DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is an absolute blast for film goers who are fantasy enthusiasts, enjoy a good team dynamic, and who like situational comedy. On top of this the fast pace of the movie is accented by some unexpected camera angles and movements, solid VFX, and a soundtrack that draws and keeps you in the story but doesn’t distract you from it. As I am not a D&D player I cannot say how much more (or less) the movie can be enjoyed by these insiders but there are a variety of nods to distinct D&D history; one of these drew a chuckle from me as the old Filmation animated cartoon gets a fun and funny acknowledgement in the movie. (No spoilers here…but maybe a distraction or two?) The story centers around Chris Pine’s Bard and Michelle Rodriguez’s Barbarian characters and their getting their daughter back while, incidentally, getting rich if they can and perhaps even saving a few thousand people along the way. The camaraderie between the two is easy but much of the humor comes from Pine’s off-kilter delivery of his lines as he interacts with a variety of other characters, teammates and otherwise. The rest of the humor comes from situational absurdities or clever and playful writing that represents how everything won’t go the way of the best laid plans, and there are many of these moments that are fun and genuinely funny. A couple of examples to give you a feel for what I’m talking about and then I’ll be off (and stealing your helpful vote to boot)!In a situational absurdity the band of thieves, through magic no less (!), raise a dead man and can ask him 5 and only 5 questions before he conks back out. The corpse answers the questions they are asking each other about what to ask him, much to their chagrin, and they lose their opportunity. This exasperating learning experience of theirs is full of wit and charm and played perfectly. Though I had seen this in an extended preview previously I still found this wonderfully funny and laughed out loud again. In another scene that represents a best laid plan gone wrong the brigand band makes use of a small portal hidden in a pricey portrait to get into a treasure room—incredibly clever the way it’s carried out—and the guards who drop off the portrait with the hidden portal in it accidentally knock it over so that the portal faces directly into the stone and the thieves are blocked from being able to move into the room. It’s a Murphy’s Law moment but also one that helps demonstrate the thieves’ resolve and ability to work around seemingly insurmountable odds. They are continually put in the underdog position and the audience is then continually able to root for them and truly enjoy their escapades. If there’s real honor among thieves it would seem that this movie has found it. A grand good time! Highly recommended. [theatrical review]

It's good, but fell short of my expectations. I have no idea why this is PG-13, there is no swearing or nudity and the 'violence' is TMNT level (made for kids). In their desire for maximum profit, they have completely dulled the edges of this film. I am not one who needs excessive violence or blood, but a DnD movie needs to have some violence and blood, or it's a kids movie and doesnt live up to the genre. There is almost no actual swordplay, most of the combat is magic. They only show 2 people actually die, the rest are 'vanquished' or 'defeated', there is no blood, even when a character or creature is hit with a sword or axe. Lots of comedy, in fact maybe too much at times. This film fell too short on the part of DnD that everyone loves, the combat. Worth the price but be forewarned, they made this movie so your 9 year old daughter could see it, and it shows.

I was surprised I enjoyed this movie as much as I did seeing as I wasn’t expecting much. The casting was quite good, the characters balanced out well, and the action was great; but the humor bordered on tolerable and the plot predictable. Good news is that this is family friendly: no shielding your kids eyes and ears. Potatoes can be life altering vegetables, apparently. They were the real macguffin in the film.

Considering how bad the Dungeons and Dragons movie from the year 2000 was, and upon hearing a light hearted tone was going to be taken, I was gravely worried about this film. I did enjoy the 2005 Dungeons and Dragons movie Wrath of the Dragon god (it just needed a bigger budget). Normally I like totally serious and “realistic movies.” This movie isn’t the same level of intense reality as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, but it strikes A fantastic balance! It is not silly like Thor Love and Thunder. Again a perfect balance. The story was very fun and enthralling to watch! Chris Pine really put on such a fantastic performance with his character Edgin. His character had such charisma and was very charming. He has plans! Lol! He really filled the role perfectly.Michelle Rodrieguez was excellent as always. I enjoyed Sophia Lillis tiefling Druid character. Her shape changing was fun to watch! Druids in the Dungeons and Dragons game can’t turn into owlbears or change form this much, but it definitely made the movie fun! Maybe there was something specific about her tiefling background (from a specific parent). I always like the white owlbears over the brown colored ones anyway. One of the best facts about this movie is it is based on the campaign setting of the Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood. This is so much better than some generic world. We actually get to see Faerun (the world) of the Forgotten Realms! We get to see the city of Neverwinter and it is spectacular in appearance. Totally awesome was to see the Red Wizards and the Harpers. I of course loved seeing all the humanoid and monster species live on screen. Many of my favorites were here: displacer beast, axe beak (phorusrhacos), rust monsters, a yuan-to with a cobra hood, etc. I enjoyed the black dragon breathing out acid (the dragon could have been made blacker).They made the monsters look really good! Fur and feathers are even harder to do (I am a fan of the classic stop motion films by the greats such as Ray Harryhausen, but I do admit CGI in modern films makes places, people, and animals come to life). As an active player and Dungeon Master for the Dungeons and Dragons game, I really loved this movie. This was a fun story with a set goal. Villains were actually villains! The movie did a perfect balance in showing fans what they would like to see, and showing non players of the game a story they could enjoy. My wife does not play Dungeons and Dragons, but she greatly enjoyed this movie. I hope we get more sequels. Maybe the next film we get more dragons and maybe….. even cobra dragons.