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A VISUALLY FUN FANTASY ADVENTURE
WORTH “ROLLING THE DICE” ON
Throughout the years, Dungeons & Dragons, the popular fantasy roleplaying tabletop game, has enticed players around the globe for years, spinning their own personal tales with friends of depicting characters, companions, and challenges along the way….via told by the Dungeon Master. The game has seeing a celebratory life for decades, with new and gold generations of “D&D players” commencing into return to the fantasy setting and getting lost within their own magical journeys. Since its initial inception, Dungeons & Dragons has been revamped and retooled as the bestselling role-playing game globally, winning several awards, integrated into pop culture mediums / avenues, and has been translated into many languages. Given its success, Dungeons & Dragons has branched off into other media facets, including live-action feature films with the release of Dungeons & Dragons in 2000. Directed by Courtney Solomon, the film, which starred Justin Whalin, Marlon Wayans, Thora Birch, Bruce Payne, and Jeremy Irons, follows an empress who wishes to get hold of a mythical rod that will help her fight an evil wizard and his desire to command dragons, enlisting the help of two thieves and a mage to quest for the legendary item. Unfortunately, the movie was considered to be commercial and critical box office bomb, with Dungeons & Dragons receiving mostly negative reviews and barely making $33 million against its $45 million production budget. Despite its failures, two made-for-tv / direct-to-DVD sequels were created, with Dungeon & Dragons: Wrath of the Gods being released in 2005 and Dungeons & Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Shadows in 2012 respectfully. Unfortunately, both sequels, despite not being a direct continuation of the storyline of the 2000 film, were met with mostly negative criticisms, which push the interest to see another big-budgeted project of famous role-playing IP. Now, almost eleven years since the last attempt at a D&D film adaptation, Paramount Pictures and directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley venture forth to the realm of swords and sorcery with the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Does this fantasy movie “level up” for a cinematic quest or does it fall flat and derivate like its predecessors?
THE STORY
Years ago, Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) was once a proud member of The Harpers guild, trying to do some good in the realm of Neverwinter. After his wife was murdered, however, Edgin looks to make a fresh start for himself, raising his daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), yet still can’t quite figure out the parental mechanics of it all. Aiding in that endeavor is the barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez), who becomes a surrogate member of the family, with Edgin and her raising Kira together and learning the ways of thievery to make a living. In time, the group grows larger, with the likes of sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith) and trusted companion confidant Forge Fitzwilliams (Hugh Grant) as the team finds mark and enjoy their riches from their plunder. When a mission to retrieve a resurrection tablet goes wrong, the group is betrayed by the Red Wizard Sofina (Daisy Head) as Edgin and Holga are sent to prison for two years, while Forge takes Kira into his care. Masterminding an escape, Edgin and Holga make plans to finish their quest for the tablet, only to learn that Forge was working against them, working to take over Neverwinter and collect its riches, forming an alliance with Sofina, who has her own ambitions and goals to achieve beyond Forge’s wealth. With Fore still holding Kira captive and looking for some revenge, Edgin and Holga reunite with Simon as well as enlisting the help of the shapeshifting support from the druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) as well as the paladin knight Xenk Yendar (Renee-Jean Page) as the group quests for a powerful talisman that could help them break into Forge’s heavily guarded vault and reclaim the tablet as well as save the kingdom from the ruin of Forge’s false façade and Sofina’s vengeful wraith.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
As I’ve stated in some of my reviews, I’ve always been a big fan of all things fantasy. I mean…..knights, dragons, giants, sorcerers, and faraway kingdoms have always been the stuff of pure imaginations for me to daydream about. I mean….being the hero of rescuing fair maidens from a dark lord or stealing treasure from a horde of evil goblins or even riding on the back of dragon to save both king and country. Sounds better than getting up and going to work at a 9 to 5 job….am I right? So, I did like anything fantasy related while I was growing up (and even today), but, to be quite honest, I never go into Dungeons & Dragons, which is quite strange. Maybe because I really didn’t have friends who were interested in the roleplaying game or because I self-conscious about myself and didn’t want to be labelled as a “nerd” at school, but I never really had the chance to play the famous roleplaying tabletop game that spawned a massive franchise for several generations. Although, nowadays, I am just a little bit curious in wanting to play the game. Anyways, my first “introduction” to the brand name was in the form of the 2000 film Dungeons & Dragons and, while I was excited to see the movie, it ended up being a massive disappoint. True, I love the fantasy aspect of it all, but everything about the movie was completely bland, generic, and just fallout campy / corny. I mean….I love Jeremy Irons as an actor (I do, I really do), but his performance in the film way, way over-the-top and the