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I think it deserved to do better at the box office but I disagree calling it that good, primarily by counterexample (which I'll get to). It had an entertaining cast, an entertaining plot and some good twists but it wasn't unpredictable and the audience it was best for was the audience who recognised the constant homages to the experience of playing DnD - my primary example is the scene of the main character breaking out of prison completely unnecessarily.
The movie was made by Hasbro to sell dungeons and dragons (which, to be fair, you do mention) and I think as a fan of the ttrpg it did a great job of capturing that experience as a movie. I can't call it the film of the year though, let alone the decade.
What makes you say it's better than, for example, Blade Runner 2049 or Avengers Endgame, both being movies similarly sprouting from established brands? I would argue Dune is significantly better (talking about movies with a brand) also.
Outside the established brand space, you see movies like JoJo Rabbit, Marriage Story and Power of the Dog. All of my examples have been off arbitrary top 10/top 50 lists of the last 5 or last 10 years and I'm honestly curious about why you think the DnD movie beats all of them?
Edit: in saying that, upvoting because this is almost certainly an unpopular opinion
Bladerunner was pretentious film school drivel. It's a montage of poetic, symbolic imagery that makes no sense as an actual narrative. Dune was far, far superior because the mythic reality is tied together into a classic hero story, and the whole thing is fantastical enough for Villaneuve's whole thing to work. I can't wait for the second one.
Avengers Endgame was just more of the same MCU formula, trotting out the usual tropes on an ever-increasing scale. Pretty good, as far as all that goes, but really devoid of any tension or depth, IMHO. Guardians 1 is a far better film.
As for those others, I haven't seen them, though they're all on my list. I'm open to any of them being better... of course my opinion will be limited to movies I've actually seen. But aside from glib hot takes, there's not much meaning in comparing completely different films. My essential point is that DnD is an utterly superb movie, and I'll maintain that in its freshness, surprising depth, and comedic sparkle, it's at least the best movie of its kind in a long time.
Completely agree with your last two sentences, mostly. I can't personally call it the best movie of its kind just because I don't watch a lot of movies in the same vein. But you're right that it's hard to compare across genres, and the movie was definitely far better than I expected. I think the last couple of years have generally had some great releases.
It's kind of a golden age for cinema, and especially for TV (episodic long format video). Good times!