MOVIE REVIEW – If you love the fantasy genre, star-studded action movies and a playful atmosphere, don’t miss Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, an action fantasy that will be released in Hungarian cinemas on 30 March 2023. The plot follows a team of charming thieves and eccentric adventurers on a grand quest to retrieve a lost relic, but they soon run into trouble with some bad guys. The fantasy is full of exciting twists and turns, spectacular fight scenes and humorous dialogue that guarantee a fun time.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is not the first adaptation of the popular tabletop role-playing game, which was first released in 1974 and has been a favourite of millions ever since. The first D&D movie, starring Jeremy Irons, was made in 2000, but was not a hit with critics or fans. The second and third installments were only released as TV movies in 2005 and 2012. Now it looks like the game is finally getting the movie adaptation it’s been waiting for. The directors are John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who have previously helmed comedies such as Blind Date and Journey to Europe. They also wrote the screenplay based on the original feature by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax.

The story of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves follows a charming thief (Chris Pine) and his band of eccentric adventurers as they plan a grand scheme to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously wrong when they get mixed up with the wrong people. They are also pursued by an evil wizard (Hugh Grant), a ruthless warlord (Michelle Rodriguez) and a mysterious assassin (Rege-Jean Page) in a fantastical world full of dragons, goblins and other creatures.

The creators clearly wanted to evoke the rich world and playful spirit of Dungeons & Dragons. But will it succeed in doing so? And if so, at what cost? Let’s take a closer look!

It’s a kind of magic

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is first and foremost an action movie, with no skimping on the visuals. It’s full of exciting fight sequences, chases and explosions. CGI technology has been used to bring back the magical world of the original role-playing game and its creatures, monsters and universe. The dragons are impressive and terrifying, and the goblins are funny and cute. The mood of the film is also well suited to the game: adventurous, humorous and sometimes dramatic.

But Dungeons & Dragons: Beast Honour is not just about the visuals. The screenwriters try to incorporate the game’s characters and locations into the story. For example, you can see the city of Baldur’s Gate, the forest of Neverwinter or the harbour of Waterdeep. The characters are also a faithful reflection of the character classes in the game: barbarian, bard, druid, paladin and wizard. In this way, Dungeons & Dragons: Beast Honour tries to stay true to the game’s world: epic quests, exciting locations and interesting characters.

A bit predictable

But Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is not without its flaws. While the action and visual elements are outstanding, the flaws are glaring. Perhaps the biggest problem is with the story, which is rather formulaic and predictable. The characters embark on a typical fantasy quest, during which they have to deal with numerous obstacles and enemies. It does not really have anything new to offer or surprise the viewer. The pace slows down in the middle of the film and loses the momentum it had built up at the beginning.

The other problem is with the characters. Although the actors play their parts well and you can tell they enjoy the play, the characters themselves are not very developed or deep. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves does not give enough room to show the characters’ development or motivations. The characters tend to remain clichés: the story features the usual charming thief, the evil wizard, the tough barbarian, the charming druid, etc. The plot fails to achieve the emotional impact it would like to.

It’s good, but it’s not “Advanced” “Dungeons & Dragons”…

So Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is not perfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. It’s an entertaining and spectacular fantasy-adventure film that tries to recreate the world and atmosphere of the game. It doesn’t aim for great artistic ambition or deep messages, but rather offers a light and fun diversion. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a good choice for those who like fantasy, action or humour.

-BadSector-