rest of the cast felt “meh”. In the story, while interesting in the ways of fantasy adventures, felt too corny and campy. So, 2000’s Dungeons & Dragons was more of a disappointment for me. I actually did see Dungeon & Dragons: Wrath of the Gods on the Syfy channel when it first premiered, but, much like the 2000 theatrical film, the movie itself feel too corny and campy (and not in a good way), with the TV movie feeling underwhelming and (to be honest) quite boring. I didn’t get a chance to see the third Dungeons & Dragons film, so I can’t speak on that subject, but (from what I read about it) it plays to similar problems and criticisms that plagued the first two. Also, before I forget, I did catch a few episodes here and there from the animated cartoon series Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985) and, while probably a more faithful adaptation that proved to be better than the live-action films, still was a bit forgetful and didn’t have much of an impression on me than other 80s cartoon of its time. In the end, Dungeons & Dragons might not have had a strong representation on the big and smalls screen, the popular role-playing game still manages to make memorable and everlasting impression with players wanting to get lost in their own fantasy world building quests and shenanigans.
This brings me back around to talking about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a 2023 fantasy film and the fourth attempt at a live-action film from this role-playing boardgame franchise. I can’t remember when exactly I first heard about this project, but I think it was sometime last year when it was first brought to my attention that a new Dungeons & Dragons movie was coming out and that it was going to feature a lot of recognizable acting talents involved on the project. Come to think of it…it was a few months before one of the comic cons presentations when I first heard about this project and, given the history of the film adaptations previously made by Hollywood, I was immediately skeptical about this upcoming movie. As mentioned, the cast for the feature did look impressive with the likes of Pine, Rodrigeuz, Page, Smith, and Grant, so without alone….I was curious. In time, the film’s movie trailers began to appear online and in theaters (during the “coming attractions” previews) and I was still of mixed feelings. The footage shown looked convincing enough that a lot of money was put into the movie and looked to be better than what was previously done in the previous Dungeons & Dragons films, but I was hesitant that the movie would be another “botched” attempt of bring the fantasy boardgame to a cinematic medium. So, I did get a chance to see the movie during its opening weekend, which was released on March 31st, 2023. However, due to my work schedule and trying to get some other movie reviews done, I did keep on pushing my review back for this film for quite some time. Now, with many of those out of the way, I am finally ready to share my personal thoughts on this latest fantasy adventure film. And what did I think of it? Well, I was quite surprised and fun and entertaining it was. Despite some storytelling cliches and fantasy nonsensical nuances, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves manages to rise above its expectations and cultivates an engaging and rousing adventure that would delight both causal moviegoers and hardcore fans of the popular game. It may have a few minor faults, but this latest offering from the Dungeons & Dragons series proves to be the best live-action interpretation….and that’s a good thing.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is directed by Jonathan Goldstein, whose previous works include Horrible Bosses, Game Night, and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and John Francis Daley, whose previous works include Vacation, Vacation Friends, and The Flash. Given their history of working together on several projects, Goldstein / Daley seems like capable co-directors and do make the most of their time together (as directors) with Honor Among Thieves being one of their most ambitious projects to tackle. To their credits, the pair actually do a great job and give the feature the necessary boast of fantasy adventure entertainment and just all-around fun throughout the entire endeavor. In truth, the word “fun” (of which I will be using a lot in this review) is the best way to describe this movie’s tone, action, humor, and just all around entertainment value for the picture and I think that what Goldstein / Daley was going for with his ultimate vision for this project. Goldstein / Daley approaches the movie with a sense of fun and lighthearted fun, dispensing of the more “campier” tones that plagued the previous Dungeons & Dragons movie and has a more cohesive mindset of blending comedy moments with character drama and fantasy action. There is still a few cheesy-like scenes here and there, but those moments are for comedic levity and actually do work, which falls in line with more of the classic D&D story quest scenarios that many fans will enjoy. To be sure, this fantasy adventure project isn’t “hardcore” by ways and means to be taking too seriously as Goldstein / Daley don’t make the film feel like a clone of Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings production, with the movie having a more lighthearted tone and feeling throughout. Yes, there is villain scheming and plots to unfold and heroes saving the day, but it has a more “bouncier” tone that’s easy to follow and to digest, despite having some previous knowledge of the popular tabletop board game. Thus, the tone of the movie can be a bit goofy at times, but its still leaps and beyond better than the previous motion picture endeavors, which makes Honor Among Thieves a unique fun and entertaining picture.
