Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – Review

Put your character sheets away…

…Because the only characters you’ll have to deal with are the ones at the theater. Both onscreen and off! You’ll be entertained by Chris Pine as Edgin & Michelle Roderiguez as Holga while facing off against the smells of Man Sitting Next To You Who’s Eating Cheesecake Factory. Wordy name! You’ll save some space on your character sheet with maybe ‘Phil’ or ‘Tregor’? I can’t really complain, the food smelled good so I let them eat their cake (and I had delicious popcorn, so who really cares? My crunching was probably loud!). Now, let’s roll for “Some Guy’s Opinion”. 

Directors John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein return to the theater five years (!) after the release of their comedy-thriller Game Night, a movie that is exceptional in both of its genres. D&D: H.A.T. is a fantasy adventure which, despite being based on a long-running tabletop RPG series, you don’t need to know anything about beforehand (or have seen any other movies) to understand what’s happening in the film. H.A.T. starts off with an understanding that audiences don’t need a hard sell on a fantasy universe. You see the title ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and you get the idea. D&D is a sandbox for adventures to be built upon. Yes, there is a lot of lore but it’s all background for the movie’s world. H.A.T. never makes the mistake of explaining what isn’t necessary. What that allows for is a breezy, charming adventure! No homework necessary. 

Don’t think that means this isn’t a big, expensive blockbuster. There’s still endless CGI (used in fun ways) and nonsense (again, used in fun ways)… but there’s also practical effects! And puppet creatures! Oh, and purposeful camerawork! Let’s get more of that in our fantasy nonsense. Luckily, the buy-in for the nonsense is accessible, something you will no longer find in most Massive Universe-Building Blockbusters. Daly & Goldstein found a magic mix of comedy & action-thriller in Game Night. D&D’s hit-rate is not as strong, jokes are fairly hit or miss. Mostly when the endless quips work it’s because of the charismatic actor delivering the line. The comedic pacing is consistent and gives the movie energy. When a gag doesn’t land, the movie keeps moving so nothing really lands with a thud. There’s a confidence in the direction we don’t get as much in big budget comedies. Set pieces don’t suffer from relentless coverage and edits. D&D has the same confidence in its material which Daly & Goldstein allowed for Game Night. The movie works as its own contained adventure up until the final confrontation, when it starts to feel like I’m watching a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Even the final blow is something right out of Avengers. But, whatever, those are two movies I enjoyed when I saw them. This also hit the spot in the same way those blockbusters did too!

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an entertaining adventure featuring exciting set pieces and charming actors hamming it up. The comedy is 60/40 but the pacing never lingers enough to turn overbearing. For the 2 hour & 14 minute runtime, I was happy to be watching this movie in a theater.

7/10