DVD Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
(DVD Dungeons)

This 2023 film was a fun-filled live-action adventure set in the Forgotten Realms world of Dungeons & Dragons, the role playing game system introduced back in 1974. That game has gone through multiple generations of rule changes (currently players are using the 5th Edition of the core game rules), and has had layer upon layer of world-building in the 50 years that players have been playing this game.

 

This is far from the first movie or TV series to be based on D&D. From 1983-1985, there was a 3-season animated TV series (whose characters make a cameo appearance in the new 2023 film). And between 2000 and 2012, a trilogy of live-action films set the universe of D&D was released. Those films had a notably darker tone than the 2023 film.

 

And that, in a nutshell, is the main appeal of Honor Among Thieves. In addition to an absolutely terrific cast, headlined by Chris Pine, this new film has fun with its world…which is what most D&D RPG players are looking for — a fun adventure, with in-jokes and snarky back-and-forth between the people playing the game.

Pine plays Edgin Darvis, a thieving bard, with a heart of gold. Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga Kilgore, a barbarian warrior woman. Justice Smith plays Simon Aumar, an amateur wizard with a serious lack of self confidence. Sophia Lillis plays Doric, a shape-shifting druid. Rege-Jean Page plays Xank Yander, a slightly smarmy paladin who assists the heroes. Hugh Grant is Forge, a con-artist rogue, who teams up with some forces of darkness and opposes the heroes in their quest.

 

As with any good D&D campaign, the group of loosely-associated heroes gather to take on a quest, and must face multiple challenges before a final confrontation with their main enemies. The special effects are great, especially the embodiment of so many classic “monsters” from D&D lore. And the performances from the entire cast are terrific, particularly in the humor they pull out of every single character and situation. My favorite part of the film is when Edgin and company are digging up corpses in a graveyard to make use of a spell that allows them to ask five questions of each dead body — only their ineptitude causes them to waste most of their questions.

 

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves quite literally felt like one of my old D&D group’s sessions (from the 1990s) brought to life. I had a blast with this film, and I think any other D&D player will as well. But it should also appeal to non-gamers, who may not get all the jokes, but will appreciate what a fun, funny, action-packed ride it is!

 

(If you enjoy this, and you can find them, you may also wish to try all the previous iterations of D&D on TV and film.)

 

(As of the writing of this review, in the summer of 2023, the Bennett Martin Public Library has a librarian-run D&D group for teens, Troll For Initiative, which meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month from 4:30 to 6:00. This group is meant for beginner and intermediate level D&D players. Registration is required. If you have questions, please contact Caitlin at 402-441-8575.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!