Movies Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

[Husky_Khan]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a new movie licensed by Hasbro that is being released by Paramount Pictures using the Dungeons & Dragons brand.



It stars Chris Pine as a lute playing Rogueish Bard whose misadventures apparently ushered in a very bad time for the world. Michelle Rodriguez is a Barbarian, and the wee Ginger lass Sophia Lillis (who starred in the It movies) portrays a Tiefling Druid. Also some Black guy named Rege-Jean Page is portraying a Paladin and some dude named Justice Smith is a Sorcerer.

Also apparently Hugh Grant is also starring in the film as another Rogue.

Solely based off of the trailer, it looks like a casual and fun experience. Probably a lot of humor and CGI and the like and won't take itself too seriously. But... having no idea that after years of 'development' they were actually close to making a film, I am actually more excited for watching this movie then I am for the far more heralded fantasy products coming out in the form of Amazon's Rings of Power and HBO/Warner Bros House of the Dragon.

Plus of the three, it might be the only one I watch of them since it seems to be focused on entertainment and being an enjoyable cinematic experience. Despite the whimsical and lighthearted tone of the trailer though I didn't think I saw anything that made me cringe, which is actually a good sign.

Also...

 

[ParadiseLost]

And we all know which one is superior. 😏

 

[The Whispering Monk]

I'm in!!

 

[Bassoe]

And we all know which one is superior. 😏

 

[Urabrask Revealed]

>it's an actual party, not a group of thieves with different specializations
Honestly, that'd have been the kind of thing D&D would do for a lark and a single play.

 

[Culsu]

Looks like it's actually being done by people familiar with the subject matter, and it also looks decently budgeted and gets the atmosphere of many a tabletop round right. It's very much Guardian of the Galaxy 1-ish in tone, which fits your average DnD game just about right. Looking forward to it!

 

[Argent]

Looks like it's actually being done by people familiar with the subject matter, and it also looks decently budgeted and gets the atmosphere of many a tabletop round right. It's very much Guardian of the Galaxy 1-ish in tone, which fits your average DnD game just about right. Looking forward to it!

True. I think knowing that humor is part and parcel for and D and D story is great. There is a reason that Legend of Vox Machina did so well on Prime.

This move looks like it has enough insider knowledge for the d and d player while bringing in enough action and jokes to hook the average movie goer. But at least it has to better then one that came out in 2000

 

[TheRejectionist]

I hope it is not woke trash.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Saw the film and the trailer wasn't lying to us or anything. Film matched the expectations of the trailer. It was a fun movie to watch and basically a Heist film, but of course one that required a series of setup adventures and encounters to lead to the main big heist and all of the interruptions and randomness and side quests for characters that it entails.

The movie was very funny too and thankfully it wasn't where the humor is forced into every nook and cranny like a recent MCU movie. It's just a naturally funny movie. And the party members were very lovable and had character growth and played off of each other in their interactions, bringing their own skills and insights and such to the party. I actually think all of the cast members did a really good job, though the Rege-Jean Page's Paladin was a simply amazing character and did the Lawful Good paladin class justice which is a challenge considering the rest of the party is focused on stealing stuff.

There were some prolonged fight scenes centered around Michelle Rodriguez' Barbarian which were fun to watch. The movie wasn't completely faithful to Dungeons and Dragons mechanics (obviously as you can tell from the trailer) but there were scenes showing geek stuff like using components to cast certain spells (and recognizable spells) and creatures ranging from Axebeaks to Intelligence Devourers seen in the film. Lots of different races popped up as well.

The plot was easy to follow and developed nicely and the villains and everything upon reflection actually made sense to me. Also in spite of going from place to place, introducing various characters, it didn't feel bloated or anything. It followed the outline of a Heist movie fairly closely but thanks to all of the fantasy trappings and setting and character diversions, it fleshed out the movie a lot. Movie had a lot of heart as well. There were some emotional character moments and even the predictable stuff somehow didn't feeling narmy, which is impressive in my humble opinion.

Oh it didn't feel particularly woke either. There was a diverse cast but it's a Dungeons & Dragons movie so that's well within the realm of plausibility IMHO. I didn't sense any overbearing social messaging going on either.

Overall would recommend watching the film on its own merits since it stands on its own merits instead of feeling like some sort of 'franchise launcher' like so many other flicks.

