Review: "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:" A Flawed But Fun Fantasy Ride

Nearly half a century after the game's initial release, D&D finally has a worthy movie.

April 16, 2023

In 1974, TSR, inc. released Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy roleplaying game. It got produced on a budget of only $2,000 and was rudimentary in conception, based upon prior miniature wargames with which TSR banked on potential players being familiar. Despite the bare-bones construction, the game caught on with college students nationwide and quickly grew into a phenomenon whose sales exceed $1 billion.

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As with any long-standing institution, Dungeons and Dragons has a widespread and passionate fanbase, who were no doubt disappointed when, 26 years after the game’s initial release, director Courtney Solomon debuted with his film of the same name, a passionless project that got critically panned and bombed at the box-office, grossing $33.8 million against a $45 million budget.

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The chances of one day seeing Dungeons and Dragons get the same treatment as The Lord of the Rings would receive one year later were dim. It would be dishonest to say that the 2023 reboot reaches those heights, but audiences got this one wrong: Dungeons and Dragons finally has the movie it deserves.

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The story follows Edgin Darvis, a bard and former member of the Harpers, an order of peacekeepers sworn to uphold the realm’s sanctity while "asking for nothing in return.” As he assesses life with his wife Zia and newborn daughter Kira, he questions the latter part of his oath.

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After the followers of evil Red Wizards murder Zia, he teams with barbarian Holga Kilgore and forms a band of thieves with sorcerer Simon and rogue Forge Fitzwilliam. The foursome eventually joins forces with Sofina, a friend of Forge’s, to raid a Harper stronghold, which only Edgin can enter. Edgin hopes to secure the Tablet of Reawakening to bring his wife back from the dead.

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Unfortunately, the plan goes awry, and Edgin and Holga get captured and imprisoned. After breaking out two years later, the pair set out to reunite with Kira, who they left in Forge’s care. Upon arriving in the kingdom of Neverwinter, they discover that they must seek revenge to save Kira and defeat Sofina.

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It’s not the most complex story, an odd choice considering the usual intricacy of Dungeons and Dragons, but it understands what it means to be a movie. We have seen fantasy flicks get narratively layered beyond the perceptions of the genre, but sometimes it does more to keep things light than dig for the unnecessary. After all, no matter how complex people make the game, the commonality livens the experience; everyone plays a role, shapes the game, and rolls that infamous 20-sided die. Capturing the spirit of that experience means less is more.

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Of course, it is entertainment, so “less” must be more than just a subdued aim at adaptation. Dungeons and Dragons creates a compelling fantasy aesthetic, filled with cutesy cottages, spooky graveyards, massive stone palaces, and lush forests. It possesses attention to detail beyond the fictional creatures and magical displays, offering a world more compelling than the typical parades of CGI the genre often gives.

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Unfortunately, that same creative essence didn’t leak into the story. The elementary nature of everyone’s motivations is not the problem; even if the story wanted to seek something deeper from its characters, film history shows us that the most profound emotions usually come from the simplest ideas. Still, while nothing needs to feel entirely new, it hurts matters when things are too familiar to ignore.

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Edgin’s path to redemption is uncomplicated; the most treacherous steps are the group's venture to the Underdark, where the “Helmet of Disjunction,” a mystical item that disarms any enchantment, got hidden by Xenk Yendar, a Thay belonging to the same order of Red Wizard disciples that murdered Zia. Along the way, the group must deal with the terrors lurking beneath the surface if they wish to secure the object of their desire, with each step proving more dangerous than the next, sort of like this:

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Step 1: Confront three-headed dog that doesn't actually attack anything.

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Along the way, they encounter a terrifying, fire-eyed beast, which emerges from the darkness to terrorize the heroes…

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who then flee across a bridge…

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which breaks…

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Then, after parting with Yendar, the remaining four enact a plan to infiltrate a vault filled with riches, like this…

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But get captured and ultimately find themselves forced to go through a terrifying maze, like this…

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It’s what gives the film such a polarizing relationship with its source material: D&D is so improvisational, so dependent on the whims and ideas of the specific players in any given campaign, that while the essence of playing can easily get captured, the lunacy cannot. As such, Honor Among Thieves frequently borrows from other (and better) fantasy films to give itself momentum, and it’s difficult to overlook when the film makes its characters so banal.

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Everyone is who you would expect. If you were to cast a dashing, slightly smug, sarcastic preener, you would cast Chris Pine. If you wanted a badass woman warrior with the personality of a 2x4, you would cast Michelle Rodriguez. If you needed a bumbling jackass with no discernible redeeming qualities, you would cast Hugh Grant. Sadly, it is a fine line between good casting and cliche, and Dungeons and Dragons is so finely tuned it lacks the necessary creative spark to be truly interesting.

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Yet, for as much as we can pick apart, something about that simplistic imperfection makes it more enjoyable. We’ve seen it all before: fathers seeking redemption, sidekicks in peril, greater evil shielding itself with lesser evil, neglected daughters, false friends, insecure sidekicks, and newcomers with tragic backstories. One could also argue each prior iteration did those things better.

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Still, the most fun times at the movies are the easiest, absent deep thought, thematic lecturing, ill-advised twists, and sidesteps into uninteresting subplots. Dungeons and Dragons is just a movie where things get laid bare from the early goings and never alter to exceed expectations. It’s fun, charming, and, most importantly, earnest.

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Few films care about themselves without being self-serious. If nothing else, it’s clear that the people behind Honor Among Thieves love Dungeons and Dragons. It was a movie for the fans, whether they’d sat down on their mom’s shag carpet blasting Zeppelin in the 70s or dragged nostalgic enterprises into the modern age, as Gen-Z is wont to do.

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It’s a simple concept: if you have fun, we have fun. We can listen to someone talk about something we find tedious; if their passion is unbridled, it will shine through and hook us. Regardless of our understanding, we want to listen. It’s fun to watch people have fun. Sure, between a wooden performance from Sophia Lillis and Pine and Rodriguez’s seeming disinterest, that passion doesn’t always shine on-screen, but behind the lens, it’s the ride of these peoples’ lives, and the film is all the better for it.

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It has its faults, as all movies do, but Dungeons and Dragons is the first fantasy film in a long time to feel like a fantasy film. It strives for a fantastical aesthetic, establishes the realm’s creatures (even if it doesn’t develop them all that well), and cares about evoking the spirit of the game. We need more movies to show that concern instead of cashing in on an IP and thinking nostalgia equals quality. Movies like this succeed when using nostalgia to elevate powerful work, and at that, though the box office returns won’t show it, Dungeons and Dragons succeeds.