REVIEW: ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ is a successful dice roll
Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Chris Pine, and Sophia Lillis appear in the latest D&D film.
I’ll admit that I’m no expert on the D&D franchise. Other than casual references in Stranger Things and other media, I couldn’t tell you what makes sense or not in an adaptation of this material. But the fact that I still had a good time in the newest movie based on the tabletop game - without much of the context - suggests that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves succeeds on its own merits. It doesn’t require total immersion in the lore, and that’s more than you can say about a lot of geeky series these days.
As a film series, D&D hasn’t enjoyed the kind of mainstream success of the past decades of superheroes, high fantasy, or sci-fi. A theatrically-released film in 2000 with Jeremy Irons led to a made-for-TV sequel in 2005 and a direct-to-video follow-up in 2012. It’s rare to see positive mentions of these adaptations, and most of the love for the franchise still rests in the game nights that people organize in real life.
Perhaps it’s fitting that John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the directors helming Honor Among Thieves, found their way to this project. They’re the duo responsible for 2018’s Game Night, one of the best studio comedies of the past 10 years. Game Night generally took more inspiration from the murder mystery genre than any kind of sword and sorcery realm. But it proved that Daley and Goldstein can craft memorable characters and moments that are remembered fondly years later, especially a scene featuring some conflicting reactions to someone getting sucked into a plane’s engine.
Regé-Jean Page aids the team during a quest to an underworld-like realm.
Honor Among Thieves wastes no time introducing us to its central pair: Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez). Edgin is a former secret agent who renounced his oath of service when his wife was murdered by one of the evil wizards he helped to capture. Holga is a barbarian type, cast out of her tribe for wanting to marry an outsider (just wait for the cameo on that one). The two have fallen into a life of common thievery, but when one of their collaborators (Hugh Grant) sells them out and kidnaps Edgin’s daughter, Edgin and Holga decide to put together a team to rescue her - and pull off a legendary heist at the same time.
Along the way, we meet plenty of other pitch-perfect characters: a self-doubting sorcerer (Justice Smith), an elfin shapeshifter (Sophia Lillis), and a skillful knight (Regé-Jean Page) who is the definition of the “lawful good” slot on a D&D character alignment chart. Each of them help set up banter and visual gags that keep the pace moving, so that the movie’s 2 hours and 15 minutes don’t drag.
In terms of character development, the movie doesn’t do anything earth-shattering. Edgin is a typical Han Solo type, being brought around to care about a cause bigger than himself. His team all have their own traits and motivations, as well. But Daley and Goldstein’s grasp of the material and the willingness to treat the fantasy setting with a balance of respect and satire helps the movie achieve the sense of a bunch of friends playing the game together. It’s a tricky line to tread - no one wants a D&D film that’s embarrassed to be based on D&D.
I half expected some kind of framing device like The Lego Movie, where we eventually meet the people bringing the story we’re watching to life. The fact that the movie has a “story by” credit for Chris McKay, co-director of The Lego Batman Movie, didn’t dissuade this idea. But the movie is probably stronger for allowing this sandbox of fantasy tropes to exist on its own.
Hugh Grant backs up the supporting cast as a conman who gains control of a city.
Not all the relationship moments land. The rift between Edgin and his teenage daughter is a little forced, and the team’s faceoff with an evil sorcerer woman at the end is visually thrilling, but dramatically inert. It’s easy to forgive these weak spots, though, when the rest of the production looks this good and gets so many other parts right.
My hope is that this reboot revitalizes the franchise enough for a sequel, but not in the usual sense. Rather than follow the same group, have them appear in cameos in the next one, and introduce a new band of rogues. After all, there’s a lot of characters sharing game boards and enduring dice rolls out there - maybe some of them can get a big-budget treatment, too.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves gets three stars out of four.
Stray thoughts
Kudos to the filmmakers for all the weird races and creatures. Underworld brain creatures, bird and cat people, even obese dragons all make the cut.
Can Regé-Jean Page be named the next James Bond yet?
It’s always nice to see Hugh Grant playing another cad.