Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

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Opens March 31, 2023

 

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I’m a D&D nerd. I love the Forgotten Realms. Long time Baldur’s Gate fan. I know I’m probably a fool to get my hopes up given the history of this franchise. But it’s time to see this wonderful mythos done justice cinematically!

 

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Opens next week. I guess no one here is interested in it due to the past failed attempts in this movie franchise which were undeniably terrible. But thus far it's getting surprisingly good reviews: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Granted, so far the reviews are just the critics invited to screen it. But I'm cautiously optimistic that it might end up certified fresh.

As a longtime D&D/Forgotten Realms/Baldur's Gate fan I'm pleased as can be that we might actually get a film that finally does justice to this wonderful game, mythos, and setting.

My favorite blurbs from the critics:

"If you’ve ever in your life slung a 20-sided die, spent hours debating alignment or the range of a fireball spell, let out a sigh of relief when you made a saving throw, rolled a natural 20, know what THAC0 means – you must see this movie."

"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a blast! It’s unapologetically weird and charming and won over my non-DnD-playing dorky heart."

And there are a lot of apparently genuine rave reviews in that batch of 57. And the positive reviews consistently state one need not be a D&D player to appreciate the movie, and have a great time with it. I will be ecstatic if this ends up being a hit.

 

[Alatar]

Now at 88% with 66 reviews.

Not that what critics think should matter, of course. But for a film like this it would be the kiss of death if they panned it. It has a real chance I think to be ”certified.” And as such many more prospective viewers that would automatically have passed on it due to any number of negative assumptions will be willing to roll the dice on it.

 

[a-dev]

Hugh

Granted

 

[Johnny Utah]

This looks like the kind of film I wait until streaming and wish I saw in the cinema. Fun popcorn entertainment.

I would get a figure of Pine from it as well.

 

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This looks like the kind of film I wait until streaming and wish I saw in the cinema. Fun popcorn entertainment.

I would get a figure of Pine from it as well.

Yeah, for sure. The reviews give me the impression that the visuals are actually pretty darn good, and if so that provides more incentive to go see it in the theater. It sounds like a great time at the theater to me.

 

[Alatar]

Tomato-meter now at 89% at 70 reviews.

 

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90% at 77 reviews and 94% audience score. I guess there have been advanced audience screenings.

 

[Alatar]

Still at 90% after 84 reviews.

And I know we shouldn’t care about the critics. I know. It’s just that I can’t quite believe this is happening, lol.

 

[Alatar]

Certified fresh!

 

[Alatar]

Wife and I saw Honor Among Thieves this evening and we had a great time. The movie succeeded very strongly in making us care about the characters. We were rooting for them. The spirit of the game was captured well although my wife who has no experience playing D&D stated she basically got the gist of everything that was going on regarding spells and such. The action and CGI were surprisingly good. The emotional impact at the end of the movie worked.

I think the film could have done a little better job at instilling a bit clearer sense of the setting. The Forgotten Realms land of Faerun is rich with detail. But it looks like this film will perform well enough that we’ll get a sequel to eventually get that. Dollars to donuts the next film will feature the city of Baldur’s Gate.

Edit next morning: I‘ll add few more observations.

The movie’s sense of the setting does kind of reflect how the game is actually played. The author of the Forgotten Realms setting, Ed Greenwood, created cities and areas like forests and mountain ranges, each to have their own unique fantasy realm identity within a world roughly inspired by medieval Europe. The communities have very distinct identities in order to give a sense of diversity within the setting so that you can go explore and adventure in them and have an interesting experience. So in that sense it’s not a culturally homogenous world—although by the same token, there are basic building blocks of the setting such as character classes, spells, religions, paladin orders, factions such as the Harpers and Red Wizards of Thay, etc., that remain constants.

Another thing I noticed is that the dialogue and humor reflect what happens when folks are enjoying the roleplaying during gameplay. By this I mean the story evolves through what players are imagining and it takes shape organically through interaction with the Dungeon Master. Players are actually routinely required to invent creative solutions extemporaneously during the game. And as they do this it can be rather amusing how players express themselves in character when they interact. It really is a blast, and is often absurd. But it is a game after all! As for the game’s on-the-fly creativity Chris Pine’s character, Edgin, a Bard, exemplifies that basic experience.

And finally there is a sense in which the movie starts out with you just having to react to an introduction, and it maybe even feels a bit choppy as it starts off, and the action is slow in the beginning as it establishes the backstory. But as it continues it begins to pick up momentum and coherence as the tale unfolds. This also reflects what playing the game is like! By the time you get to the end the characters have bonded and the emotional ending reflects how players feel about their characters and the sheer fun of playing the game with one another, as a shared experience.

The Sorcerer-Thief character Simon reflects a dynamic to the game regarding creativity and problem-solving that’s quite interesting. It reflects a psychological truth which arguably extends well beyond the game and taps into the realm of the archetypal. Similarly Edgin’s sacrifice at the end reflects the sort of lesson in real life that often takes place if we remain creatively open and receptive to life as it exists on its own terms versus how we wish or hope it to be, etc.

