Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Druid: What is it, exactly, that you bring to this?
The Bard: I’m a planner. I make plans.
The Druid: You’ve already made the plan, so…
The Bard: If the existing plan fails, I make a new plan.
The Druid: So you make plans that fail.
The Bard: No.
The Barbarian: He also plays the lute.
The Bard: Not relevant!
I must admit that “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” did (at least for me) an excellent job and managed to climb to the top of the best “video game adaptations”! Realistically, this perhaps isn’t (yet) such a flattering title and animated versions of adaptations generally turn out better (like “Arcane,” “Dragon’s Dogma,” “Cyberpunk Edgerunners,” “Castlevania” or “Shenmue”), but the situation has started improving in recent years. Especially with the appearance of brilliant series like “The Last of Us,” “The Witcher” and “Halo” and decent films like “Sonic,” “Pokemon” and “Mortal Kombat” (the old film is a guilty pleasure, and the newest is excellent for the first and last 15 minutes 😅).
The beauty of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is that it, realistically, turned out to be an interesting film that audiences in the cinema really enjoyed… and I don’t mean only the DnD nerds category, but the complete audience.
In translation, if the DnD (Dungeons & Dragons) universe isn’t familiar to you, the film will be very interesting to follow, and if it is… the film will be very very interesting to follow. 🙂
Edgin Darvis (DnD class bard) worked for many years for a semi-secret organization (The Harpers) until an evil Red Wizard, whom he confronted on one of his missions, killed his wife, while their baby Kira (fortunately) survived. Edgin (let’s call him Ed from now on) decides to abandon the hero’s path and teams up with Holga Kilgore (class barbarian), clumsy sorcerer Simon Aumar (class sorcerer) and cunning Forge Fitzwilliam (class rogue), and turns to petty thefts and cons to provide for his daughter (and new friends) a somewhat decent and carefree life.
The newest “mission,” which involved breaking into a small Harper stronghold, among many riches also hid a special tablet (resurrection tablet) that enables a person to be resurrected (but only once), which is Ed’s only hope of getting his wife back. And during this mission they also get help in the form of a mysterious acquaintance of Forge’s, Sofina, who wields some dangerous magic. It’s soon revealed that Sofina is a member of the “Red Wizards,” who joined them with the intention of stealing something valuable from the stronghold. Then an alarm is triggered and guards pour in. Sofina, Forge and Simon manage to escape, but Ed and Holga are captured and imprisoned.
Two years later, Ed and Holga (in a hilarious scene) escape from prison and try to find out what happened to Kira. It turns out Forge has become Lord of Neverwinter and is now rolling in money, and moreover is Kira’s guardian. What should have been a touching reunion of daughter and father (as well as part of the crew) went wrong in the worst possible way. It turns out Forge is an absolute conniving thieving piece of trash who convinced Ed’s daughter that her father organized the robbery in the desire to enrich himself through the “wealth tablet” (rather than stealing the “resurrection tablet” to bring back her mother), and that he devised everything in cahoots with Sofina and “set up” Ed and Holga. He decided that Ed and Holga should be beheaded, and told Kira that these two took the gold and abandoned and betrayed her again, but that “Uncle Forge” is there to take care of her.
With great effort by Ed and Holga (well, just Holga), this duo manages to escape from the city. Time for a new plan! They’ll assemble a new-old team to break into Forge’s vault (by the way, protected by very powerful magic) where among the gold is also the “resurrection tablet,” and thus expose Forge and his lies. They recruit new-old clumsy Simon (because they need someone with magical skills) and tiefling druid Doric (also Simon’s crush), because of her ability to transform into animals. However, for breaking into the vault they’ll also need a special magical helmet that only Simon can master… well, in theory.
And there’s still the question of why Sofina cooperates with Forge all along and why this two-faced piece of trash decided to organize “bread and circuses” for the people of Neverwinter and have everyone come to the arena mandatory to watch the spectacle.
