Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to capturing the excitement and charm of the classic role playing game on film. Dungeons & Dragons, released in 2000, currently has a 9% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Its 2005 sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God saw a limited release in North America, and the third film in the series, 2012’s Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness, was a direct-to-video release. Arguably the best version of Dungeons & Dragons to make it to a screen was the children’s Saturday morning cartoon from the 1980s.
After several years of legal delays (which ostensibly gave audiences enough time to rinse the memory of those previous films from their mouths), the franchise is back with 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. The resurgence of interest in tabletop RPGs combined with the success of shows like Game of Thrones and the D&D-laden Stranger Things surely contributed to the desire to bring the franchise that started it all back to the big screen one more time.
Honor Among Thieves opens with some backstory and character introduction. Edgin (Chris Pine), the charismatic thief, and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), his right-hand muscle, were caught attempting to steal a magical tablet and sent to prison. Before long they’re out and have teamed up with an amateur sorcerer named Simon and a shape-shifting druid named Doric on a quest to retrieve the tablet from their old friends who turn out not to be so friendly.
At its core Honor Among Thieves is a heist movie, but to its defense it’s an entertaining and funny one. There are plenty of one-liners and bumbling plans to keep you entertained, and perhaps the best part is you don’t need to be familiar with Dungeons & Dragons to enjoy the film or get the jokes. To be sure there are plenty of D&D references scattered throughout the film; fans of the game will recognize specific creatures, weapons, and locations like Neverwinter and Underdark. Sharp viewers may even catch a cameo from another party of adventures last seen in an 80s animated series…
Several of the film’s subplots fell flat for me, and it wouldn’t surprise me if large amounts of this film were cut for running time. Elgin’s entire motivation for seeking this magic tablet is to resurrect his dead wife, who we see in a couple of flashbacks and never really get sold on their relationship. There’s also a brief reconnection between Helga the fighter and her former partner, a 3′ tall halfling who isn’t mentioned before or after. While I’m sure this was intended so audiences might see a lighter side of Helga, all I kept thinking about was a 3′ tall halfling in bed with a barbarian woman. Tiny magic staff, work your power! The entire adventure is an attempt to reunite Elgin with his estranged young daughter, who again we see so little of that I couldn’t care less if the two ever reconnected. Honor Among Thieves has plenty of action, jokes, and special effects, but it’s pretty weak when it comes to establishing any kind of emotional connection to any of the characters. When major characters face danger (or even death) I found myself saying… meh?
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is harmless and entertaining and if it gets kids to roll a 20-sided-die and try D&D for the first time, that’s good enough for me.