When they escape after a couple of years the pair head to reunite with Edgin's daughter. They find she is with their former accomplice and con-man Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant). Who has also somehow managed to become the lord of a great city.
No good will come of this.
This latest adaptation of the tabletop roleplaying game (and its Forgotten Realms setting) treads a narrow path.
It's funny without being goofy, serious in places without taking itself seriously, references the background material without being too fan-servicey, action filled without being a smashy crashy effects fest and complex enough without needing you to concentrate.
They're all good in it. Hugh Grant turns his smooth talking scoundrel performance up 11 while the two younger party members Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis get to make a mark. Michelle Rodriguez is believable as a barbarian ass-kicker and amazingly Chris Pine gets to be a leader without contributing much (they even mention this in character) and it doesn't ring hollow. He's doing the sort of thing Chris Pratt gets cast for in movies without being an asshole about it.
It rips along and never drags. I'm not sure it portrays what actually happens in a game, but it sort of portrays what people get from a game. If that makes sense.
They've managed to deliver an all-round fun movie that isn't going to piss many people off who know the game or bore many people who don't. Very often when studios do that in adapting an existing property it gets bland, but they've avoided that trap.
It vaguely reminded me of early bits of the MCU where you got to see a lot of craft thrown at adapting a big property and there's a lot of heart visible in the end result.
Recommended 8/10. Given the box office reception I'm assuming there will be more of this and if continues in this vein I'm all for it.