Of course, what makes the movie quite fun and entertaining is found within its comedy and action nuances of which the film delivers in spades, laying it all on thick with extra measure of knowing what it wants to be. Basically, Goldstein / Daley’s overall direction for the movie keeps everything a good and equal balance of its various tones and aspects and provides plenty of amusing ways for the characters to comes across situations as well as tackling character development. Naturally, Goldenstein and Daley, who, along with Chris McKay and Michael Gilio, wrote the script for Honor Among Thieves and make sure to find balance between fans of D&D as well as casual moviegoers. The result is something that blends both parties together with longtime fans liking all of the groups of characters that the main company runs into (both good and bad) as well as the scenarios they encounter. In fact, I’m sure fans will like the roster of characters that make up the heroes of the story or rather the archetypes that are fantasy classics tropes, including a bard, barbarian, sorcerer, druid, and paladin. This, of course, plays up the D&D aspect and finding each character overcoming their own personal obstacles as well as usage in the main plot of the feature. For the plot itself….it’s nothing original or ground-breaking, but it is one that is steeped in fantasy-esque lore and storytelling, but the script walks a fine line of providing plenty of familiar tones and plot beats for a fantasy tale as well as speaking to a more modern audience (i.e those looking for some a bit more simplistic and relatable). That particular point drives home the narrative of Edgin’s journey, looking to save the day, but also wanting to get his daughter back as well as his late wife. The comedy aspect in the movie is also quite amusing to behold as, while not the most ingenious writing of comedic gags and jokes, it is still quite humorous as I did find myself laughing more often than what I was expecting it to be. Also, the action in the movie is quite good and helps entice viewers with plenty of fantasy style action of magic usage and weaponry combat; propelling the film’s “flight of fantasies” notion with welcome intent and excitement.
In addition, I felt that the movie’s pacing was pretty spot on and doesn’t get lost by meandering too much on unnecessary details. Like a lot of sci-fi / fantasy world building endeavors, the case of trying to encompass everything can be quite a daunting task, especially when it isn’t that important to the main plot of the story being told. Thankfully, Goldstein / Daley don’t bog the feature down with such frivolities and keep everything moving along at a certain “sweet spot” of pacing. Yes, there are a few expositional dumps here and there (more on that below), but the momentum for the film is quite palpable as the story begins (and progresses) right off the bat and propels forward at a nice and steady runtime, with the feature clocking in at around 134 minutes (two hours and fourteen minutes). In the end, Goldstein / Daley’s efforts help make Honor Among Thieves the D&D movie that fans have been looking for, presenting a narrative that’s familiar and fun, while also having engaging entertainment level that no one will really saw coming…..and that’s a really good thing!
