Synopsis:
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.
Directed by: John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Written by: Chris McKay & Michael Gilio
Based on: Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons
Starring:
Chris Pine
Michelle Rodriguez
Regé-Jean Page
Justice Smith
Sophia Lillis
Hugh Grant
Chloe Coleman
Daisy Head
My Edition:
Theater
My Thoughts:
I thought Dungeons & Dragons was a lot of fun. It was a fast-paced, but fun and relatively low-stakes adventure movie. It reminded me a lot of the animated series, although with a slightly more playful tone.
Between Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, there was almost no chance I wasn’t going to enjoy myself at least a little bit. Those two are so damned charismatic it kills me. I’d watch either of them do just about anything. And Dungeons & Dragons was certainly no exception to my ‘watch them in all the things’ rule.
“Trust me, I’m indispensable.”
If you want some gatekeepy “High Nerd” type of shit, I’ll tell you right now that this is probably not the movie for you. But if you, like me, value having fun above being perceived as the most serious nerd in the room, you’re probably going to enjoy Dungeons & Dragons at least a little bit. It feels like it’s more concerned with being a fun D&D-related tale (with some fun, hard nods to not just existing game lore, but also the animated series) than it is with alienating people who are not super familiar (or maybe not familiar at all) with the existing property. You don’t need to be bathed in the blood of nerd culture to have fun watching it, which I think is cool.
To be totally honest, I find like 96% of hardcore fandom not just exhausting, but actively infuriating. So to see this movie play itself so earnestly as an accessible, fun adventure-fantasy with distinctive D&D flair was nice.
Although if I had to pick one thing to gripe, it would be that I found the villains to be a bit unbalanced. I mean, the chief villain, the Red Wizard Sofina (Daisy Head) plays second fiddle to Hugh Grant’s Forge, which is a damned shame. And actually, now that I’m talking about it, Edgin (Chris Pine), is about the least useful Bard you could possibly imagine. He’s basically just a glorified planner. Although admittedly a very likeable planner.
Rating:
Not the strongest story ever, but wins a lot of points for ensuring it is accessible without losing heart.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Directed by: John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein US Release Date: March 31, 2023 Paramount Pictures PG-13 134 Minutes Movie Website
