Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Any tabletop gamer or video game players have definitely heard of Dungeons and Dragons, or even by its concept of having a party that consists of individuals with different specialties. Loosely based on the tabletop role-playing game of the same name created by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax in 1974. This isn’t connected to the previous Dungeon & Dragons trilogy which ran from 2000 to 2012, and is considered a reboot of the franchise as a whole. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, one of the best that came from them was Spiderman: Homecoming, a wonderful blend of action and comedy, which also can be seen here, but leaning more on comedy.

Characters

A ragtag bunch of misfits coming together to loot, which was once their sole purpose. But was soon betrayed by one of their own, Forge Fitzwilliam, played by none other than Hugh Grant, which I’d say was a very fitting part for him. Most, if not all, of the main group of characters here were also based from the game itself.

Edgin the Bard
Holga the Barbarian
Simon the Sorcerer
Doric the Druid
Xenk the Paladin
Forge Fitzwilliam the Rogue

• Edgin, played by Chris Pine, had little to no abilities, aside from the fact that he makes most of the plans, the other thing he can do is play his Lute. The usual Bard abilities weren’t represented here as much, like enhancing the party’s strength or defenses and whatnot. But Pine’s default charm draws the audience to him, and that makes him worthy of being the main protagonist, despite his lack of talents in the film.
• I like how they represented a Barbarian here, they chose to have a female Barbarian, as opposed to the usual male brute, muscular, Kratos-looking guy. Michelle Rodriguez did a fine job being hard, firm, and battle-ready, and her use of a battle axe was a cherry on top. Her fight scenes were actually great, I wasn’t hoping for much from her as I got used to her being just behind the wheels.
• Justice Smith went under my radar and this is my first experience of seeing him on film. At first I was skeptical because of how underwhelming young actors are nowadays, well he’s not that young, but still, you guys get my point. He proved me wrong, did a brilliant job of being a seemingly unreliable-novice sorcerer. Also had some funny scenes which were actually funny.
• Sophia Lillis was good being the druid, but from my point of view, her lines were limited, and didn’t make much of an impact, performance-wise, but still worthy of the role.
• Xenk, the Paladin, who could do no wrong and was humorously portrayed as such. Played be Regé-Jean Page, his character was straight and upfront with whatever he was thinking, but his heart was always in the right place. Even though his screen time was short, he played a major role for the story, ultimately helping the team achieve their goal by leading them to the Helm of Disjunction locked inside a dungeon.
• Forge Fitzwilliam, the Rogue. Hugh Grant was the perfect choice for this role. His charming personality was a great asset to being a conman of the group. Though until the end, it didn’t feel like he was a bad guy, regardless of all the things he did wrong.
• The guest appearance of Bradley Cooper was a nice and funny surprise. Also his role as halfling and Holga appearing before him like a giant.

Effects

The CGIs of monsters and magic were also great, very fantasy looking and captures that in-game world. The pudgy dragon in the dungeon was awesome, a funny design yet destructive, was also based on the game’s design of the creature. Imagine if we see that dragon in one of those cube boxes in Cabin In The Woods (2011), that would’ve wrecked the whole movie.
The magics used were what I actually hoped I’d see in a D&D type of scenario. The water magic, teleportation portal, and the offense magics of Sofina.

One of the things they did that I love was how they showed Doric the Druid’s transformation, specially when Doric infiltrated the castle and was chased down by Sofina and the guards. Love the transitions that they did.

Unlikely sequel

Unfortunately, a sequel for Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will unlikely happen anytime soon, either it will be direct straight to home streaming via Netflix, or the big screen but on a smaller scale. They had an estimated budget of $150 million, and made approximately $208 million worldwide.

Conclusion

Even if you’re not a fan of the genre or unaware of the game’s existence in general, it will still be a fun watch. An action packed comedy with monsters and magic; village, dungeon, and castles for the whole family to enjoy.