Dungeons & Dragons

As cheap and over-acted as Xena: Warrior Princess, but without the ironic, self-aware charm and campy sense of humor, Dungeons & Dragons represents the fantasy genre at its worst. Vaguely inspired by the medieval-ish role-playing game of the same name (fans will be sorely disappointed), the movie is unoriginal pap about a megalomaniacal ogre (Jeremy Irons, chewing scenery with glee) trying to overthrow a noble young empress (vacant, weightless Thora Birch) who harbors idealistic designs for democracy. Eventually, a pair of adventure-seeking peasant-thieves (Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans) come to the rescue, while inexplicably speaking and acting like wise-cracking reject hipsters from a WB teen show (even though everyone else speaks in fake lit class prose). Greenhorn director Courtney Solomon adheres religiously to Simplistic Fantasy Film clichés, lets logical chasms and gross continuity errors slip by, and pretty much leaves his actors to their own devices--the practical upshot of which is really, really bad acting. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)