With the release of the next official Dungeons and Dragons movie coming at the end of the month, many are excited to watch it. In fact, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was a top anticipated adaptation coming out this year. Luckily for Amazon Prime members, Paramount Pictures allowed an early showing on March 19th. Snagging two seats for my wife and myself, we got to see the adventure.
As a dungeon master (DM) myself, I couldn’t help but be curious as to which spells and creatures they would utilize if they were implemented properly, and how much leeway could be summed up with the simple explanation of “If the DM allowed it, then it is fine.” Because of this, I thought it would be best to address that in its own section below. So, let’s get into this review.
Spoiler-Free Breakdown
The story is not the first adventure from the crew and the original adventure is shown in a summarized format. It was this initial adventure that gets the main two characters, Edgin the Bard and Holga the Barbarian, in the position they are in at the beginning. After a comical escape, they head back home only to find that what they left behind has been uprooted over the two years they were away. Presuming they had all the facts, they head over to the capitol where they learn that those that hired them in the first adventure, Forge and Sofina, are at with Edgin’s daughter Kira.
It is during this moment with Forge that Edgin and Holga learn of who exactly it is they helped in the first adventure and the truth of the circumstances that have been laid out during their absence. The information learned here leads them to reform their group by getting back together with Simon the Sorcerer. Realizing they are one short of everybody they need to pull off the theatrics that would ensure, Simon suggests the recruitment of Doric the Druid.
Once the four have gathered together, the true adventure begins as they aim to save Kira and stop Forge from his ongoing plans. This new adventure leads the party into a handful of humorous scenarios that play out in a way befitting an actual tabletop session among friends. The journey even leads them to partner with a temporary character, Xenk the Paladin. From speaking with the dead to going into a hidden cave, the crew faces off against a handful of strange creatures - or perhaps, for some, they simply saw them with comical value.
Overall, the movie has a small handful of group combat scenes and a good number of “I’ll handle this” moments, featuring the skills of only one character. While these do make for some cool fights, and some of them made sense, I would have liked to have seen more fights where the party worked together. But when you take the theme of the story and party into account, it is also kind of fitting that they are a group of misfits causing mishaps everywhere.
Accuracy To Actual DnD
If you are a stickler for how Druid’s wild shape works, then you are going to have a problem with this movie. They take quite the liberal freedom with how they use wild shape and I am not referring to the fact that she turns into an Owl Bear. Now, to this extent and giving the idea of “if the DM allowed it” factor in, it is possible that the character traded some Druidic abilities to have a much more plentiful wild shape. Without spoiling anything, I’ll simply say there was more that I was hoping to see from a Druid, but got a wild shape lovers showcase instead.
The Sorcerer is a funny character because he is considered bad at his own trade. There is a legendary helm that comes into play that he has to attune to, which is a whole ordeal, but does a good job featuring the way attuning to equipment beyond your abilities plays out. His magical gadgets are pretty humorous as well, giving scenes of wild magic at play, which is always fun.
Positively enough, I have no complaints about their creature choice. In fact, I was pretty impressed by the chosen creatures they featured in the movie and feel that they did a good job with each one. From their choice of Dragon to feature down to the inclusion of a Gelatinous Cube, they did this part well. The same goes for the various races that can be found throughout the land as it isn’t a sea of humans, thankfully.
What It Could Have Done Better
As I mentioned before, I would have liked to have seen more scenes with the group working together in combat. The few times they had them all working together looked so cool and how I imagine fight scenes take place in the sessions I run myself. The single-character featuring fights are still cool, especially the one we got with Xenk, but when it comes to Dungeons and Dragons, group combat is where it’s at.
The use of wild shape is definitely under “the rule of cool” - meaning that since it looks cool, it’s allowed. To an extent, I will give them credit for this, but it is far from the proper way wild shape can actually be utilized. I don’t know if they could have done this differently and pulled off the same effect though, but it is still problematic.
Verdict
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a wonderfully crafted movie with a tale and adventure fitting to be an actual tabletop session! They featured a lot of the best creatures, not just the popular ones, and managed to make even the most serious scenes into comical moments. They weren’t afraid to do things the way a group of silly players would handle things, their characters were far from “min-maxed” (highly powered), and they didn’t give into the stereotypical aspects of each class. For once, it felt like care was put into the making of this game adaptation and I certainly hope to see more movies following this one!
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves releases in movie theaters on March 31st.
