Benz Eye View: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Pros:

1.) I do like the chemistry between all of the thieves, especially between Edgin Darvis (played by Chris Pine) and Holga Kilgore (played by Michelle Rodriguez). They all play along with each so well as though they have known each other for a long time (though one of the members is a newcomer). For Edgin and Holga, the two work well as great friends as though they are siblings and CLEARLY not more than that. Their camaraderie and friendship are strong here despite a few weak spots that I will get to in a moment.

2.) The world of Dungeons & Dragons is interesting to someone like me who has never checked out the games before. I cannot speak for the fans of these tabletop games, but I found many of the areas, creatures, spells, and races compelling to learn and watch. It may not be as compelling as The Lord of the Rings, but it still looks cool to see these dungeons and dragons in a world called Dungeons & Dragons.

3.) I appreciate that the movie has some good practical effects, great production designs, and convincing puppetry creatures. The filmmakers did not need to do that, but it makes the movie stand out more with convincing creatures and great-looking sets. From human-like dragons to the castle interiors, there was some effort to make this movie appealing to fans and newcomers alike.

Cons:

1.) The movie has a bit too much exposition. I get why the filmmakers have to do this since this is a fantasy movie (and I think that is how the tabletop games work), but there were a few times when the movie stops to explain a character’s backstory or the history of a certain event. It is self-aware enough that it makes fun of it a couple of times, but the movie needs to tone down the exposition a bit after a certain number of moments.

2.) The writing is not too bad, but one issue I have with it is I can see potential in it, but the movie plays it a little too safe. The characters and their motivations are a little generic despite having some depth to them due to their subplots, but the movie quickly moves on from them after these subplots finished a little too quickly; the worst one is Doric (played by Sophia Lillis) who hates humans, but she gets over them quickly without any development. From Edgin’s guilt with his daughter to Holga’s failure to reconcile with her husband to Simon Aumar’s (played by Justice Smith) self-confidence problems, their issues are not explored much (except Edgin’s subplot) and the main plot is just the typical evil villain taking over the world (though the main villain is pretty scary). I think the filmmakers were going for more entertainment and less depth, but it could have been so much better if they took some risks with them.

3.) There are some CG elements in the movie; some of them are good and some of them are pretty bad. I say this because, with the abundance of some practical effects, the CG stood out a bit more in the process. With obvious but good green screen effects and CG monsters in a world like that, it is understandable why the filmmakers did this, but it is a shame that they are still obvious (though one of the CG effects I truly enjoy because it reminds me of The Glitch by Corridor Digital). I am probably nitpicking, but I do want to point this out.

Overall:

I have no experience with Dungeons & Dragons at all other than the 1983 animated show re-runs. I do know that it is one of (if not the most) popular tabletop games of all time that has its share of movies which I heard are not great. Then comes this new movie that tries to stand out over its other movie predecessors, and I say that it did a decent job. It is not a perfect movie, and I cannot say if the fans of the games are going to like it or not, but I think it is an entertaining fantasy movie that gives what it wants the audience to see (basically fantasy Guardians of the Galaxy). If that is what you like to see in this movie, then it is a definite watch for you, especially if you want to see a taste of the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

7/10