Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Fans of the 2000 Dungeons & Dragons film have been waiting a long time for a real blockbuster sequel. I say this because there have been a few other Dungeons & Dragon movies since then, but they have been over all duds and their quality just was not there. Then as the release of this one started being talked about and that they had managed to get some major star power behind it, fans were excited once again. A lot of this review will also be comparing the new film to the old one.

The plot of this movie revolves around the main character of Edgin, played by Chris Pine, who after his wife is killed by a red wizard because of a mistake he made turns into a thief to take care of his daughter. One of his team's heists go wrong and he and Holga, played by Michelle Rodriguez, are sent to prison for two years. They manage to escape and when they return home they find they have been betrayed and that larger evils are afoot. Just like any game of D&D there is the quest for a helm of great magical power and they pick up new friends along the way. 

For starters the 'party' of this movie was larger then in the first movie. The first movie had 3 main characters, Ridley- thief & Snails- thief & Marina- wizard, with an elf that would pop in every now and then. In the new film you have 4 characters, Edgin- thief & Holga- barbarian & Simon- half-elf & Sophia- tiefling druid, and another one, Xenk- Paladin, that pops in to help. Overall this movie had more diversity not only in the actors, but also the characters they were playing. In the first movie the character of Snails, played by Marlon Wayans was the comic relief, but at the same time he fit the classic 'funny black sidekick' that used to be popular in movies as a trope. For this movie they put in Justice Smith, known for his other work like Detective Pikachu and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, in a similar position. Justice has proven that he can act, but this character was horrible. First, I don't think they wrote well for the character. The character was supposed to be awkward and unsure of himself, but it came off as more dull then anything else. Then at the beginning of the movie he starts off with a weird accent, somewhat British like, that then disappears by the end of the film. Even though his character turns out to be pretty important to the film, it just seems like the overall created character was not very good. Michelle Rodriguez was as amazing as normal. It was actually somewhat funny in a sad way that in some of the fighting scenes she carried out most of the fighting. Chris Pine has proven that he can be a leading character, but this character didn't pull you in like some of the other characters he has played. I felt there was a deeper emotional pull when he was in the Princess Dairies 2 then with this character. Even though this character has lost his wife and the villain is trying to take his daughter, there is an emotional disconnect. The audience should feel a strong pull to what he is experiencing. Once again I chalk this up to poor writing. Actors can only do so much with what they are given.

Then you have to look at the villains in the film. For this film you had Sofina, played by Daisy Head, and Forge Fitzwilliam, played by Hugh Grant. Neither of these two characters instilled any sense of fear of other negative emotion. They really lacked when compared to Jeremy Irons and Bruce Payne. Very few actors can compete with Jeremy Irons because of how iconic his performances are and in this film they really needed a strong villain which they just did not deliver on.

The special effects of the movie were about average for a movie today. Nothing really stood out as new or inventive. The closest was how they handled the gel trap in the maze. This obstacle can dissolve whatever gets stuck in it and using it as an escape route was kind of interesting. Technically this trap was an ooze creature. This maze did kind of remind viewers of the maze in the original on, but solving it's traps was not as interesting. In the original Ridley had to use a combination of knowledge, skills, and agility to solve the maze. The maze in the new movie seemed more about luck which was not as captivating.   

Their use of creatures from D&D was a little more expanded and I was happy to see them finally include an owlbear, even if it wasn't a true owl bear. (Spoiler: one of the characters can shape shift and they change into an owlbear). There was actually a scene with the owlbear that reminded me of the Hulk and Loki in the Avengers movie. When you see the scene you will know what I mean. I actually found that to be the funniest scene because of the connection my brain made and not because of the scene itself. Then there was the super fat dragon that looked like it had been pigging out on other dragons and not just people that came near. It was kind of interesting that they would show diversity in the body shape of a dragon since most people think of mythical animals as very fit. At the same time the dragon's weight did not add anything to the scene except it liked sliding around and then there was a fat dragon joke. So in a way the dragon was a token fat creature. Yes, this specific dragon does have a back story in the D&D world and in it he is known for being overweight. For the most part people did not know the background on this dragon unless they were diehard fans of D&D and to the general person he is just an overweight dragon. 

Displacer Beast

Mimic

Stone Golem of a Golden Dragon

Owlbear

Themberchaud The Dragon (Red Dragon)

Overall I would say it was a goodish movie. I say this because it still did not quit stand up to the 2000 movie, but was much better then other attempts. Also, I just wish the blend with humor would have been stronger. 4.5 stars out of 5 or a B+.

Picture 1 From: https://twitter.com/RegalMovies/status/1599768521340342275

Picture 2 From: https://wabm68.com/entertainment/sxsw-review-dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves-san-antonio-texas-movie-film-game-role-playing-game-barbarian-sarcastic

Picture 3 From: https://www.kinosvettabor.cz/event/50209/Dungeons--Dragons-Cest-zlodeju

Picture 4 From: https://katalogy.atisnet.cz/upload/dxatis/fotky/filmy/2023/U23009-028-BLtslc.jpg

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Picture 6 From: https://katalogy.atisnet.cz/upload/dxatis/fotky/filmy/2023/U23009-015-MwA6aw.jpg

Picture 7 From: https://screenrant.com/dungeons-dragons-movie-trailer-creatures/

Picture 8 From: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-monsters-of-dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves-gelatinous-cube-owlbear-mimic-and-more/

Picture 9 From: https://za.ign.com/dungeons-dragons-2023/172367/feature/dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves-directors-reveal-secrets-from-the-new-trailer

Picture 10 From: https://www.polygon.com/23665260/dnd-dungeons-dragons-movie-fat-dragon-honor-among-thieves-themberchaud

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