Whether Ed’s original plan will succeed… or whether they’ll need plan B… or plan C… or plan D… or revised plan A… you’ll find out if you embark on the adventure called “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” 🙂
Where to start with impressions? Well, let’s go from the main heroes and actors who breathed life into them…
Edgin Darvis is in the DnD world the bard class. He’s charismatic, charming, witty, a bluffer, resourceful, good-natured, sings nicely and plays lute (and occasionally can whack someone with it), is good at motivating companions and generally isn’t in the front combat lines. He’s constantly devising plans for how something should be done and who does what. He wouldn’t do anything for his daughter and to get his wife back. Chris Pine (“Star Trek,” “Wonder Woman,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) proved to be a perfect fit for this role and I’d add nothing more about his excellent acting in this film, as he excellently balanced humor and serious moments.
Holga Kilgore is a barbarian. These aggressive fighters bravely (and wildly) enter battles, brandishing huge swords and axes, without need for armor, and don’t fear receiving a blow to the head (but will easily smash others’ heads without a problem) and due to growing up in their tribes, are always a bit “specific.” Michelle Rodriguez (the “Fast & Furious” franchise, “Lost”) quite charmingly played the soft-hearted bruiser (especially toward Kira, whom she in some way became like a second mother to, having watched over her since she was a baby), and the scenes when she mentions her ex-husband or has some “comments” regarding Ed are especially hilarious.
Simon Aumar is a sorcerer. These mages most often become masters of magic through a natural affinity and connection with it, not through studying and study (like the wizard class). Weak in combat, these magic masters can completely destroy an opponent from a distance. Simon’s magic is unpredictable and explosive (wild magic) and he’s the proud descendant of confident great magic master Elminster Aumar… except Simon isn’t proud… and definitely isn’t confident… I mean really, the man has such a low level of self-confidence that it leads to hilarious scenes… especially when he misses the magic he’s supposed to “cast” or when communicating with Doric… overall, a quite solid role by Justice Smith (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” “Generation”).
Doric is a druid. This young girl, like other members of her class and race, has the talent to transform into various mythical and non-mythical creatures, making her a good ally for various tasks (whether she transforms into a spy in the form of a mouse or fly, a messenger swift as a falcon, or transforms into an owlbear and becomes heavy artillery for close combat). She’s a member of a group (Emerald Enclave) fighting against the lord of Neverwinter (who wants the forest’s resources for himself), and is quite mistrustful toward people, whom she considers corrupt and liars. A quite good role by young Sophia Lillis (“It,” “It Chapter Two”).
Forge Fitzwilliam is a former rogue. Once a thief and con artist in Ed’s crew, now lord of Neverwinter, Forge is a charming master of manipulation, cunning and craftiness, which at first glance made him seem less of a threat than he actually is (and can then without problem poison or stab someone in the back as needed). Now a respectable wealthy man, who resolves all problems through negotiations and eloquent charming of his victims (with a recognizable smile). In translation, corrupt conniving trash who would sell his own mother (if he hasn’t already done so in his youth). I must say it was a big (but pleasant) surprise to see legendary British actor Hugh Grant (“Notting Hill,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love Actually,” “About a Boy”) in the role of an irritating villain, who with his recognizable British theatricality, accent and sarcastic comments, really gave an interesting contrast to the rest of the crew.
Also worth mentioning are solid episodic roles by Daisy Head (“Shadow and Bone”) as the mysterious and silent Sofina (class wizard), as well as Regé-Jean Page (“Bridgerton,” “Roots”) as a righteous and (mentally) extremely rule-bound quasi-zen warrior Xenk Yendar, surgically removed of a sense of humor and an extreme literalist, who can sense evil (expectedly, paladin class).
A small surprise is also the cameo appearance of the brilliant Bradley Cooper (the “Hangover” trilogy, “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Limitless,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) as Holga Kilgore’s ex-husband (the scene is hilariously charming).
“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” didn’t fail on the visual element either. To depict this alternative fantasy/medieval world (Forgotten Realms), the film was shot at beautiful locations in Iceland and Northern Ireland, so there are scenes where the view literally “pops.” And the computer animation is not to be underestimated either. Caves, magic, magical weapons, druid transformations, a fat red dragon, undead… everything is, as they say, quality done and on point.
