DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES:
SECOND THEATRICAL D&D OUTING IS A GOOFY FUN QUEST!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** out of 4
PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND eONE (HASBRO)
Regé-Jean Page, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris Pine, Sophia Lillis, and Justice Smith in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The magical world of Dungeons & Dragons hits the big screen (again) in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the new film based on the incredibly popular tabletop role-playing game of the same name from Wizards of the Coast. This isn’t the first time D&D had a theatrical feature release as there was already a Dungeons & Dragons movie released in 2000 featuring the powerful force known as Jeremy Irons in one of the most legendary and entertainingly bad villain performances since Dennis Hopper as Koopa and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze in a giant dumpster fire of a movie that must be seen to be believed.
I should make this clear before we dive into this film, I am not a Dungeons & Dragons expert at all. I’ve never played the game, nor have I watched the webseries Critical Role or the animated series The Legend of Vox Machina.
With that said, I had some friends in school who played it and I knew the basic gist of it, but the only pieces of D&D media I owned were a free comic I got as a kid on Free Comic Book Day one year and the 2000 film adaptation…maybe not the best introduction to D&D, but I digress.
There was a lot of excitement for a new Dungeons & Dragons movie especially after the last theatrical film based on it was a massive critical and commercial failure, though it has gained a small audience as a “So Bad It’s Good” movie in recent years. Sure, the 2000 film was an embarrassing adaptation that’s borderline hilarious, but there is a lot of potential that can be explored in a Dungeons & Dragons movie given how large and imaginative its world is and how loyal and devoted the fanbase is.
This film comes from the screenwriting and directing team of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Horrible Bosses 1 and 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Game Night) and has zero connections to the 2000 Dungeons & Dragons movie or its made-for-TV sequels. For someone who enjoys the earlier film version ironically, I enjoyed this one legitimately.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. I don’t think it’s a great film or anything, but I found it to be a relatively cozy, lighthearted journey that isn’t afraid to be silly without shying away from the slower, emotional moments or charming characters (Which there are plenty of).
The film follows a thief known as Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine-Star Trek franchise, Unstoppable, Wonder Woman 1 and 2) and a band of misfits consisting of barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez-Fast & Furious franchise, Avatar, Widows), paladin Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page-For the People, Mortal Engines, The Gray Man), sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith-Jurassic World 2 and 3, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Ron’s Gone Wrong), and shapeshifter Doric (Sophia Lillis-It 1 and 2, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, Gretel & Hansel) embarking on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, in this case a resurrection tablet that could bring Edgin’s deceased wife back to life after being tragically murdered by a Red Wizard. But when manipulative con artist and former member of Edgin’s crew Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant-Love Actually, Paddington 2, The Gentlemen) rose to power as the Lord of Neverwinter, formed a partnership with a ruthless Red Wizard known as Sofina (Daisy Head-The Syndicate, Shadow and Bone, Underworld: Blood Wars), and has been acting as the guardian of Edgin’s daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman-Avatar: The Way of Water, 65, Pain Hustlers), their heist soon becomes a rescue mission to save Edgin’s daughter and bring Forge down.
The film also stars Jason Wong (Strangers, Jarhead 2: Field of Fire, The Gentlemen) as Dralas, Spencer Wilding (Doctor Who, Jupiter Ascending, Men in Black: International) as Gorg, and Nicholas Blane (Coronation Street, The Illusionist, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) as Chancellor Anderton.
Overall, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is the rare D&D film adaptation that embraces its source material and works as a standalone fantasy-comedy. As previously mentioned I know very little about the D&D lore, but I was able to catch on by the audience’s reactions whenever certain things were namedropped or referenced which clued me in.
But like both Sonic the Hedgehog movies and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, you don’t need to be familiar with the source material to have a good time with this film. It isn’t a direct tie-in with any previous D&D media, it’s a standalone movie that’s doing its own thing and fills newcomers in on everything they need to know about how the movie’s universe works and what the characters’ roles are in a way that’s easy to digest without relying heavily on exposition.
It helps that despite the film’s comedic tone, the story is very engaging, and the characters are quite likable. It’s essentially a heist movie that just happens to be set in the realms of fantasy, but it also has a strong message about family that’s genuinely heartfelt (The proper way to blend silliness and heart, take notes Thor: Love and Thunder writers!).
While nothing complex, the characters are very endearing in this film and basically a Robin Hood and his Merry Men kind of dynamic which I think works very effectively for a movie like this. Through enjoyable banter between the characters, brilliant uses of flashback sequences, and charismatic performances by the cast, you really grow attached to the characters, want them to succeed in their goals, and even feel emotional when something bad happens to them, a significant improvement over the dull and obnoxious protagonists from the 2000 movie.
Hugh Grant as Forge is having a ball with his performance whenever he’s onscreen, almost like the Jeremy Irons of this movie. But given how silly the film itself is, his cartoony nature as the villain feels natural and warranted.
And yes, Honor Among Thieves can be quite funny at times, whether it’s banter between the characters, a funny joke being said, or just well-timed physical slapstick. There’s even a moment that’s eerily similar to the Hulk and Loki confrontation from The Avengers that got a big laugh.
However, the CGI is not very good which I wouldn’t mind as long as they do creative things with it, which they do. From a neat sequence involving Doric shapeshifting into random animals to narrowly escape guards to an arena battle with various monsters and alternating blocks and the most epic arm-wrestling match ever put to film.
If you’re a fan of D&D or just saw the trailer and thought to yourself “This looks like fun” then you’ll probably have a good time with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It’s no masterpiece or anything, but it’s certainly worth a viewing if you’re the tiniest bit curious.
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