“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is Paramount’s latest film. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein who are best known for directing the 2015 film Vacation.

As a fan of Dungeons & Dragons and movies, I came in hoping for a good time when going to see this movie and came out very pleased. “Honor Among Thieves” manages to capture the feeling of playing D&D, while still being a proper cinematic experience. 

The story of Honor Among Thieves follows a group of 4 Adventurers, Edgin Darvis(Chris Pine), Holga Kilgore(Michelle Rodriguez), Simon Aumar(Justice Smith), and Doric(Sophia Lillis). This campaign stretches across many nations of Faerûn but a majority of the time is spent in Neverwinter

The movie takes place in the fictional world of Faerûn which is reminiscent of 12th-century Europe.

My Review:

I believe this movie was almost perfect. Usually, with “Game Adaptation” movies, there’s often a problem where the meaning behind the game is lost to bad storytelling and a quick cash grab from fans, but in “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” this problem is seemingly nonexistent.

“Honor Among Thieves” manages to balance humor, sincerity, and action.

The story and writing were done very well. With a changing tone throughout the film, it’s as if you are with the characters and experiencing their emotions. The film is filled with many twists, callbacks, witty humor, and intense action sequences.

With phenomenal character-building. Edgar, Holga, Simon, and Doric seem to be the basic standard characters at first glance, but the script always discovers unique ways to personalize and develop their roots.

The cinematography of the film is superb. The color grading was done excellently too, with an overall vibrant theme and changed to darker gritter tones in the Underdark

The costumes of the main characters and the large cast of extras and supporting characters were perfectly done, feeling true to their D&D period wear. The set design also complimented this, as it felt like you were transported back in time to this whimsical yet sincere world.

As a game, Dungeons & Dragons is all about balance. A strong team of players will know how to account for individual strengths and weaknesses; Honor Among Thieves has found itself a cast capable of the necessary balance between scenes of witty humor and the darker moments where the truths are revealed.

Many scenes had very well-written dialogue and for the 2 hours and 14-minute runtime there was never a dull moment where you felt disconnected from the film

CGI can be the downfall of a film, however, CGI enhanced this film with amazing environments, character design, monster design, magic effects, and everything in between. Much respect for the CGI and composting team on this film.

Another major downfall in most movies is the fight choreography, but in “Honor Among Thieves” they weren’t afraid to show all the action and hide the bad choreography behind quick cuts, because the choreography was amazing, there were a few scenes where the fights felt awkward but overall the fights were incredible, and proved that violence doesn’t need to be graphic.

With this, I would rate this movie a 9/10.

It seems like the D&D franchise could have a bright future ahead of itself if the Directors will listen to fans and bring them more stories from the universe created.