Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Year: 2023
Rating: PG-13
Length: 134 minutes / 2.23 hours
I have a lot of hobbies and interests that are considered “nerdy.” Partly because of this, I have avoided Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) so that I am not fully subsumed by the culture. Despite this evasion, I have still picked up enough lingo and understanding of D&D to not be completely lost when watching Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023). I think, even without this loose knowledge of the tabletop role-playing game, this movie is a great heist film with a fantasy setting that should appeal to most people who have never encountered D&D before.
What helps make this movie approachable is how it doesn’t seem to take itself seriously. You can almost imagine the individuals around the table making their decisions and dice rolls as the dungeon master throws ridiculous situations at them. Chris Pine’s performance anchors the humor. His bard character was easily riffed on by the other characters. Plenty of the action sequences are fun and made more meaningful by the character growth (or “leveling up”) that happens as the group progresses in the campaign to stop the evil sorceress. For a D&D movie, it definitely feels like a game of D&D is being played.
What amazed me about this movie was the emotional depth and connection to the characters. Sure, there were plenty of tropes and MacGuffins that are common to this type of game. However, when life-or-death decisions come to play, I was surprised to find my eyes filling with tears. Perhaps the appeal of the “found family” trope helped make these moments more emotionally impactful. After all, you don’t go on a grand adventure with someone without developing close bonds with them. I hope we get to see more of this D&D party in future films because this one worked quite well.
A fun and emotional foray into D&D that requires no previous experience, I give Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 4.5 stars out of 5.
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