Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the anticipated adaptation of the popular RPG is currently heating up with a 90% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with terrific buzz from fans, who are praising the film on IMDB and the RT Audience Score. And while much of the charm of the film does come from its ability to appeal to both non-players and players alike, the question many unfamiliar with the source material may have is whether or not it’s a good representation of the source material.
And thankfully, the answer is yes! Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves does justice to the game that so inspired it. Now granted, liberties have been and had to be taken, considering what you have to do during the game can’t always be perfectly translated on the screen in 2 hours. Campaigns can take weeks and sometimes even months. But with that in mind, the lore is honored quite well, and a profound love for the material is on full display here, thanks to directors and fans, John Francis Daily and Jonathan Goldstein.
Let’s breakdown the elements that would make every DND player proud, shall we?
Spells, Weapons, Classes, and Monsters Galore
Naturally, if you’re telling a story in the world of Dungeons and Dragons, you have to make sure the spells, the classes, monsters, and the weapons feel authentic. And Honor Among Thieves does this fairly well. Not everything is 100% accurate, but it’s still as close as any live action adaptation could be.
Justice Smith’s Simon Aumar, one of the main heroes in the film, and Daisy Head’s Sofina, one of the main villains in the movie, are a sorcerer and a red wizard. And that means lots of spells are getting chucked backwards and forwards. And as such, for the first time, the spells fans grew up playing with are being interpreted on screen visually for the first time ever. Simon performs many well known spells, including Shield, Counterspell, Major Image, Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp. Whereas Sofina performs Time Stop, Chain Lightning, Mage Hand, and many others. Not all of the spells shown here are depicted properly. Mage Hand, for instance, is not used in active combat. But for the most part they’re pretty loyal to how the spells work. And for any fans that are wizards or sorcerers, to see these abilities come to life on screen, it’s a real treat.
Much like classic DND Lore, weapons are incredibly important to the game. Michelle Rodriguez’s Holga, for instance, wields around a pretty nifty axe for majority of the movie, and kicks a significant amount of ass with it! However, midway through the movie, she’s even able to “upgrade” her weapon in a way, after it kisses molten metal. Rege-Jean Page’s character also exhibits a very cool looking weapon, which could possibly be the film’s version of the Holy Avenger sword. If so, it does look and function a bit more differently. However, the excitement of being able to activate crazy skills and upgrade weapons within the game is adequately reflected in the movie as well.
From a class standpoint, I love that Honor Among Thieves also gets many of the classes and monsters right. The main party consists of a bard, a barbarian, a sorcerer, and a druid. The one thing the film never really does show is how druids heal people. But I imagine it gives room for something to explore in a future sequel. That being said, to have every class from the game represented well is a minor feat to accomplish. The bigger one would be bringing the monsters fans only ever saw drawings of come to life in a unique way. For example, there are Mimics, Displacer Beasts, Owl Bears, and Gelatinous Cubes. It certainly raises the stakes for the film’s heroes, and allows them to use the skills associated with their specific classes to get their way out of trouble. Sophia Lilis’s druid character, Doric, has the ability to Wild Shape into various creatures. This is an ability only druids have.
Capturing the Spirit of the Game
At its core, Dungeons and Dragons is all about connecting friends with common goals, and allowing them to think on their feet and make decisions that will impact the course of their missions. And that’s exactly what you see in this movie.
Every decision a character makes has a deliberate impact on their overall plans and the narrative of the story (or campaign). And much like playing in real life, most of the plans that are strategized fall through. So characters who play have to pivot and formulate plans in an instant. And in this regard, setting the movie up to be about these thieves who need to make plans, and have them execute those plans together is inspired.
The movie’s humor is very contemporized, which works to entertain audiences, but also, for players, feels reminiscent of how they discuss plans and tell the DMs actions to proceed with the narrative. When the characters are going over a plan, complex or otherwise, it reminds you of the convoluted plans you’d make with your fellow players, only for those plans to absolutely fail. This movie showcases all of that, from Rege Jean Page’s Xenk over-explaining crossing a bridge, to Simon’s complete and utter destruction of the bridge.
It truly feels as if a Dungeon Master is taking direction from the characters in the story, only to have them roll natural 1’s and have dire consequences as a result. The movie doesn’t shy away from the strategy but also the complete failure of a roll. And for that the experience is really captured.
On the whole, whether fully accurate or not, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves truly captures the spirit of the game 100%. And players who have spent their lives playing will feel seen, as they recognize and get so much more out of this love letter to the brand and the world of the original game. Goldstein and Daily have crafted a movie that pays homage in so many details and quirks about the game, truly bringing everything to life, and truly making it feel as if you’re playing a one-off game with a group of your closest friends for 2 hours.
We simply cannot recommend this awesome movie enough! It definitely rolls a Natural 20! Be sure to catch Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in theaters!