Speaking of presentation, Honor Among Thieves looks quite beautiful and lush to behold, projecting the right amount of fantasy-esque influences and nuances to make it feel real and believable as well as fulfilling the certain type of “flights of fantasy” to those looking for a far off realm of swords and sorcery. Again, unlike the past D&D movies (I don’t mean to keep on bashing on them as much, but there are the one thing I can compare this feature to) the movie doesn’t look “cheap” or on type of shoestring budget, with the movie having a budget of $150 million, which is the usual standards for doing a major studio blockbuster feature. I do think that the movie looks pretty good with the proper usage of production budget being utilized in the film for great usage of background layout and various set decorations to make the movie feel quite “fantastical” within its pseudo-medieval setting. Everything from building architecture designs to set decorations to even costume attire / outfits, everything is steeped in that classic fantasy storytelling feeling, but does it in way that feels more realistic, which may sound like an oxymoron (fantasy being realistic), but it doesn’t feel campy or cheesy like the previous Dungeons & Dragons movies. Thus, the movie’s “behind the scenes” key players such as Ray Chan (production design), Naomi Moore, Cosmo Sarson, and Bryan Venegas (set decorations), Amanda Monk (costume design), and the entire art direction team as well as the entire hair / make-up department for efforts in brining this fantasy world to life with such great details and cinematic believability.
Additionally, the cinematography efforts made by Barry Peterson is great throughout the movie and brings a sense of “grand adventure” within its dynamic camera angles and usage of theatrical techniques to make several scenes come alive with such visual flair and / or dramatic effect. It’s something that was quite expecting from this movie and it delivered in the correct manner. All in all, big kudos to Peterson’s work. Also, the film’s visual effects shots are quite solid in the film, with the CGI wizardry employed to express / display some of the more fantastical moments does lend credence to picture. Of course, it won’t be nominated for any type of awards or “pushes the boundaries” of computer generated imagery in the films, but it’s leaps and bounds to what was presented in the past Dungeons & Dragons endeavors and showcases plenty of great visual effects for this movie. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Lorne Balfe, is pretty great throughout the entire movie. The various composition of melodies and notes is very much dipped in that heroic fantasy adventure motifs and underscore, with the music playing up the questing heroisms to dramatic character moments. Definitely a great film soundtrack; one that I would recommend to all those cinephiles out there who love to get lost in movie’s score.
While I do love this movie, Honor Among Thieves does a have minor points of criticisms that do hold the feature back slightly. How so? Well, for starters, there is the classic exposition dumps that can be felt throughout the movie and does tend to get carried away a bit too much. As to be expected with a large fantastical world, the film’s world building, which I mentioned above is good, yet there are still plenty of expositional dumps that are scattered within the main narrative. It’s not something that one could get lost in, but there are more numerous than what I was expecting. The film’s first act has two or three of them and sort make the movie take a little bit longer than needed to get “officially” started. Of course, this does help explain a lot of the characters and the story being told, but it does get a bit tied up with its numerous expositions plot points. This also comes into play several other times throughout the movie, which does get a bit tedious at times and slows down the narrative slightly as well as drumming up those formulaic and predictable tropes. Even if one hasn’t really read / seen a fantasy story of this caliber, it’s sort of quite clear of where the narrative is going with Honor Among Thieves and it will ultimately end, with not much in the way of surprises. Thus, I would’ve liked to seeing the script shaping of this movie have a bit more gumption or risk-taking to go beyond the parameters of a stereotypical fantasy adventure. What’s presented works, but it would’ve been better for the story (and its characters) go a bit of a different direction in a few occasions of the story.
Another minor problem that I had with this movie is a lot of name dropping that happens throughout the movie, which becomes a little bit like homework to viewers. Naturally, this is usually the case with other big fantasy stories (The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, etc.), with numerous places and names to remember that it comes a bit too much as a viewer is “bombarded” with all of this. So, hearing names like Neverwinter, The Icewind Dale, The Underdark, Baldur’s Gate as well as few other places of important sort of gets lost in the grand scheme of things. However, I bet D&D fans out there love the idea of these name being mentioned in the movie. Of course, this isn’t a type of deal breaker or anything like that, but it might be for someone who does get easily lost with such fantastic names, places, and other important fantasy lore within this realm.
