Hollywood finally figured it out. It only took about forty years and a few truly disastrous attempts to realize that a Dungeons & Dragons movie shouldn't feel like a dry history lecture or a low-budget ren-faire. It needs to feel like a Tuesday night with your friends, three empty pizza boxes, and a natural one rolled at the worst possible moment. That’s exactly what Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves managed to capture. It wasn't just a movie about a game; it was a movie that understood the soul of the game.
Honestly, it’s a miracle it worked at all.
Most fantasy films try to be the next Lord of the Rings. They want the weight of the world, the soaring orchestral swells, and the grim-faced heroes staring into the sunset. But D&D isn’t that. D&D is chaos. It’s a bard trying to flirt with a displacer beast to avoid a fight. It’s a paladin who takes everything way too literally. It's the messy, improvised energy of a tabletop session. Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley—the guys behind Game Night—built something that felt lived-in and genuinely hilarious without turning the source material into a total joke.
The Forgotten Realms and Why the Setting Matters
The movie is set in the Forgotten Realms, specifically focusing on the Sword Coast. If you’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3 or any number of official modules, you know these places. We see Neverwinter. We see Revel’s End. We even get a glimpse of the Underdark. But for the casual viewer who has never touched a d20, none of that lore felt like a barrier. It was just a backdrop for a heist story.
Chris Pine plays Edgin, a Harper-turned-thief who is essentially the group’s "planner." He doesn't have magic powers. He doesn't even really fight. He plays the lute and makes mistakes. It’s a refreshing change from the typical "chosen one" trope. Alongside him is Holga, played by Michelle Rodriguez, who provides the actual muscle. Their dynamic is the heart of the film, and it's notably platonic, which is a rare choice for a big-budget blockbuster.
What’s wild is how much the film relies on practical effects. In an era where every monster is a gray CGI blob, seeing a practical Dragonborn or an animatronic Tabaxi baby makes a massive difference in how the world feels. It feels tactile. When that chunky dragon, Themberchaud, rolls across the screen, it’s funny because it looks like it has physical weight. It’s not just a digital asset; it’s a character.
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Magic That Actually Follows the Rules
One of the coolest things about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is how it handles magic. Most movies treat magic as a vague "get out of jail free" card. Someone waves a hand, a blue light flashes, and the problem is solved. In this movie, magic has specific mechanics.
Take Justice Smith’s character, Simon the Sorcerer. He struggles with his confidence, which manifests as his spells fizzling out. When he uses Reverse Gravity or Bigby’s Hand, it looks like the spell descriptions straight out of the Player’s Handbook. Fans of the game can literally spot the verbal and somatic components. There’s a scene involving the "Speak with Dead" spell that is easily the funniest sequence in any 2023 film. The rules are clear: you get five questions. If you ask a rhetorical question? That counts. It’s a perfect representation of a Dungeon Master following the rules to spite the players.
Hugh Grant as Forge Fitzwilliam is another stroke of genius. He’s the quintessential "charming rogue" who has managed to lie his way into a position of power. He isn't some dark lord trying to destroy the world for the sake of evil; he’s just a selfish guy who wants to keep his gold and his status. It makes the stakes feel personal rather than apocalyptic.
Why Didn't It Make a Billion Dollars?
This is the frustrating part. Critics loved it. Audiences who saw it loved it. It has a high Rotten Tomatoes score and great word-of-mouth. Yet, the box office didn't quite explode. Why?
Timing was a huge factor. It came out right around John Wick: Chapter 4 and just before The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It got squeezed. Also, there’s still a lingering stigma around the D&D brand for people who grew up during the "Satanic Panic" or who remember the 2000 movie (the one with Jeremy Irons chewing the scenery). Paramount took a gamble on a high-budget fantasy comedy, and while it didn't lose money, it wasn't the massive hit it deserved to be.
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But here’s the thing: it’s becoming a cult classic. People are discovering it on streaming and realizing it’s actually a well-written, sincere adventure. It’s not cynical. It’s not "meta" in a way that mocks the audience for liking fantasy. It just leans into the fun.
The Real Stars: The Monsters
The creature design in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is top-tier. We get:
- The Displacer Beast: Using its illusions to trick the party in the arena.
- The Mimic: A classic jump-scare that every player has experienced.
- The Gelatinous Cube: Which is played for both horror and a very gross gag.
- Intellect Devourers: Who walk right past the main cast because, well, they're looking for intellect.
That last joke is a great example of the film’s humor. It’s a self-deprecating nod to the "low intelligence" stats of the party members without needing a five-minute explanation of how stats work in the game.
The Xenk Problem (Or Why He’s Great)
Regé-Jean Page plays Xenk, a Paladin who is almost too perfect. He’s the "NPC" (Non-Player Character) that the DM brings in when the party is stuck. He’s incredibly powerful, completely humorless, and walks in a perfectly straight line—literally. He doesn't understand sarcasm. He represents the "high-level" side of the game, providing a contrast to our bumbling main characters. His departure from the film is just as funny as his introduction, as he literally walks over a rock instead of around it because he doesn't deviate from his path.
It’s this kind of detail that shows the writers actually played the game. They didn't just read a Wikipedia summary. They understood the tropes.
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How to Get the Most Out of Your Next Rewatch
If you want to appreciate the movie on a deeper level, pay attention to the background. In the arena scenes, you can spot adventuring parties that look suspiciously like the kids from the 1980s D&D cartoon. Look at the way the Red Wizards of Thay use their magic—it’s distinct, darker, and follows a different visual language than Simon’s chaotic sorcery.
Also, listen to the dialogue during the planning phases. It sounds exactly like a group of players arguing over a plan that is definitely going to fail within the first five minutes. The movie captures the "heist" genre tropes and then dismantles them using the weird logic of a magical world.
Moving Forward With the Franchise
While a direct sequel hasn't been officially greenlit with a massive budget yet, the talk hasn't died down. Chris Pine has publicly stated he’s down for a sequel. The fans want it. Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast are clearly looking to expand the brand, and with the massive success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the appetite for "good" D&D content is at an all-time high.
The lesson here is simple: respect the audience. Don't simplify the world so much that it loses its identity, but don't make it so dense that it's inaccessible. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves hit that sweet spot.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Watch the Bonus Features: Seriously, the behind-the-scenes footage of the practical effects and animatronics is fascinating and shows how much work went into the creatures.
- Check out the Prequel Novels: The Road to Neverwinter gives a lot of backstory on how Edgin and Holga met and their early days in the Harpers.
- Try the Game: If the movie made the world look fun, pick up the D&D Starter Set. It’s designed exactly for the kind of chaotic energy seen in the film.
- Support the Digital Release: The best way to ensure a sequel is to show the studios there is a long-tail interest in this specific version of the Forgotten Realms.
This film proved that fantasy doesn't have to be "grimdark" to be taken seriously. It just has to be good.