A thief forms a team to rescue his daughter from the man who betrayed him in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) is a bard turned thief imprisoned with barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) for two years after a heist goes wrong. Upon escape, Edgin learns he was betrayed by con man-turned-Lord Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), who gained power with the help of the Red Wizard Sofina (Daisy Head). With Forge turning his daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) against him, Edgin plans to perform a heist during the upcoming Games in Neverwinter and save Kira in the process. To pull off this plan, Edgin and Holga form a team that includes sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith), tiefling druid Doric (Sophia Lillis), and paladin Xenk Yendar (Reg-Jean Page).
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Synopsis
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a new big-screen adaptation of the popular tabletop role-playing game written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. This is the first attempt at a Dungeons & Dragons adaptation since the disastrous 2000 film starring Jeremy Irons.
Taking a very tongue-in-cheek approach, this Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves stars Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Edgin Darvis, who before becoming a thief was part of a group of dogooders called The Harpers, though he turned his back on them following the tragic death of his wife. This resulted in Edgin turning to thievery, though he gets sent to jail after a job goes wrong. Wanting vengeance against Forge Fitzwilliam, the man who betrayed him, Edgin forms a new team to help break into Forge's castle in the town of Neverwinter.
My Thoughts on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves immediately receives much credibility from the fact that actor-turned-filmmaker John Francis Daley (Game Night) was once a teenage actor on the 1999 television series Freaks and Geeks, where Daley's character of Sam Weir is seen playing Dungeons & Dragons with his geek friends in the series' final episode. Indeed Daley and co-director Jonathan Goldstein create a comedic fantasy-adventure film in the vein of films such as The Princess Bride and Stardust, which is entirely accessible to those who have never once played Dungeons & Dragons.
Despite my lack of knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons, I did manage to catch some of the specific homages to the game within the film. Specifically, this would be through the character of Xenk Yendar, played by Reg-Jean Page (Bridgerton), who speaks like a Dungeon Master would narrate scenarios within the game. I am sure there are other homages in the film that would be more recognizable to those more familiar with the game.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves also works with the help of the talented cast led by Chris Pine as the charismatic leader Edgin and Michelle Rodriguez as the no-nonsense warrior Holga. The cast is rounded out by Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) as the sorcerer Simon, Sophia Lillis (IT) as the shape-shifting druid Doric, and Hugh Grant playing an excellent cowardly villain as Forge Fitzwilliam, who ends up merely being a pawn for the true antagonist Sofina, played by Daisy Head. There is also a very surprising and funny cameo in the film that I don't want to spoil.
As proven by the previous attempt at adapting Dungeons & Dragons, making a film version of a niche role-playing game heavily associated with nerd culture can be incredibly risky. However, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ends up succeeding to be a fantasy-adventure film accessible to all audiences while also featuring many winks and nods to the Dungeons & Dragons fanbase.
Trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
