If the first D&D movie had been half as good as this one, well, I might actually watch it again.<br /><br />A little about me - I'm married to a long time gamer - he's got the white box set for D&D and has been playing for as long as he can remember. I know a bit about D&D just from being married to him, but I'm not a player.<br /><br />The first movie was horrible. It was poorly paced, it was not well written, Irons was just awful and Birch was so amazingly whiny that I was rooting for her death. That's just as a movie goer. My husband was just speechless - for about 5 minutes. After that I got the whole rant, but the thing I remember most was how incredibly annoyed he was that throwing a rock would fool a Beholder. Heh.<br /><br />This movie was great. It was fun, there was adventure, there were traps, there were dragons, there was a lich (even I know what a lich is). The characters were engaging and the actors were good enough that I believed them in their roles (something else the first movie was lacking). I liked the older cast, too. That was a nice change. I just couldn't have believed that untried adventurers would be sent on such an important mission. So as a non D&D fanatic, I enjoyed this movie.<br /><br />My husband was thrilled enough that he did not nit pick it to death, a bad habit he has during most movies. He was very happy to have D&D well represented in the movie, was pleased with the over all effects and the fact that the cleric didn't use edged weapons, that the elven wizard couldn't cast everything just because she was a wizard...and more things that I can't remember off hand.<br /><br />This movie was good fun and kept my attention - something that is quite difficult sometimes. The pacing was great, which helped a lot. The characters were likable and believable and the story was good. I'd recommend this one without reservation, where as I'd never EVER recommend the first movie.