Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Film review

Redemption, resurrection, mystery, sorcery, beasts, sword fights. Movies have served as a portal of escape into worlds far from the ones we know too well. The Michael Jordan of fantasy role-playing games, Dungeons & Dragons, returns to the silver screen with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, hoping to give the game a better just-due than the previous films of the franchise.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the plot of the movie

Apparent fans of the game themselves, directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, (Horrible Bosses 1 & 2, Game Night, Spider-man: Homecoming) stick to their roots and play to their strengths, weaving humorous tones and witty dialogue to balance the pace of the story, while also shaping the film to be more palatable to those whom never dabbled in the game, (like this writer here).

We find our heroes, Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), plotting their escape from a frosty snow-ridden prison. The opening scenes of the artic landscape seem happily reminiscent of opening to The Empire Strikes Back, or even the battles north of The Wall in Game of Thrones.

With their newfound freedom, they learn that Edgin’s daughter has been taken under the wing of the former partner-turned grand betrayer, Forge, played perfectly by Hugh Grant. Along with feeding her lies about her father and his own agenda, Forge has also stolen a coveted relic of great powers. Edgin and Holga set off on a grand quest to rescue his daughter from her seemingly benevolent captor, and reclaim the relic for good intentions, absorbing more willing comrades to aid them in their adventure

The comic-relief of the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 

The comic-relief is much needed to offset the condensed action and wizardry. While most of the cast caries this weight well, Grant is the highlight as the perfectly menacing and hateable villain, whose slick remarks make you wish he got more screen time than he did.

Taking the page out of some art-house director’s book, there is a great long, one-shot scene where the character Doric storm’s Forge’s castle on a recon mission, adding a quality element of filmmaking to an otherwise action-based film.  While there are some scenes that naturally capture the rich country sides and thick forests, bringing a visual depth to the picture while enriching the story, there are just as many that predictably rely on CGI, rendering the movie almost one-dimensional.

The climactic battle-scene in Forge’s coliseum, where combatant warriors compete in high-stakes games of life and death, comes across visually flat, deflating it’s intended impact.  At times the picture moves so fast it’s hard to foster investment in any character development.

While it’s assumed some D & D purists may debate over the true-to-form cinematic incarnation of the game, the film certainly intends to cast a larger net for movie-goers of all types. If you’ve merely dipped your toes in the water of The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves may not offer enough to reel you all the way in as a viewer. But, fans of the game and fans of the fantasy genre in general can find themselves delightfully pleased as they join in with the laughs, cheers, and claps with the rest of the audience.