Well, I don’t know what I need to tell you about this movie. Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves is exactly that big and shiny fantasy adventure movie you expect it to be. With a budget of over $150 million, you can expect dazzling special effects, huge sets, and a mildly entertaining story. It would appear that people are finally fed up with all those superhero movies and are eager to jump back into a classical fantasy environment. It just opens up so much more room for familiar elements and concepts than those overblown and generic productions. I’m not going to bore you too much with this one as you already know what type of movie this is and whether you should watch it.
What surprised me the most about Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves was the humor. It wasn’t as forced as I expected it to be. Most of the jokes worked and they weren’t trying to make a comedy out of this epic fantasy adventure. Chris Pine was a good lead and I liked how they didn’t cast familiar faces but younger and perspective actors. Among them, Sophia Lillis (It) stood out with her committed performance. As you would expect, we are going to meet all kinds of weird creatures. For me, the best one was the fat dragon, offering a different take on an age-old monster.
The pacing was also great, something that’s very important for a movie that’s two hours long. You need to keep things moving but don’t get too bogged down in meandering and melodramatic scenes. Still, Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves is a movie with a heart you should definitely watch. Especially if you’re a fan of the fantasy genre. You can also expect a lot more stories from this world as this is just a jumping point for a franchise. First, we will get a television series and then, most likely, a sequel that should premiere in about two years.
We find the bard Edgin Darvis and barbarian Holga Kilgore spending their days in prison. They’ve been caught some time ago after a failed attempt to steal a special artifact. However, they don’t plan on staying there in prison for a long time. Edgin wants to see his daughter again as she’s currently in the care of his thief friend Forge. Both Holga and Edgin do manage to escape this dreadful place but that just means their adventure is about to begin.
I think that the last time I was this impressed with visuals was when I was watching the Warcraft movie some six years ago. Speaking of cool fantasy movies, it’s fascinating to compare these modern ones to the ones from the eighties. For example, just check out Conan The Destroyer and see the differences for yourself. If there are any. One of the more glaring ones concerns the main hero. While Conan was a big and muscular man, Edgin is a bard and a thief who uses his charm more than his brute strength. Although we did get a barbarian with the character of Holga, played by Michelle Rodriguez.
Finally, I just want to add that Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves is a movie that you’re going to like even if you don’t care about the board game. Believe it or not, this is the fourth D & D movie! I vaguely recall watching the original one from 2000 starring Jeremy Irons. The other two sequels were straight-to-video productions.
Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Writers: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Michael Gilio
Cast: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Hugh Grant, Sophia Lillis, Daisy Head
Fun Facts: The movie was in development for ten years, since 2013 and went through numerous changes. The filming was eventually completed in 2021 but the movie wasn’t released for two more years because of scheduling conflicts and the pandemic.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2906216/
