Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

 So anyone that knows me will tell you I am a huge D&D fan. Well, I was back in the days of 3rd edition.  It still holds a special spot in my heart. So naturally a Dungeons and Dragons movie perks my interest. That said, the idea makes me wary. I remember the first time around they tried to make a D&D movie back in 2000. Also, as I noted I'm not really hip with the 5th edition that the kids are playing today, so I had to ask how well it would mesh with my tastes.

Despite my reservations, I made a point of going into the film with an open mind, ready to enjoy myself. And my grand verdict? It wasn't bad. Not great, but definitely not bad either. I think the ultimate key to enjoying this film is understanding what it is, and what it is not. It is not a fantasy adventure, it is a fantasy comedy. Less Lord of the Rings and more Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. I laughed. Not just a little chuckle, but a full on belly laugh.

Don't get me wrong, it does have action sequences. They just are not stand out. Most of them are frantic and shakey to the point they can be hard to follow along with. The final battle was probably the best of the bunch, making good use of an open area. On a less combat focused note, they did several really good scenes utilizing the druid's wildshape ability.

The tone of the movie is more of a hiest film than an epic adventure. It does not go full Oceans 11 on us, but the idea was clearly built around loveable scoundrels trying to steal something. Speaking of which, there is enough found family in this film to make Vin Diesle proud. It is a mostly family friendly film with barely any blood. There film had about three swear words in it. That isn't something that personally bothers me, but it was notable in that it wasn't really necesary in an otherwise kid friendly film. It felt like someone realized they could throw them in without getting a rating bump so pushed them in to meet a quota. 

So how does it stand up as a D&D film? Not to bad if you look at it from a meta perspective. The characters are not the badasses that everyone wants to play so much as the goofballs that groups often degenerate into. Characters dramaticly reveal their tragic backstory in monologues that make wonder if it is not suppose to be an inside joke about people writing out half a novel that the other players don't really care about. I'm not sure that is what the film makers were going for, but it would be funny if they had, and then had leaned into it. There were of course some Easter Eggs, but not enough in my opinion. I would have liked a few meta jokes about a critical hit or people arguing over how something "doesn't work like that." 

One thing that it did do good on was utilizing iconic monsters. I'm pretty sure I'm not spoiling anything by mentioning mimics, displacer beasts, and owlbears. Saddly, no beholder, but I'm sure we will see those and mindflayers if the film gets a sequel. What it did less well on was races. It would have been easy to work in elves and dwarves. Instead we get dragonborn muppets and bad fur suit catfolk. 

While the film was set in the Forgotten Realms, I would not really call it a Forgotten Realms movie. It utilizes Harpers and Red Wizards, but only the most surface lore of good guys and bad guys for the most part. It could have been a generic fantasy world if not for the name dropping of Baulder's Gate and Neverwinter. I won't spoil it, but I will give them props on a villain choice they made. That alone sells it more as a D&D film than just another generic fantasy film. 

Costuming was ok, but not great. I get that they probably were not working with a LotR budget so I don't expect a thousand orcs in armor. However, a lot of the time the background characters looked better than the main cast. Guards wear armor and peasants wear medieval cloths. The heroes, however, tend to be in generic fantasy outfits that seem more like modern clothes or cheep cosplay. And I hate to harp on this, but the catfolk fur suits were abominable. At least the dragonborn puppets looked like someone took time on them. Again, it is the druid that gets my praise. In this case I was glad they went with a more subtle look of tiefling blood rather than doing the full on demonic look. 

The film was funny. Plain and simple. The audience laughed a lot. I tend to just chuckle, but a scene with some horified guards got the big laugh out of me. The scene that will likely be talked about the most involved trying to remember how many questions you can ask when casting a spell. I loved Justice Smith's sorcerer. He had a wonderfully relateable Eore vibe. 

Oh, and so you know, there is a mid credits scene, so make sure to stick around for that.

I am a harsh critic for the things I love. D&D and other table top RPGs are a big part of who I am. I was prepared to hate it, but I had fun. I would not pay to see it again, but I'd happily watch it if it ends up on Netflix feed. Ironically, I think it will probably be less remembered than the disaster that was the 2000s D&D film. The older film is largely memorable because it was so bad. The new film is good enough that people will enjoy it, but not great enough that they are going to create a cult classic out of it. And while it had a ton of funny lines, but nothing that was particularly quotable. Compare that to a bad film where people still love to quote, "You need a 250lb dwarven woman. They got a beard on their chin you can hang on to."

So, I'm not going to lie. It was the swag that ultimately sold me on going to the film. Yes, I went for the cup that doubles as a dice tower. As a cup, its ok, but you'll need a long straw. They actually didn't even fill it up at the theater. As a dice tower, it leaves a lot to be desired. Don't expect anything other than D20s to roll down it. And to get the die to come out properly, I recomend elevating the end slightly. This is a table decoration more than anything.

So my recomendation is to go see the film. It isn't a critical hit, but it is a hit.