Growing up, I played Dungeons & Dragons… a LOT! Back then, a lot of people didn’t really admit to it for concern of being made fun of or bullied; for me, it was an escape from everything going on where I could use my imagination and strategic skills in medieval settings (one of my personal favorites) along with a little luck (different types of dice are a large part of D&D), I was actually proud to say that I played enjoyed this type of game. Hollywood has struggled with this type of adaptation over the years, and now there is another one in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which makes me ask: will this quest end with great wealth and treasure or pure demise?
Directed by John Francis Daley (Game Night) and Jonathan Goldstein (Vacation), this is the story of a bard named Edgin (Chris Pine) and a barbarian named Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), who escape from prison where they have been for two years after a robbery gone horribly wrong as he searches for a relic that will bring his wife and Kira’s mother back from the afterlife. All Edgin really wants to do is be reunited with his daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), who he does find under the care of a former member of their crew in Forge (Hug Grant), who has now become the lord of an entire kingdom and has not painted the best version of Edgin to Kira. Edgin and Holga form a new band of characters from across the realm to take Edgin down and find the relic that will give Edgin what he really wants: his family.
I am going to be upfront: there is a lot going on here, so trying to do a spoiler-free review is challenging. The cast here is fine with everyone doing their job to bring their characters to the screen; nothing that stood out but nothing that took me out of the moment either. Visually, this film is also good with some of the scenes very reminiscent of Game of Thrones with a ton of high-level CGI used in the right way.
The biggest downside of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves lies in the script itself, which felt more Ocean’s Eleven than it did Dungeons & Dragons. Hoping more for that Game of Thrones type of storytelling with action, quests, and intense storylines, it just didn’t happen here with more focus on the relationships between the characters than the action as a complex heist was being planned. Even the comedic moments fell flat and did not fit well with everything else.
Now, would I recommend Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves? Yes… but that is a very small yes, that is why I recommend seeing this film in a second run theater so it can still be experienced on a big screen without spending too much money to do so.
Comments