I have seen the movie and it was bad. The animated Dragonlance
starts with Tanis the half-elf heading to Solace after many years
away. He meets Flint the Dwarf and Tasslehoff the Kender on the way,
as well as some goblins. The party assembles at the Inn in Solace
where we meet Raistlin (voiced by Keefer Sutherland), Caramon, and
Sturm. There is also Tika, who is drawn quite buxom and wiggles her
rump as she walks. This might have been more effective if the
animation had been better. The quality is somewhere around the
Flintstones level. Fizban the absent-minded wizard (from whom
Fizban of Downland stole his name) is also present.
No sooner do the heroes regroup after years apart than trouble
arrives in the form of Goldmoon (voiced by Lucy Lawless AKA Xena:
Warrior Princess) and Riverwind.
The enlarged party flees Solace and sets out on a quest to recover the disks of Mishakal and thus reintroduce the Gods to the world of Krynn. Along the way, they meet Draconions (I never liked that name or the creatures) that turn to stone when slain. Whereas most of the film is bad animation, the Draconions and Dragons are done in crap CGI. This combination of CGI and hand-drawn animation isn't done well - like in Futurama - but instead only heightens how bad this production is.
There were too many characters for such a short film. None had the opportunity to develop beyond shallow characterizations. Tanis is torn by uncertainty because of his mixed heritage, Raistlin wants power, Caramon is always hungry, Flint is an old complainer, Tasslehoff is happy-go-lucky, and so on. At the end, I didn't care what happened to any of them, and I read the books! Imagine what someone whose only knowledge of Krynn is this.
As one would expect, the movie ends with a gaping opening for a sequel. The forces of the dark goddess Takhisis suffer only a setback by the forces of the good god Paladine. Tanis rejects the elf maid Laurana, telling her that he has fallen in love with a human woman, Kitiara. Though she had been mentioned several times, we do not see her until the film's end where we learn that she is Dragon Lord Kitiara and a minion of Takhisis. Also, the titular Dragon Lance has yet to be shown.
I am doubtful that a sequel will be made. If it is made, I'll make no effort to see it.
The enlarged party flees Solace and sets out on a quest to recover the disks of Mishakal and thus reintroduce the Gods to the world of Krynn. Along the way, they meet Draconions (I never liked that name or the creatures) that turn to stone when slain. Whereas most of the film is bad animation, the Draconions and Dragons are done in crap CGI. This combination of CGI and hand-drawn animation isn't done well - like in Futurama - but instead only heightens how bad this production is.
There were too many characters for such a short film. None had the opportunity to develop beyond shallow characterizations. Tanis is torn by uncertainty because of his mixed heritage, Raistlin wants power, Caramon is always hungry, Flint is an old complainer, Tasslehoff is happy-go-lucky, and so on. At the end, I didn't care what happened to any of them, and I read the books! Imagine what someone whose only knowledge of Krynn is this.
As one would expect, the movie ends with a gaping opening for a sequel. The forces of the dark goddess Takhisis suffer only a setback by the forces of the good god Paladine. Tanis rejects the elf maid Laurana, telling her that he has fallen in love with a human woman, Kitiara. Though she had been mentioned several times, we do not see her until the film's end where we learn that she is Dragon Lord Kitiara and a minion of Takhisis. Also, the titular Dragon Lance has yet to be shown.
I am doubtful that a sequel will be made. If it is made, I'll make no effort to see it.
Dragonlance started as a trilogy. It spawned a second trilogy, and then exploded into a vast array of books and companion trilogies. I read the first two trilogies and a couple of books after that before moving on to Star Trek novels.
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