 

[Robovski]

Saw it last night after my wife said she wanted to go. I was prepared to wait for streaming but since she was interested I thought why not? I've been in D&D for nearly forty years, wife just started her first character in February so we have very different perspectives. I saw a LOT of references, this is basically a Forgotten Realms heist movie and it was fun. My wife probably had a better time than I did because she doesn't suffer from Forgotten Realms fatigue that I seem to be suffering. Anyhow, it has Harper's and Red Thay wizards and I guess avoided showing much in the way if orcs and the like but if you were OK with the trailer you will be OK with the movie. Chris Pine et al we're good, the daughter less so but child actors are often underwhelming. If you are a D&D person there are a lot of nods and if that's your thing you'll enjoy a watch for that too.

 

[Captain X]

What of the report of the writers dumbing down the male leads?

 

[Robovski]

Chris Pine's character is the planner/leader of the group. I think everyone is made a bit dumb at times for comedy but he does make the plot happen, works the angles and in the end had a heart. The sorcerer on the team is less dumb than lacks confidence/courage. But intellect devourers do just walk by the entire party for a joke - so ymmv.

 

[TheRejectionist]

I might consider it watching for the first time in an actual cinema with acquiantaces IF it is not available digitally up untill 2 weeks from now.

 

[Culsu]

I've heard no news about streaming availability which is a shame. Since I have to get up early for work I usually don't want to go to the cinema.

 

[Husky_Khan]

It'll probably be on Paramount Plus after a few months or otherwise available for purchase like normal I imagine. But there was actually a bit before the film where the main cast thanked the audience for watching the movie in a theater. So it being a theater release exclusive for a while was probably a main point for the film.

I'm guessing the studios don't want to suffer another ScarJo style nontroversy by promising the main star box office revenue, murdering the box office revenue by releasing it simultaneously on streaming services and then getting sued for it in a loud and public manner. Movie makers want the cinema release for a wide variety of reasons and I really don't blame them.

But yeah, I've missed movies before due to the inconvenience of cinema. But that has been a thing for a while I suppose.

 

[Robovski]

Literally 8 months since we last went to the movies, wife and I worked that out while waiting in the lobby. She loves movies, I expect we'll be going more often in the future.

 

[Robovski]

 

[The Whispering Monk]

Taking the kids to see it tonight! I'll pass my thoughts along tomorrow.

 

[Husky_Khan]

I like the Critical Drinker a lot more then the scattering few Right leaning cultural commentators I've encountered and though I find myself disagreeing with his takes somewhat often I do find myself sympathetic with his overall viewpoints on modern cinema and the like. I think this video is kind of indicative of something.

There was an article/interview with the showrunners on some random website which Critical Drinker covered which the producers talked about "emasculating" the male lead, Chris Pine whose a somewhat recognizable leading man and how they found that fun. It was a stupid/poor choice of words but I think commentators like Critical Drinker, in their rightfully inherent skepticism, ran away with. No one would've read the article, much less derived that from it if it wasn't for skeptics pointing it out. I can't remember the last time I read an article about a movie or game that wasn't linked to me by somebody else.

So it's not really surprising he found his expectations subverted. A person more knowledgeable (or maybe less inherent skeptical) would've readily recognized from the trailer alone that Chris Pine wasn't going to be the standard martial hero material in this film. But he wasn't taking a back door to the females like in other trashy films or made to look exceptionally stupid at the expense of some nonbinary alphabet heroine. I read the article and while the filmmakers made a poor choice of words, I was pretty comfortable with disagreeing with the interpretation Critical Drinkers and others put on blast regarding this movie.

**Spoilers Ahead**

Spoiler

Everyone in the party had an important role to play in the quest, several roles actually and it was both in capability and in bringing that emotional component to that team and making everyone else better. Doric, the druid, wasn't shown as particularly superior to anyone else. And the barbarian Holga Kilgore was the most martially skilled member of the team despite being a WOMAN but she had flaws and depth and wasn't a ideological partisan or moral crusader either. And the best overall character in the film was the Paladin, both morally, and in wisdom and in martial ability. And his biggest contribution was bringing out the best in Chris Pine's character.

And Chris Pine's character in turn brought out the best in literally every other member of his party.

