Film review: ‘DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

My experience of the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons is limited to playing it for about 20 minutes 40 years ago.  Suffice to say I’m not an expert on its intricacies and can only vaguely suggest how much has been woven into the new cinema adaptation, Dungeons And Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.  Whether or not the film has obsessive fidelity to the original game matters little as directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein have crafted a wonderfully fun, exciting and inventive action/fantasy/ comedy that recalls the Princess Bride, with a dash of Harry Potter, Monty Python and some of the better elements of the Marvel movies.

Set in a familiar Middle Earth-esque fantasy world known as the Forgotten Realms, the film features Chris Pine as cunning thief Edgin Darvis whose attempts to settle down to a normal life are destroyed when the resident magical menace, the Red Wizards attack his family, killing his wife. Fleeing with his daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) he forms an alliance with a dubious band of thieves including badass warrior Holga (a beefed-up, tattooed Michelle Rodriguez). bumbling teen wizard Simon (Jurassic World Dominion’s Justice Smith), shapeshifting druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) and slippery conman Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant).  Together they search for a magical artefact that may have the power to resurrect Edgin’s wife.  When Forge proves more villainous than expected and forms a dangerous alliance with the creepy wizard, Sofina (Daisy Head), Edgin and his crew find themselves on a treacherous quest to defeat the evil duo, a journey that sees them confront all manner of strange creatures and ravenous beasties.

Eschewing the Wagnerian pomposity of the Lord of the Rings movies, the filmmakers seemed determined to just have fun with the fantasy concept.  This film gallops along at a vigorous pace mixing visceral action with an elaborate mythology and most of all, amiable humour.  It’s generally good natured but some of the action is quite violent and the film has some horror toward the end.

Honour Among Thieves is largely structured around the old ‘monster chases human’ special effects set pieces but these are mostly exciting and kinetic and the film spends enough time on character and plot development so that we actually care about what happens to the people involved.  Impressively, the film manages to play with the tropes of the sword and sorcery genre without mocking them into oblivion the way the recent Thor films have done with superhero mythology.  As it features a few quests within quests, the plot becomes a little confusing at times but thankfully this doesn’t hurt the film’s momentum too much.

Chris Pine makes a fine caddish hero as Edgin, mixing swagger and sneakiness in a character seemingly born from Indiana Jones and Bill Murray.  Michelle Rodriguez’ Holga is a little monotone (although it could be argued it’s appropriate to the character) but she has an impressive physical presence and possibly signals future roles as an action hero.  Hugh Grant seems to be relishing playing the villain here.  He’s still largely the same bumbling Brit we’ve seen in a plethora of genre defining rom coms but he spices the role with just enough malevolence to make Forge work wonderfully as a villain. The rest of the cast, including Rege-Jean Page as a near superhuman Sir Lancelot-like figure named Xenk, all embrace their characters with glee.  Also, be on the lookout for some fine Python-esque voice work from Australian comedy group Auntie Donna during a weird graveyard sequence.

While the focus is on character, comedy and action, Daley and Goldstein have still conjured an epic, convincing and visually intoxicating fantasy world.  The production design and costuming are vivid and detailed and the directors and cinematographer Barry Peterson make particularly good use of verdant locations in Iceland and Ireland.

The film slips into CGI-drenched action cliché occasionally but for the most part Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is the entertaining romp for which fantasy film fans have hoped.

Nick’s rating: ****

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy/ Comedy.

Classification: M.

Director(s): John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein.

Release date: 27th Mar 2023.

Running time: 134 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

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