The music is also top-notch. British composer Lorne Balfe (who worked on films like “Terminator Genisys,” “13 Hours,” “Lego Batman Movie,” “Pacific Rim Uprising,” “Megamind,” “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” as well as video games “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” “Crysis 2,” “Assassin’s Creed III” and “Revelations,” as well as “Beyond: Two Souls”) said he played “Dungeons and Dragons” as a kid and because of that wanted to be part of the team. Well, when someone loves DnD and is a composer, the chances of missing the mark are slim. And for a bit of psychedelic music, just to spice things up, Tame Impala was engaged, which I think doesn’t require additional explanation… well, I have no idea who that is, I just wanted to seem smart…
One of the important assets here is also the humor. The film managed to weave in all subtle and obvious ways witty scenes and comments by the heroes, which gave the film a cheerful atmosphere, and which, if audience reactions in the cinema are to be believed, really “landed” well with audiences. There are a couple of charming scenes from the film here. Ed’s quips, Holga’s laconic humor, Xenk’s absence of humor, Forge’s cynicism and Simon’s clumsiness, everything fit together nicely. Obviously there was good chemistry among the actors on set. My definitely strongest scenes are those involving the temporary resurrection of the undead and cannibal brains/monsters (sounds terrible, but the scenes are hilarious).
And all this makes “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” an excellent film and a nice herald of spring that’s worth seeing in the cinema, nicely tailored for people who’ve never heard of “Dungeons and Dragons.” And if you truly haven’t heard of DnD before, you can skip the next paragraph.
And for those of you who have experienced some version of DnD, whether tabletop or in the form of video games (or both) and who generally know the rules for playing… everything becomes better by an additional thirty percent for you! Everything becomes even more interesting and meaningful, because the film is full of obvious references and associations to “Dungeons and Dragons” and you can watch everything through the eyes of this world. Every time a conflict occurs, hit & miss probabilities immediately come to mind (like with dice). Simon’s need to attune to the magical helmet which becomes a kind of mini-quest. Offensive spells that are more localized in character (like for duels), appearance of the Mimic monster, the arena which from a bird’s eye view resembles maps from tabletop games, adventures in a cave with various traps, mentions of Waterdeep, Icewind Dale… In fact, the entire plot resembles one big quest of the main heroes that is local in character.
The thing is that the people who worked on the film decided to approach everything carefully and smartly. In a way, with a solid budget of 150 million dollars, making this film was also a kind of gamble for production companies “Paramount” and “Entertainment One.” Namely, some of you may remember that twenty-something years ago the film “Dungeons & Dragons” came out, a complete disaster that audiences buried, and moreover didn’t even manage to recoup the invested money. Then two(!) sequels were filmed that were direct-to-dvd and were also in the category of “bury these somewhere, don’t even put a tombstone so no one knows where they’re buried, and especially don’t resurrect them.” All in all, that trilogy was God save you. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is, in fact, a reboot attempt. If it’s well received by audiences (and earns decently), there’s hope for sequels to be planned.
For now we only know that a series is planned.
As I mentioned just now, it was necessary to approach the making of the film smartly. Decent budget. Check! Find a couple of solid actors and at least one veteran star. Check! Fantasy feel in the style of “Lord of the Rings”/”Hobbit,” Dragonheart or “Warcraft.” Check! Simple plot and not overdoing DnD terminology, so as not to confuse viewers unfamiliar with that world. Check! Enough material for DnD lovers to awaken that DnD feeling in them. Check! Goofy humor. Check! Twisted team of heroes with a sense of unity in the style of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Check!
Now just for the d20 dice to land right… And for the film to earn at least double the investment. Anything below would mean failure.
All in all, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is not a masterpiece. And it doesn’t try to be. This film wants to be entertaining, dynamic, witty, charming. It wants to appeal to people in the “Dungeons and Dragons” world, as well as those who aren’t. And I think it quite nicely succeeded in that.
Watch the film and see for yourselves. 🙂
And you, my dear reader, do the titles “Baldur’s Gate,” “Icewind Dale” or “Neverwinter Nights” mean something to you? They certainly mean a lot to me… 🙂
Trailer | Imdb | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic
Release Date: 2023 | Format: Film | Runtime: 134 minutes
