Movie Review: DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES was a movie I got a special screening for due to being an Amazon Prime customer. It was the first time I'd been in a theater since Covid-19 and I was iffy about the whole ordeal. As a lifelong Dungeons and Dragons gamer, I was pretty sure the movie would be terrible. I watched the original in theaters, all of the sequels, and also the tragic failure of the animated Dragonlance cartoon.
I've never been happier to be wrong.
The premise is a former member of the Harpers, Edgin Davis (Chris Pine) and his partner, Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), are imprisoned in an Icewind Dale prison. They were captured after trying to rob a Harper vault of a resurrection tablet to bring back Edgin's dead wife. After escaping, they find their old partner, Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), has adopted Edgin's daughter, Kira, and is now the lord of Neverwinter. Forge has poisoned her mind against her father and has no intention of letting her go. He also betrayed them in the first place during the heist and tries to have them killed.
Understandably vexed by this betrayal of an old friend, Edgin and Holga decide to rob the Lord of Neverwinter blind before kidnapping Kira back. They get their friend Simon Aumar (Justice Smith) and a druid named Doric (Sophia Lillis) before going through a variety of small adventures in order to get what they need for the heist. The only problem is that Forge isn't just protected by guards but has managed to enlist the services of a Red Wizard of Thay, Sofina (Daisy Head), who has her own plans for the city.
The movie has strong Marvel Cinematic Universe energy and there's a laugh a minute. If not all of the jokes hit, it's not for lack of trying. That doesn't mean the movie is a comedy but it's definitely a lighthearted adventure with the protagonists being a lovable band of misfits. Oddly, my favorite character in the movie is probably Forge, who is delightfully evil and smug throughout. He's the sort of bad guy that you would happily see show up in the sequel.
I think what makes the movie work so well is that it really does make use of the setting of Toril. It's set in Icewind Dale with a large chunk of the movie taking place in Neverwinter. There's references to Elminster, the Harpers, Red Wizards of Thay, and more but it's not just stating these things exist. They actually play a role in the story and are integrated into the plot. This isn't just set dressing and I appreciated that. Szass Tam may not be a deep character as the undead Lich King behind it all but that's who Szass Tam is.
This is definitely a movie you will enjoy more, the more you know about Dungeons and Dragons lore. If you're an enormous nerd with a decades long franchise relationship, it's going to be a lot of fun: "Oh, hey, that's an owlbear!" I can't turn off the endorphines that flow to my brain when I see something I recognize. I've seen some people complain that Doric isn't red skinned or blue skinned like their version of Tieflings but that's the reverse of these kinds of references. People keep forgetting that not everyone does them like you.
In conclusion, I really liked this movie and think that it has broken the curse of the D&D adaptations. Would I have preferred them to adapt The Legend of Drizzt? Preferrably animated? Yes. Would I have preferred a live action Dragonlance movie? Or, hell, Azure Bonds? Also yes. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate the movie for what it is.
