Certificate: 12A (moderate violence, threat, horror, language). Running Time: 134 mins. UK Distributor: eOne
WHO’S IN IT?
Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant, Daisy Head, Chloe Coleman, Jason Wong, Rylan Jackson
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (directors, writers), Michael Gilio (writer), Brian Goldner, Jeremy Latcham and Nick Meyer (producers), Lorne Balfe (composer), Barry Peterson (cinematographer), Dan Lebental (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A group of thieves band together for a quest that could save their world from evil forces…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES?
Popular geek culture can be a pretty brutal and unforgiving place to find yourself in (and I say that as a proud geek myself), but one of the few unifying components that manages to amicably bring even the most divisive of geeks together is the tabletop RPG – that’s role-playing game, to those unfamiliar – Dungeons and Dragons. A staple of geek culture for almost fifty years, the game encourages players to use their vivid imaginations as they form adventurous campaigns amongst their friends and associates, all within the fantastical world that is laid out before them.
You’d think that a game where the whole point is to use your imagination would have translated into a pretty imaginative movie by now – but after the much-maligned 2000 version (and its equally unremarkable direct-to-video sequels) came and went, for a while it seemed that nothing could be done to give it the lively big-screen treatment. Thankfully, with the new blockbuster reboot Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, directors and co-writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein have finally managed to crack a winning formula that will please both die-hard fans with its countless in-universe references, and entertain complete novices (such as myself) with a fun and unassuming adventure narrative that’s both silly and utterly endearing.
Taking place within a fantasy realm filled with mythical creatures, sorcery, and the occasional dungeon here and there, our lead is a bard named Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine), a former member of the “Harpers” – a secret society of do-gooders – turned petty thief, alongside partners-in-crime Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a barbarian, young sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith), and con-man Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant). When a heist goes wrong, Edgin and Holga are captured and imprisoned – but don’t worry, they eventually escape (partly thanks to someone named Jonathan, who I’ll leave for you to see who or what they are), and find that not only is the person they committed the heist for, Sofina (Daisy Head), in actually an evil Red Wizard that intends to take control of the world, but is also in league with the backstabbing Fitzwilliam, who to further complicate things has taken charge of Edgin’s daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) and turned her against her father. To rescue Kira and stop Sofina, Edgin and Holga embark on a quest to acquire a variety of items, but they’re going to need a team to do so, which ends up including Simon – who’s grown insecure over his magical abilities – the shapeshifting druid Doric (Sophia Lillis), and the noble paladin Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page).
Admittedly, the plot to Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves can be a little complicated to follow, especially during a first act that is heavy on the world-building exposition and requires a lot of attention just to keep up with it all, and that’s before it builds layer upon layer of side-quests and additional MacGuffins later on. For a short while, it was in danger of meeting the same fate as Warcraft: The Beginning, another major blockbuster adaptation of an immensely popular fantasy game within geek culture, but ended up being so closely tied to its own source material that nobody outside of its built-in fanbase could get any entertainment factor out of it. However, Daley and Goldstein (along with co-writer Michael Gilio) manage to balance out the complex lore with a genuine sense for unpretentious and old-fashioned adventure that is accessible to just about anyone. I’m not a D&D player myself – as you could probably already gather from my very simplistic description of the game earlier – but I was able to buy enough into this world and its anything-goes fantasy rules that I could comfortably go along with the ride, because the script allows for a sizeable chunk of time with the central characters to know and like them, and incorporates energetic set-pieces that are creative, intense, and most of all fun.
Daley and Goldstein are certainly borrowing a hefty amount from the Guardians of the Galaxy formula, particularly in terms of establishing a misfit set of main characters and sending them on a meaningful world-saving quest, but they do put enough of their own stamp on it to deliver the kind of silly blockbuster that general audiences want to escape into, with a great deal of humour that they’ve also recycled from their previous film, the hilarious mystery-comedy Game Night. There are sequences here that are often very funny – one set in a graveyard of fallen soldiers is a haven for dark gallows humour – as are some of the performances, particularly Hugh Grant who is having a whale of a time channelling his antagonist character from Paddington 2 as well as the speech patterns of Boris Johnson (to where he could legitimately be great casting for the inevitable biopic of the disgraced former PM). There are even some surprise cameos that initially caught me off guard, including one by a pretty major figure who, due to the role that they play and how they tie into one major character’s backstory, did get a lot of laughs just from the absurdity of their presence.
I did have a lot of fun with Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and found it to be a movie that knew exactly what it was and had few false pretences about itself, which I do respect when it comes to sheer blockbuster entertainment. Of course, it has parts that drag – again, it takes a little while to find its footing within all the exposition that opens up the movie, and the overall plot may be too complicated for some to immediately follow – but in terms of giving the audience what they want to see, which here amounts to a goofy and endearing piece of fantasy escapism, it delivers wholeheartedly on that campaign.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is a fun and unpretentious fantasy adventure that’s filled with enough energy and humour to appeal to both long-terms fans of the original RPG and complete newcomers, though it takes a little while to find its footing amidst a complicated plot which initially doubles-down on the world-building.
