over and over several times and I rate it the best of the three. Two was pretty good and one just showed how much a plentiful budget does not make a good film.The acting is universally sound and in some cases very good indeed. In particular Barry Aird's necromancer and Lex Daniel's assassin are very entertaining. The two highlights are Aird's character quoting Mark Twain (he doesn't reference him directly of course) and Daniel's character explaining his touching religious devotion. That speech has resonated with me since I first saw the film, and you to may also find yourself reflecting of how many of the under-people you would like to liberate from the celestial grind wheel.If you're a fan of this genre (fantasy) you will very much enjoy this film which benefits greatly from being set in an evil-aligned adventuring party.Strongly recommended 'over a beer' viewing.

Much closer to the soul of the game play than the other two movies. I loved it. I just wish Ed Greenwood and R. A. Salvatore would hook up with someone huge in the movie business and make the Forgotten Realms come to life. Until that day happens, it's nice to see the concept morph into better and better movies. Vin Diesel, if you read this, I think you might be able to make this happen, if you really want too. Just an idea, oh, and it would be really cool if you were in the "movies" too. Charlie Sheen would make an awesome Elminster. If he can grasp the paralleled pieces of his his life and Elminsters, it would be a cinch for the role.

Considering the previous two failed attempts at making D&D movies, I was positively surprised at this one. Having followed the Book of Vile Darkness promotion a year past, I knew that the movie was in production for quite some time, along with its source material (the D&D 4th Edition Book of Vile Darkness for those wondering), and there are several references in the movie that will appear more than anything as name dropping or inside jokes - which can be a good thing, provided that you know what is being referred to. To be precise, the Heroic and Paragon tiers are mentioned in regards to magic armor, and the main character also encounters thassil root poison, and both Vicious and Vorpal longswords, along with a Bag of Holding (the last of which is used in a manner that most seasoned D&D players would be proud of). Furthermore, both the sun god Pelor and the Shadowfell, the D&D realm of the dead (along with Gloomwrought, the closest thing it has to a capital city) are mentioned. The inclusion of shadar-kai and a goliath instead of the typical elves and dwarfs is also a nice touch, and in line with this, it breaks with many typical fantasy tropes.As mentioned above, knowing the source material beforehand can be a boon in the case of this movie, especially since the Book of Vile Darkness in its previous edition was suited only for people aged 18+ because of its... well, "vile" contents, along with a focus on playing evil characters that is unheard of elsewhere in typical D&D, where the player characters are usually the heroes - and the main character in the movie faces some of the same moral quandaries that are mentioned directly in the D&D source material. There is also the fact that the main characters mention a red dragon at some point in the movie that is clearly not a dragon, but a Nhagruul Dragonspawn, and is thus again tied to the Book of Vile Darkness supplement for D&D 4th Edition. It is strange that this isn't mentioned at all in the movie, however.The acting isn't the best that one could want (maybe except for the Vermin Lord, who fits the bill perfectly) and some of the lines are somewhat illegible at times, but I would praise the story in that it both manages to feel somewhat "realistic" (in-universe at least) while staying interesting and entertaining.All in all, I would consider this movie a success, in that it was both entertaining and thought- provoking, the latter of which especially with the aforementioned moral quandaries in mind. It's probably not for everyone, but I would recommend it to any somewhat seasoned D&D player, along with anybody interested in a fantasy film a bit darker and grittier than the usual.