So the movie is indeed a faithful enactment of what it’s like to play a wonderful roleplaying fantasy game. And because the experience of playing the game is satisfying, the movie can be too—if you can open your mind to it. Same as if one is sitting at a table with other real live people playing the game.

And again, one need not have to have played the game in order for their psyche to instinctively pick up on these elements as one simply sits back and takes in the film. The directors, writers, and actors realized that surprisingly well. Imo for that alone the film deserves the praise it is getting.

 

[davejames]

Eh thought the movie was kinda cute with some fun moments. Not really sure why critics are raving about it though, as it felt like just your average fantasy movie that was slightly elevated by the presence of Chris Pine. Although if you're really big into D&D and role playing games it might work a lot better for you.

 

[Alatar]

Eh thought the movie was kinda cute with some fun moments. Not really sure why critics are raving about it though, as it felt like just your average fantasy movie that was slightly elevated by the presence of Chris Pine. Although if you're really big into D&D and role playing games it might work a lot better for you.

I don’t expect anyone to actually read my wall of text above, but the tl;dr of it is that the movie seems based off of what it’s like to actually play a tabletop D&D game.

A tabletop game starts off by just placing you in a setting that players gradually learn their way around in, and wherein characters’ “backstories” are established, and the quest is given. As such the action can feel a bit disjointed when you start. But the experience of making sense of the world you’re in, getting to know your companions and non-party member NPCs played by the DM, and the story that’s unfolding, starts to cohere. And then that coherence increases and the story and action picks up speed. The buy-in to the fantasy and story grows. And by the end you’ve shared something together as a team of players. And success in the tabletop game, i.e., surviving the endless dangers of that world and completing the quest, is ultimately about creativity and team work. And by tapping one’s imagination in order to do that.

But I can see how people with no frame of reference for the game could be underwhelmed, compared to, say, more standard fare for fantasy storytelling. Like, if one is expecting Lord of the Rings, for example, the D&D tabletop game experience is generally not that.

 

[Alatar]

I’m still stunned that now at 212 reviews Honor Among Thieves is holding at 91% on RT. That critics appreciate what is good about the film shocks me.

A common bias I see among professional critics is a sense that, as a general rule, a film under the broad category of fantasy-adventure should be whimsical, comedic, lighthearted, and purely escapist in tone. By implication if it isn’t I guess it’s pretentious? (This certainly extends to superhero films.) There are of course notable exceptions such as Tolkien’s LotR And Martin’s GoT. (And Logan for the superhero genre.) But for the most part they seem to feel that the staple for the genre should be “fun” and “lighthearted.”

I would still love to see a D&D setting (Forgotten Realms) movie that takes the subject matter quite seriously overall. (The Baldur’s Gate CRPG saga for example could be handled this way.) But for now I will take this movie’s homage to the sheer fun of sitting down at a table with other players and having a grand goofy time that, by the end, becomes surprisingly meaningful as a shared experience.

 

[davejames]

I don’t expect anyone to actually read my wall of text above, but the tl;dr of it is that the movie seems based off of what it’s like to actually play a tabletop D&D game.

A tabletop game starts off by just placing you in a setting that players gradually learn their way around in, and wherein characters’ “backstories” are established, and the quest is given. As such the action can feel a bit disjointed when you start. But the experience of making sense of the world you’re in, getting to know your companions and non-party member NPCs played by the DM, and the story that’s unfolding, starts to cohere. And then that coherence increases and the story and action picks up speed. The buy-in to the fantasy and story grows. And by the end you’ve shared something together as a team of players. And success in the tabletop game, i.e., surviving the endless dangers of that world and completing the quest, is ultimately about creativity and team work. And by tapping one’s imagination in order to do that.

But I can see how people with no frame of reference for the game could be underwhelmed, compared to, say, more standard fare for fantasy storytelling. Like, if one is expecting Lord of the Rings, for example, the D&D tabletop game experience is generally not that.

Yeah I definitely got what they were going for with that improvised storytelling style like people sitting around a game board, and there were some pretty clever moments here and there, but ultimately it still came off like a fairly generic fantasy movie in the end, with our heroes fighting off the same random creatures and witches we've seen a thousand times before.

 

[Khev]

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and even my son who only begrudgingly tagged along (lol) even said "that was actually really good" when it was over.

That said I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone here unless you've played a lot of D&D.

The glitching Chris Pine illusion was absolutely one of the funniest things I've seen in a movie in a long time though, lol.

 

[Kebron]

Surprised this dethroned John Wick 4. Not that I was expecting DnD to be bad, but that Wick has a big following and a box office track record.

 

[chrisstbh]

Surprised this dethroned John Wick 4. Not that I was expecting DnD to be bad, but that Wick has a big following and a box office track record.

Dungeons & Dragons is a massive IP though. Also seems like a more “fun” movie to go see with family etc.

 

[Kebron]

Dungeons & Dragons is a massive IP though. Also seems like a more “fun” movie to go see with family etc.

True, but its last couple outing didn't do well. Plus JW 4 was a highly anticipated movie. I just expected JW to hold onto number 1 longer then a week.