Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves Review - The Tea is Scorching Hot
Format Reviewed: 4K UHD Digital
Directors: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Producers: Jeremy latcham, Brian Goldner, Nick Meyer
Starring: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release: March 31st, 2023
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Heist
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 134 minutes
Budget: $150 million
Box Office: $208.2 million
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The movie was advertised plenty when it was coming out but the trailers never really gave me a sense of what it really was.
The majority of my exposure to the Dungeons & Dragons universe comes down to video games and a single campaign I played with friends online during the pandemic and not much else.
Yet from the moment the movie started, I was immediately hooked. The flow of the story fused with the impeccable comedic acting by the entire cast kept me engaged all the way until the end credits.
As the movie progressed, I kept catching easter eggs and signs that made the movie feel like we were just watching a group of friends play a campaign in Dungeons & Dragons and we were witnessing their imagination come to life.
This made me all the more thankful for the one campaign I got to experience with friends and tapped on that nagging feeling I often get to try and find a group to play with or to learn to DM myself and get something rolling for the Panic Nation community.
I love that the crew didn't shy away from all the crazy aspects of the universe and presented outlandish things so matter of factly that you struggled to even question why or how something worked.
A good example of this is a scene where they use a spell to bring the dead back to life, but only long enough to ask them five questions before they die again and can never be resurrected. A character asks "Why exactly five questions? Seems kind of arbitrary" and you're suddenly reminded that you're watching a movie about a tabletop role-playing game and these rules are part of that.
I'm sure there's a lot more meat to sink your teeth into if you're a Dungeons and Dragons die-hard but there was still plenty for me to nibble on and walk away impressed.
The scene where Hugh Grant complains about how hot the tea is has made me laugh out loud time I've thought about it since finishing the movie and will likely do so for years to come.
A fun movie that is acutely aware that it is set inside of a tabletop role-playing game with plenty of humor and nods toward this fact throughout.
The comedy and style is incredible and while the CGI can be sorely lacking in some areas, it somehow manages to shine in others, and the practical effects are top-notch.
Watching this has scratched an itch that I sometimes get where I want to find a group to experiment with D&D more than the limited experience I have now... or learn to DM myself and create unique adventures for the Panic Nation crew to enjoy.
So in short, it seems to have its intended effect for Hasbro!