Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves pulls from the camaraderie of the roleplaying game from which it’s based to deliver on a fantastical adventure. Game adaptations on the silver screen get a bad rap, as they’re often dismissed as poor storytelling right out of the gate. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an enjoyable adventure with the potential for a charming franchise.
‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ is a high fantasy adventure
Edgin (Chris Pine) is a human thief with an abundance of wit and more plans than he knows what to do with. However, those attributes got him locked up in prison while attempting to steal a rare item, but he’s not alone. He shares a cell with the physically formidable Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), who tried to help him in his quest. Together, they cared for Edgin’s daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), who he’s desperate to return to.
The pair must work together along with a band of unlikely heroes (Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis) to embark on an adventure to obtain a lost relic. It has the potential to be their biggest payday yet, while also rebuilding the family that Edgin once left behind. The road ahead is full of dangers, as they must put together their intellect and various abilities if they hope to come out on the other side in one piece.
Fighting for family in its many shapes
Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley penned a screenplay along with Michael Gilio that never takes itself too seriously. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an ensemble piece that puts emphasis on the game’s adventurer roots. Each of the lead characters comes with their own unique background, strengths, weaknesses, and abilities that they bring to the task at hand. However, there are tensions that run through the group, as they frequently use comedy to diffuse personal struggles.
There’s plenty of action in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, but there’s a family story at its core. Edgin is forced to confront his own shortcomings as a father, which reach back even further than his capture. The world around him perceives him as a selfish criminal with no fatherly intuition, but Holga sees the good in him as both a man and a father. Edgin is fighting for riches, but more importantly, he’s risking his life for an honorable life raising his daughter.
The stakes continue to ramp up as the party encounters greater dangers the further they get in their quest. This fantastical world is monumental in scale, giving a tease of what’s possible across various terrains. However, Daley and Goldstein primarily focus on a select region, allowing audiences to take in its culture and seemingly certain doom that threatens much more than their mission.
‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ is an enjoyable adventure
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a reminder there are still stories in high fantasy worth exploring outside of the likes of powerhouses, such as The Lord of the Rings. It jumps into the meat of its story faster, but at the expense of world-building. There’s a lot of room left to explore these colorful characters and their origins, should the studio decide to transform this into a film franchise of its own.
Daley and Goldstein utilize the budget well, bringing the world to life with solid visual effects and an encompassing use of sound. The environments are well thought out, as different stages of their journey feel real and varied.
As a standalone film, the story is as straightforward of an adventure narrative as they come. It plays by all of the beats that the genre’s fans have come to expect, but it’s the cast’s charm that pushes it through. Pine, Rodriguez, Smith, and Lillis have a natural chemistry that makes them a fun band of characters to watch. Regé-Jean Page and Hugh Grant make for enjoyable additions, giving the film more personality.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an entertaining adventure ensemble romp with heart and humor, even though it plays a bit on the generic side. Nevertheless, there’s an exuberant tone that’s overall successful at drawing in avid players and newcomers alike into its infectious world.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves travels into theaters on March 31.
