REVIEW: New Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Is Actually Really Good

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a jam-packed solid adventure and stars an incredible ensemble of talent, including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head, and Hugh Grant. 

Based on Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing adventure board game that launched in the ’70s, Paramount Pictures brings a new inspired film of vagabonds, thieves, sorcerers, and sometimes heroes to the big screen.

Chris Pine stars as Edgin Darvis, a man who has resorted to becoming a charismatic thief to make a way for his wife and daughter until things become dangerous and he’s forced to retrieve an ancient relic to bring back the one he loves.

He’s joined by a motley crew of bandits, heroes, and sorcerers, along the way, including the mighty warrior Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez), a timid sorcerer, Simon Aumar (Justice Smith), a shapeshifter named Doric (Sophia Lillis), and a hero from a far off land named Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page).

Hugh Grant (The Undoing, Bridget Jones Diary) stars as the bumbling Forge Fitzwilliam, the “friend” that Edgin has entrusted to watch over his very own daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) as Holga and Edgin are trapped within a freezing spell that has them now locked up in a prison cell that they must escape from.

When they finally do, the tables have turned, and they are in for a bumpy ride as they search for Forge and Kira and want to retrieve the very important relic that is now locked away with the help of the dark wizard Sofina (Daisy Head). To get through the spell, they need a special helmet, and their journey continues on a hunt for the last known person to have it, the storybook hero who can do no wrong; the perfect smile, kitten-saving, Xenk.

The women of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves are everything. Michelle Rodriquez is fierce and has some stellar fight scenes throughout, along with some really funny comedic banter. Her character Holga is a brutish barbarian with an affinity for tiny guys. However, she’s recently divorced and always up for an adventure, especially to save someone dear to her heart, Edgin’s daughter.

Sophia Lillis’s role as Doric was super fun to watch play out on screen with some incredible CGI as she morphs into one mammal after the next throughout the journey. Her performance was inspiring and full of “shero” energy. From the moment she jumps onto the scene if you can find her, she has you in a tailspin trying to keep up with her. Including one scene in particular where she transforms from an annoying fly buzzing in Forge’s face as a spy and onto a mouse, a cat, and a deer trying to escape the wrath of Sofina.

Despite Sofina being one of the worst people on the planet, if the world of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves were a real place, using her power to cast holy hell on every living creature, you can’t help but feel a little wonder at her clever and calculated plan to take over the world. Her fight scenes and sorcery were incredible; thanks to Daisy’s (Shadow and Bone) strong acting chops, she portrays this evil villain so well and is terrifying.

Justice Smith (GENERA+ION, The Get Down, SHARPER) gives an incredible performance as Simon, the sorcerer that gets pulled into the mix of Edgin’s shenanigans but who ultimately doesn’t believe in himself all that much. His character’s journey and evolution are endearing as he takes on a mystical helmet. He finds an unlikely surprise and a test that he must overcome to be who he was meant to be all along.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is hilarious and action-filled; from overweight dragons to giant possessed jaguars on the hunt through giant deadly mazes, love lost, and new friends made, you will be completely entertained from beginning to end with the incredible CGI and well-written screenplay. You will definitely feel the essence of the board game and some of the early adventure games with pivot after pivot of infinite jest.

Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is in theaters nationwide on March 31. Watch the trailer below.