The biggest concern for most geeks when approaching a
Dungeons & Dragons film is how true to the source material will it stick?
I couldn't tell you if
Dungeons & Dragons - Honour Among Thieves stuck to the letter of the rules system (
I lost interest in the current, Fifth, edition, some time ago), but what this film captures perfectly is the feeling of a fun game of
D&D.
Written and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, with a writing assist from Michael Gilio, there has never been a film so packed with
D&D lore and Easter Eggs, yet it flows majestically like a classic heist movie.
The film brings elements of the game world to live-action better than any film before it and I really enjoyed seeing the kids from the old '80s cartoon pop up during the epic, open-air "dungeon exploration" sequence, as well as all the recognisable monsters from the pages of the legendary
Monster Manual.
However, as much as I loved playing "spot the beastie" and picking up on familiar name drops from the game's storied 50-year history, I quickly found myself invested in the travails of our protagonists.
Having escaped from prison, bard Edgin (
Star Trek's Chris Pine) and barbarian Holga (Michelle Rodriguez, from the
Fast and Furious franchise) head to Neverwinter to find Edgin's young daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), who'd been left in the care of their old friend, the rogue Forge (Hugh Grant).
Much to their surprise, they find Forge is now lord of the city and has spent the last two years turning Kira against her father.
He has also allied himself with Safina (
Wrong Turn's Daisy Head) the evil Red Wizard, who helped his rise to the top for her own devious ends.
Safina is a minion of Szass Tam (Ian Hanmore), the real big bad who has apocalypic plans for Neverwinter as a staging post for his subjugation of the continent of Faerûn.
Edgin has a scheme to break into Forge's magically secure vault and steal a supernatural tablet that has the power to resurrect his wife, Kira's mother, which has - in a roundabout way - been his motivation all along.
To pull this off though, he and Holga will need some help, and so they enlist Simon (Justice Smith), an insecure half-elf wizard, and the tiefling druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) to their cause.
Their quest sees them having to team-up, briefly, with the brilliant, noble paladin Xenc (
Bridgerton's Regé-Jean Page) and a journey into the Underdark to retrieve a very important, magical helm.
Although it starts a bit slowly (
and I must admit I was getting worried during the first few scenes), Goldstein, Daley, and Gilio's script soon kicks into gear and from then on is simply structurally perfect and a joy to behold.
It hits all the right beats at the right time, making the initially intimidating two-and-a-quarter hour runtime fly by.
Even the climactic plot twist, while predictable, is well earned.
As might be expected in a film based on
Dungeons & Dragons, there's plenty of fights to keep the audience entertained along the way, with Holga getting in a couple of classics and Xenc also having a chance to show off his skills.
With such an ensemble team at its core, the screenplay does a magnificent job of giving every character their fair share of the action, and everyone rises to the challenge admirably.
The most hilarious piece of casting in the whole thing is Hugh Grant as the crucial character of Forge the con artist. He is essentially playing Hugh Grant (
which is generally what he gets the big bucks for) and clearly hasn't got a clue what's going on, yet is professional enough to go along for the ride.
Ultimately, the film is an amazing, high fantasy adventure romp that is readily accessible to non-gamers, although those steeped in the lore of
Dungeons & Dragons will obviously pick up on the Easter Eggs.
Should there be a sequel to
Dungeons & Dragons - Honour Among Thieves (
and I really hope there is), I don't care if it isn't about Edgin and his crew as long as we get to see more of this wonderful world of
Dungeons and Dragons.
