Fans ofDungeons & Dragonshave severalmovies and TV shows geared around theD&Dpropertyto enjoy, but few match up to the fun of playing the games. However, a 10-year-old fantasy movie trending on Netflix offers everything fans of the role-playing game could want. Severalmovies likeDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesdirectly adapt the game, while TV shows likeStranger Thingsalso owe a heavy debt to the popular game franchise.
However, there is also a movie that is actuallybased on aDungeons & Dragonscampaign,and it stars one of Hollywood’s most popular action movie stars. Directed by Breck Eisner,The Last Witch Hunterstars Vin Diesel as Kaulder,a former member of a band of knights who kills an evil Witch Queen, but ends up cursed with eternal life. Now living in the present day, he is a witch hunter and sets out to prevent a war between humans and witches. It isa perfect movie for anyDungeons & Dragonsfanslooking for something entertaining to watch.
The Last Witch Hunter Is Underrated As A Dungeons & Dragons Movie
The Last Witch HunterIs Based On AD&DCampaign
The Last Witch Hunterwasn’t a big hitwhen it was released in 2015. Fans love Vin Diesel in theFast & Furiousfilms, and he has a strong fan base surrounding his Riddick character. However, he has seen more misses when moving away from those franchises. WithThe Last Witch Hunter,Diesel saw one of his better releases, but it still only made $146.9 million on a budget of $90 million (viaBox Office Mojo). However, its 18% Rotten Tomatoes score makes most fans look down on the film.
The Last Witch Hunteris much better than critics made it out to be, especially forDungeons & Dragonsfans.The audience score is still “rotten” at 44%,but that is much higher than what critics awarded it. When looking at the critics who praised the film, terms like “silly” and “mindless” were used, but in a positive manner. The critics who loved it admit it is a bad movie, but one that is a lot of fun. It is also perfect forD&Dfans who understand that the entire film is similar to a massive campaign.
The movie is based on Vin Diesel’sDungeons & Dragonsgame character.
That is because the movie is based on Vin Diesel’sDungeons & Dragonsgame character, who was originally named Melkor (a namehe got fromThe Silmarillionby J.R.R. Tolkien). There was even a video on theGeek & Sundrychannel that showed Diesel sitting down to playD&Dwith the team, and his character was Kaulder, the Witch Hunter (Level 8).
In an interview withScreen Rant,Diesel talked about his love for making the movie:
“If you would’ve told that 17-year-old kid playing Dungeons & Dragons that one day that piece of graph paper with chicken scratch on it and a really pathetic portrait of a - take your pick, a ranger or a magic user or whatever - was going to have a movie like this made, I would’ve thought you were crazy. It’s kind of crazy. It’s kind of insane.”
The Last Witch Hunter Is Easier To Enjoy If You Already Love D&D
There Are Plenty OfD&DEaster Eggs
One of the problems with the reviews is that the majority offilm critics know little about things likeDungeons & Dragons.That gives little reference when seeing things happening in the story that might not make sense otherwise. There are reasons to dislike the movie, with the dialogue and over-reliance on voice-over exposition hurting the pacing. However, forDungeons & Dragonsfans, there is a lot based on the game thatallows plenty of Easter eggs for themto discover.
However, this hurts the mainstream audiences, which explains the extremely low Rotten Tomatoes and audience scores. Even with the Easter eggs and fun callbacks toDungeons & Dragons, the truth is thatThe Last Witch Hunterhas plenty of problems. However, it is nowhere near as bad as its low score might indicate. It is definitely a movie that fans ofD&Dshould seek out to watch at least once.
