Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

STORY: A-

The summary sure doesn’t sound like the best comedy to come out so far this year: A rascally Bard assembles a motley crew of characters to help him steal a magical item with the power to bring his murdered wife back to life. Along the way, they battle an evil sorceress, a pudgy dragon, and multiple panthers with venus flytraps spawning from their heads.

The story contains all the action and thrills you would expect from that description. But for all the danger, there’s very little dread. For all the beldam, there's very little blood. The story is plain, simple fun. You never know what’s coming next, but you don’t wait for it with your hands over your face. You wait for it with a giggle and a gleam in your eye.

PEOPLE: B+

A quick character power ranking.

#3: Edgin (Star Trek’s Chris Pine). As he usually does, Chris Pine oozes charm like a friendly, happy go lucky gelatinous cube.

#2: Holga (Fast and Furious’s Michelle Rodriguez). She’s a fighter. She’s a lover. She’s a freaking riot. Holga takes everything people say literally, then comes to the most practical conclusion possible. Her ridiculous ideas make perfect sense to her. It’s her floating confidence in a sea of silliness that makes her performance so much fun to watch.

#1: Xenk (Bridgerton’s Rege-Jean Page) Xenk takes everything literally as well, and like Holga spends much of the movie in a cloud of comical ignorance. But unlike the fearsome warrior, he responds with fascination and long winded, intellectually dense responses. His combination of curiosity, cluelessness, and pompous superiority wins the movie.

FILM NERD STUFF: A-

These days, characters entering CGI created worlds follow the same pattern: 1.) They stop moving 2.) They slowly open their mouths 3.) The camera circles around their faces, which are full of wonder 4.) They say, “Whoooooaa.”

Audiences should always experience the same emotions that the characters are experiencing. Movies lose massive hit points when characters stumble into a CGI world in a state of wonder and amazement while the audience sits there in a state of very-much-not-a-lot-of-wonder and amazement. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I rarely feel the same way they do.

Here’s the cool thing about this movie: none of the characters are blown away every time they enter a new, crazy world. New, crazy worlds are just what their normal world is. Their nonchalance removes my need to feel any awe or wonder. That allows me to kick back and simply enjoy and appreciate these amazingly crafted CGI worlds. In fact, the incredible settings become essential and enjoyable characters.

IT’S JUST A GAME (Elective Class): A

My friends and I measured our summers not in weeks but by our epic D&D campaigns. One day my local library announced they were hosting a massive game. Dozens of nerds like myself would soon be descending upon and conquering said library. My friends and I decided we absolutely must go.

In those days, middle school D&D aficionados usually weren’t the most popular or powerful folks in the middle school hallway. Finding themselves suddenly in a group of peers, scores of them took out their pent up frustrations upon one another with swift and impressive violence. Wizard robes were torn in two. Twenty sided dies poked at least thirty-three eyes out. Chain mail wasn’t enough to keep you safe.

I exaggerate. But it was a violent day. The actual weapon of choice was power trips, which were massive in both number and cruelty. Everyone wanted to prove they were the most ferocious fighter. The most clever cleric. The boldest thief. Or the cruelest Dungeon master. It was victory at any cost.

We bailed quickly. We loved D&D because D&D isn’t about competition. It’s about letting imaginations run loose, working together, and trying to tell the best story (which I most certainly did when I wrote my own module that ended with my friends hurtling through a dimensional portal to an abandoned modern-day amusement park where the final enemy was none other than Freddy Krueger himself).

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves works because it follows the same philosophy. It’s a wild, imaginative ride. You can tell the filmmakers worked as a team. And despite no Freddy Krueger, it feels like the only thing they were concerned with was telling a great story. Watching the movie might not feel the same as playing the game itself, but its similar spirit sends it soaring.

FINAL COMMENTS:

Like people, most movies look outward for validation. They define their success by what other people think about them. That, my friends, almost never leads to happiness.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves doesn’t seem interested in defining its success by how viral it goes on social media or by how many shiny golden trophies it wins or by how many other movies it slays at the box office. You get the feeling while you watch it that the filmmakers decided to define their success by focusing fully on themselves and simply making the most fun movie they could possibly make (while also throwing in a heartfelt message about the importance of the new families you’ll find as you travel your way through life).

I’m sure that long before all the positive SXSW Festival buzz arrived that they knew they had accomplished their goal. I would agree.

FINAL GRADE: A-

Check out The Mr F Digs Movies Podcast (Episode 11, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) for the full story behind the review!