What do you get when you team up a warrior, a young inexperienced wizard, a shape-shifting tiefling druid, and a charming, cocky thief? You get the four main characters of the fantasy adventure/comedy Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The movie kicks off in a frozen wasteland where a prison houses Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a pair of thieves up for early parole. Edgin attempts to regale the parole board with a tale of how he and Holga fell into a life of crime. He reveals they were charged with taking care of his young daughter and that they only ever stole from those who could afford it and never, ever hurt anyone.
His story is actually a ploy to delay the parole board’s decision until a missing member of the board arrives. When he does, Edgin and Holga are successful in pulling off a clumsy but effective escape and head out to return to their home in the land named Neverwinter, completely unaware they were about to be granted parole.
Not long after arriving home, Edgin and Holga discover their friend and former partner in crime, Forge (Hugh Grant) – whom Edgin asked to take care of his daughter Kira when their last heist went bad – is now the leader of the land and lives in a gigantic, well-fortified castle. He’s turned Kira against her father by convincing her that Edgin abandoned her for untold riches.
After barely escaping Forge’s guards and an evil female wizard, Edgin and Holga become determined to rescue Kira from Forge.
Knowing they’ll need powerful magic, Edgin and Holga enlist the help of another friend from their crime days – Simon (Justice Smith). Simon’s a wizard with low self-esteem who is less than enthused by their plan to infiltrate Forge’s castle and save Kira. Fortunately, he’s eventually talked into it by Edgin. However, Simon warns Edgin and Holga they’ll need the help of a shape-shifting tiefling druid named Doric (Sophie Lillis) to pull it off.
So now the new ragtag band of four thieves heads off on their quest to save Kira from Forge, a quest that will lead them to deal with all kinds of dangers including running from an undead army, questioning skeletons, battling an incredibly powerful Red Wizard and…yes…facing, fighting, and running from an overweight, but still very deadly, dragon.
Based on the popular D&D game that originated in the mid-1970s, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek, fantasy adventure that never finds its rhythm or tone and, sadly, wastes most of its talented cast. Lord of the Rings it’s NOT!
Hands down, the best part of the film is Chris Pine’s performance as Edgin, a likable, energetic thief whose charm, wit, and positive attitude make him the perfect leader of the group. Pine has solid comedic timing and delivers the most entertaining performance in the film.
Unfortunately, the talents of Michelle Rodriguez are wasted due to the fact that her role is one-dimensional. Rodriguez’s Holga is a tough warrior who took Edgin and Kira under her wing during the darkest part of their lives. They become a makeshift family, but Rodriguez is never allowed to really branch out of Holga’s tough warrior exterior.
It’s even worse for Sophie Lillis as Doric, the shape-shifter who’s missing from the screen more than half of its running time because her character is constantly changing into other creatures including a mouse, deer, cat, bug, and a giant owlbear. When Lillis is on the screen her character stands around looking stern and emotionless. This is a true waste of such a talented young actress.
The film’s tone is another issue as it’s all over the place, even within a scene. The film fluctuates between comical and goofy to extremely dark, horrific, and way too intense for children under 12. The film’s at its best when it fully embraces the silliness of battling mythological creatures.
Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an uneven, cheesy, fantasy outing that could and should have been a lot more entertaining.
GRADE: C
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some language, fantasy action and violence
Running Time: 2 hours 14 minutes
Release Date: March 31, 2023
Directed By: Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Studio: Paramount Pictures
