Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had big shoes to fill compared to its game source material.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves premiered in theatres on March 31st, continuing the trend of movies and tv shows adapted from games. As someone who lives with a gamer who plays D&D weekly and serves as his campaign's Dungeon Master, I was eager to watch the film thinking it was where our interests meet. To my dismay, George was hesitant and almost unwilling because the previous film adaptions of the game were subpar. I never saw the original trilogy because I never had much interest before. Still, after listening to countless adventures and learning more about the creatures and environments, I'm fascinated by the level of creativity involved.
After some convincing, George and I went to see the movie at our local AMC. With popcorn in hand and our seats reclined, we were ready for our first post-pandemic movie theater experience.
D&D Honor Among Thieves stars Chris Pine as Edgin Darvis, a former member of the Harpers turned thief when the Red Wizards killed his wife. After a job gone wrong, he and his best friend Holga Kilgore, a divorced barbarian played by Michelle Rodriguez are imprisoned. In one of the movie's first surprising and hilarious sequences, they escape and try to make amends with Edgin's daughter Kira, played by Cloe Coleman, who was being raised by conman Forge Fitzwilliam, a former ally, played by Hugh Grant. Now partnered with an ominous wizard named Sofina, played by Daisy Head, Forge betrayed the team. With the help of a ragtag team comprised of an unexperienced sorcerer named Simon Aumor, played by Justice Smith, a shapeshifting druid named Doric, played by Sophia Lillis, and an altruistic paladin named Xenk Yender, played by Rege-Jean Page, they go through several missions to save Kira and get revenge on Forge.
Each quest leads to action-packed and hilarious events, including run-ins with the talking undead, a chubby dragon, and deadly jello cubes. For people unfamiliar with the D&D lore, the movie resembles a funny fantasy film with a vibe similar to the frequently memed "tis but a scratch" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There's only a brief moment where the film's role-playing game inspiration is overtly apparent, even for someone who's never played. For fans of the classic role-playing game, there are references to D&D peppered throughout the movie.
With very little knowledge of what goes into a good campaign, I can't speak to how well Honor Among Thieves portrayed the game. If you're looking for the opinion of a true fan, I'm not your person. On the other hand, George uncharacteristically had a lot to say about the film.
"It was good; not sure it was an accurate representation of the game because playing with friends feels a lot more chaotic than the way they did it, but still good. It paid homage to all the different stuff and had some funny moments, and it was entertaining."
For those of you who don't know George, that many positive words regarding a movie are pretty high praise for someone who doesn't watch anything other than anime, a few major franchises, and anything I beg him to watch with me.
Regardless of whether you religiously study the monsters and lore of D&D or you're just learning about the game for the first time, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had moments of laughter, action, and magic that will entertain even the harshest movie critics.
After its theatrical run, Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves will be available for streaming on Paramount+.