I also like how Critical Drinker brought up the themes that were explored like the importance of Fatherhood and family as well as having actual character growth with every character, including Simon the Sorcerer especially. But other characters were able to move on from their past traumas, and loss... or in the case of the Druid past prejudices brought on by prior discrimination of being abandoned by Humans as a child for being a tielfing.

This movie is almost the complete opposite of films like Captain Marvel or the Star Wars Sequel trilogy regarding Rey's character development.

Off the top of my head, of big budget movies it kind of reminds me of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Or maybe the first Avengers film. Chris Pratt's character in GotG made everyone else in the party a better person. And despite his sense of humor, he never actually disparaged any of the party members, like for example he never called Rocket Raccoon a "rodent" unlike the other members of the group. He treated everyone with respect unless they needed to be shot in the face. Chris Pine in this film is basically Captain America since he's the team leader. Just replace the shield with a lute... and merely adequate combat stats... and no magic Bard skills to compensate because the filmmakers (perhaps rightly) didn't want to clutter things up by having multiple different forms of magic users in the film.

 

[Terthna]

I like the Critical Drinker a lot more then the scattering few Right leaning cultural commentators I've encountered and though I find myself disagreeing with his takes somewhat often I do find myself sympathetic with his overall viewpoints on modern cinema and the like. I think this video is kind of indicative of something.

There was an article/interview with the showrunners on some random website which Critical Drinker covered which the producers talked about "emasculating" the male lead, Chris Pine whose a somewhat recognizable leading man and how they found that fun. It was a stupid/poor choice of words but I think commentators like Critical Drinker, in their rightfully inherent skepticism, ran away with. No one would've read the article, much less derived that from it if it wasn't for skeptics pointing it out. I can't remember the last time I read an article about a movie or game that wasn't linked to me by somebody else.

So it's not really surprising he found his expectations subverted. A person more knowledgeable (or maybe less inherent skeptical) would've readily recognized from the trailer alone that Chris Pine wasn't going to be the standard martial hero material in this film. But he wasn't taking a back door to the females like in other trashy films or made to look exceptionally stupid at the expense of some nonbinary alphabet heroine. I read the article and while the filmmakers made a poor choice of words, I was pretty comfortable with disagreeing with the interpretation Critical Drinkers and others put on blast regarding this movie.

**Spoilers Ahead**

Spoiler

Everyone in the party had an important role to play in the quest, several roles actually and it was both in capability and in bringing that emotional component to that team and making everyone else better. Doric, the druid, wasn't shown as particularly superior to anyone else. And the barbarian Holga Kilgore was the most martially skilled member of the team despite being a WOMAN but she had flaws and depth and wasn't a ideological partisan or moral crusader either. And the best overall character in the film was the Paladin, both morally, and in wisdom and in martial ability. And his biggest contribution was bringing out the best in Chris Pine's character.

And Chris Pine's character in turn brought out the best in literally every other member of his party.

I also like how Critical Drinker brought up the themes that were explored like the importance of Fatherhood and family as well as having actual character growth with every character, including Simon the Sorcerer especially. But other characters were able to move on from their past traumas, and loss... or in the case of the Druid past prejudices brought on by prior discrimination of being abandoned by Humans as a child for being a tielfing.

This movie is almost the complete opposite of films like Captain Marvel or the Star Wars Sequel trilogy regarding Rey's character development.

Off the top of my head, of big budget movies it kind of reminds me of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Or maybe the first Avengers film. Chris Pratt's character in GotG made everyone else in the party a better person. And despite his sense of humor, he never actually disparaged any of the party members, like for example he never called Rocket Raccoon a "rodent" unlike the other members of the group. He treated everyone with respect unless they needed to be shot in the face. Chris Pine in this film is basically Captain America since he's the team leader. Just replace the shield with a lute... and merely adequate combat stats... and no magic Bard skills to compensate because the filmmakers (perhaps rightly) didn't want to clutter things up by having multiple different forms of magic users in the film.

I'm honestly surprised to hear that they managed to make something decent out of this IP; considering everything else that's happened with it this past decade or so. Wizards, and by extension Hasbro, must have just not had any faith in the film, and so left the people behind it (who somehow managed to not be absolutely terrible at their supposed jobs, like the majority of those in the entertainment industry) to their own devices. You can be sure though that any sequels won't be that lucky.