The cast in Honor Among Thieves is pretty good in the movie, with the selected talent of actors and actresses (most of which are recognizable and familiar) has fun playing such fantasy characters, with most (if not all) of the cast are clearly having a ball playing such “theatrically bold” characters from a fantasy world. Of the group, known is having more fun and a blast on this project than actor Chris Pine, who plays the main protagonist character Edgin Darvis, a roguish bard who was once a members of the Harpers. Pine, who is known for his roles in Star Trek, Wonder Woman, and Wish, is quite the capble actor, who is usually (for the past decade or so) being the leading man in most of his projects, showcasing his acting chops whenever he’s on-screen as well as his charismatic bravado. This is such the case with his performance as Edgin, scheming / thieving bard who is quite the “fast talker” and able to generate plenty of laughs along the way. Pine also can demonstrate a few gleaming moments of dramatic tension with Edgin, which does make him likeable and easy to root for in the adventure. Likewise, Rodriguez, who is known for her roles in Avatar, The Fast and the Furious and, Lost, knows how to carry herself in the movie and is a perfect fit for the character of Hola, a no-nonsense “tough as nails” barbican that does have a soft side of few things, but is quite the proven fighter. Additionally, the banter interaction between Pine and Rodriguez is spot on and provides a sort of “close friendship” between their characters of Edgin and Holga. Plus, it’s kind of fun to see such fantasy character like a bard and a barbarian teaming up together.
Behind those two characters, the movie provides some amusement and interest with the characters of Simon Aumar, a half-elf, lowly sorcerer and longtime friend of Edgin and Holga, and Doric, a resourceful tiefling druid who was raised and taken in by the Neverwinter Elves of the Emerald Enclave. Simon, who is played by act Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu), has plenty of humorous lines, with Smith playing the nerdy / sarcasm attitude and persona throughout the movie, which proves to be quite effective in both his character and the actor who plays him, while Doric, who is played by Sophie Lillis (IT and Gretel & Hansel), has the right amount of more straightforwardness and steadfast in comparison to Simon to make the character interesting and fun. Plus, that awakard “back and forth” banter between Simon and Doric is kind of funny to watch.
Perhaps the only one or two characters that I had a problem with (well, partial with) is in Xenk Yendar, a paladin knight who escaped the scourging of lich Szass Tam in Thay and who is played by actor Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton and Roots). To be sure, I love Page’s work (he was great as the Duke of Hastings in Bridgerton) and was quite interested to see what the actor would do in this Dungeons & Dragons movie. Yet, while Page’s acting on the project is perfectly fine by hitting all the right dialogue lines correctly and makes for an interesting character, his involvement in Honor Among Thieves is smaller than what I was expecting, only joining up with the main cast during one portion., which is bit disappointing as his interaction with the rest of the character quite amusing. Still, i do like the character of a paladin knight in the company of heroes and Page did make a memorable impact on the movie as Xander, despite his limited involvement in the grand scheme of the narrative. Additionally, I think that actress Chloe Coleman (Marry Me and My Spy) as Kira, Edgin’s 14-year old daughter Kira, who has been looked after by Forge since her father’s imprisonment, to be a little bit generic in my opinion. I’m not question Coleman’s acting talent or anything like that, but the character of Kira is quite straightforward as the young child who is caught between hero and villain….on who she believes to be truthful. Basically, she’s just there for some conflict plot points and that’s pretty much it.
Speaking of villains, I felt that Honor Among Thieves had a good balance of the different types of evil archetype characters, which are both found in the characters of Forge Fitzwilliams, Edgin’s old companion friend who becomes the scheming Lord of Neverwinter, and Sofina, a deadly and cunning Red Wizard of Thay who Forge joins up with yet still has her ambitions and motives behind the scenes. Forge, who is played by actor Hugh Grant (Notting Hill and Love Actually), has plenty of goofy charm in his villainy (almost like a moustache twirling bad guy) that has good dialogue lines here and there in being amusing (thanks to Grant’s talents), while Sofina, who is played by Daisy Head (Underworld: Blood Wars and Fallen) has the classic and straightforward fantasy villain that many love to hate, with Head having playing such a character that is very steadfast and cold. Thus, the combination of more charismatic (sometimes goofy) Grant’s Forge and Head’s hardened Sofina makes for a wonderful pairing for the main heroes to try and thwart in the movie.
The rest of the cast, including actor Bradley Cooper (American Sniper and A Star is Born) as Holga’s halfling ex-husband Marlamin, actor Jason Wong (The Gentlemen and The Covenant) as Dralas, a Red Wizard of Thay who works with Sofina, actor Ian Hanmore (Game of Thrones and The Awakening) as Szass Tam, a powerful Red Wizard lich and the ruler of Thay, actress Georgia Landers (Casualty and The Girl Before) as Zia Darvis, Edgin’s late wife, actor Paul Bazely (Such Brave Girls and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Porb Piradost, actor Kenneth Collard (Will and Limbo) as Din Caldwell, actor Barry O’Connor (Game of Thrones and Dublin Murders) as Blackwood, actress Haley-Marie Axe (Red Dwarf and Princess in the Castle) as Gwinn, actor Spencer Wilding (Stardust and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Gorg, actress Sarah Amankwah (Black Earth Rising and World War Z) as Baroness Torbo, actor Nicholas Blane (Game of Thrones and The Illusionist) as Chancellor Anderton, actor Bryce Larkin (The Accidental Narco and Vikings) as Chancellor Norixius, and stuntman / actor Clayton Grover (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning and Masters of the Air) as Chancellor Jarnathan, make up the minor supporting characters in the movie. Most of these characters only have one or two scenes in the film, but, despite their limited screen time, they do are played by capable acting talents, with a few having some memorable qualities in their participation in Honor Among Thieves.
FINAL THOUGHTS
To try to clear his names, winning back his daughter, and save the day from evil, Edgin bands together a group of eager rogues and fighters to overtake Forge Fitzwilliam’s plans and the rise of the Red Wizards endgame plan in the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Director Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s film takes the popular boardgame from decades and presents its within a blockbuster framing, which results in fantasy project that ultimately finds its stride in balancing action, comedy, and fantasy nuances. While it may slightly struggle in its plotting and planning with numerous expositional moments and not exactly embracing the story / characters to its fullest extent, the movie still manages to rise above expectations, with special thanks to Goldstein / Daley’s direction, a fun narrative, a stead balance of tones, a great presentation (all the way around), memorable characters, and solid acting talent across the board. Personally, I really liked this movie. It had plenty of charm, swagger, visual dazzlement, and just (as I’ve said many time in this review) just a great fun in its overall entertainment. Yes, some things could’ve done a bit differently in its story progressions and characters involvements, but on the whole, it felt like good old fashioned fantasy adventure film that has plenty of amusement, excitement, and visual flair to keep viewers engaged in this picture. As I stated earlier, I was quite surprised by this movie as it did exceed my expectations….and I think many will agree on that. Thus, my recommendation for this movie is quite favorable “highly recommended”, especially for fans of D&D and those who are looking for pleasing fantasy adventure that’s light on its toes and just (again) is a fun movie to watch. Naturally, the film’s ending leaves the door open for a possible sequel, which is something I would entirely welcome. However, with the film’s box office run not bringing the “big dollar” projections that the studio was hoping for, this idea is a bit elusive. We still might get another Dungeons & Dragons sequel on the horizon, but probably of a smaller scale. Still, if it is like this one, I would still love to see one materialize. In the end, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is rousing and entertaining fantasy adventure romp that delivers on his swords and sorcery mantra and engaging viewers in a movie that is easily accessible and pure cinematic fun for older fans and newcomers to the realm of Neverwinter and the journeys and characters therein.
4.3 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)
Released On: March 31st, 2023
Reviewed On: February 24th, 2024
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is 134 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for fantasy action / violence and some language
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