Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves — Pro vs. n00b

By James Rosario and Edwin Arnaudin

James Rosario: As a decades-long enthusiast of the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons, I’m curious how someone who’s never played the game before found Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Do you feel missing out on any of the dozens of easter eggs left specifically for us nerds detracted from your experience, or does it stand on its own two feet sans practical gaming experience?

Edwin Arnaudin: Its ogre feet enjoy a firm foundation thanks to the writing/directing team of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein making the film so damn accessible to us nOObz. I had a similar experience in Dec. 2001, watching The Fellowship of the Ring after not being into fantasy stuff and bailing on The Hobbit after a few chapters in elementary school. When I returned home from the theater, I began recommending it to friends as “Indiana Jones with wizards and elves,” and there’s a comparable sense of playful adventure here — albeit far more silly.

James: As a die-hard Indiana Jones fan as well, I have no qualms with your recommendation comparison. “Quest” movies can easily go into “B” territory without a healthy dose of self awareness. Luckily, that’s not what we see in either case. They know what they are, and they revel in it.

Edwin: That’s not to say I didn’t occasionally wonder what inside jokes and references I was missing out on, and some of the hyper-fantasy dialogue is a bit cumbersome at times for performers and viewers alike. But there’s so much weird, creative imagery — a humanoid cat! A fat dragon!! Tiny Bradley Cooper!!! — within the winning comic/adventure narrative that I gladly went along for the ride. What was it like for your wise, veteran D&D self?

James: I’d say roughly 90% of the movie was made up of concepts taken straight from the game (not to mention a great cameo by the characters from the old ’80s cartoon show). At times, I found myself almost distracted by all the lore, monsters, spells, locations, and even game mechanics like Bardic Inspiration and Concentraion, but I’m not complaining. By working these little pieces of the game into the story naturally instead of cramming them in or even mentioning them by name, the filmmakers catered to us rather than pandered — something I appreciate greatly.

I will have to see it again, though, to catch even more fun bits I missed, and seeing a new movie twice is not something I do often.

(By the way, the humanoid cat you mentioned is called a Tabaxi.)

I also thought the casting was spot on. How did you feel Chris Pine and the gang did in their roles as Bard, Barbarian, Sorcerer, Druid, and Paladin? Sometimes the acting in these kinds of films can stray to the campy side, but I never got that sense.

Edwin: Ditto, and Daley and Goldstein are also to thank for that element. This is the team that gave us the hilarious Game Night a few years back — the less said about their directorial debut, Vacation, the better — and they’ve had writing credits on Spider-Man: Homecoming and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, so I trust their nerd cred.

But before I realized they were involved, it was the cast that made me take note of this project. It’s a fun ensemble: Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Sophia Lillis, and Justice Smith (albeit stumbling a bit with his British accent) have wonderful chemistry as our heroic quartet; Hugh Grant revels in the latest role of his current renaissance playing despicable rogues; and Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton) is hilarious as a legendary knight whose imperviousness to humor reminded me of Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy.

I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, but I about fell out of my seat when his Xenk walked over a boulder in his path, rather than around it — complete with commentary from Pine’s Edgin. It’s an inspired bit of self-aware comedy, and I’m guessing there’s a ton more to be found for experienced D&D players.

James: Oh my god, the boulder bit was one of the funniest things I’ve seen all year. It’s such a simple gag yet so effective. Then there’s the “speak with dead” (a spell from the game) sequence, which is reminiscent of an old Abbott & Costello routine but made fresh (oddly) by a handful of rotting corpses.

I could go on and on about all the details (Rodriguez’s Holga as a low Intelligence Barbarian and Smith’s Simon as victim of the Sorcerer’s wild magic surge), but we’d be here all day. Suffice to say, if it’s fantasy adventure and well-timed comedy you’re after, Honor Among Thieves is top-notch stuff. Maybe even the best since Willow in 1988, and believe me I do not say that lightly.

I have to ask, what are the odds that you’ll give the game a try after seeing the movie?

Edwin: Let’s roll a D20 and find out!

It seems like a fun time — and also a major time commitment, so I doubt it’ll happen any time soon. I think I’d rather just watch the movie again and cross my fingers that it does well enough at the box office to warrant a sequel. Sounds like you wouldn’t mind another adventure or two with this crew?

James: I certainly wouldn’t. I’m always skeptical about franchises and sequels holding up, but if they can get everyone back on board for part two, I’m all in.

For those not privy to the game side of things, there’s a new edition of the rulebooks coming out next year so another movie seems almost a forgone conclusion. And, interestingly, it’s been rumored that Vecna — who’s recently been made popular again thanks to Stranger Things — will be a major part of the game moving forward. It’s pretty exciting stuff for us nerds.

Edwin: I got some major Stranger Things vibes from Honor Among Thieves as well — in a complementary way, not simply looking to capitalize on its popularity like It: Chapter One. Even more exciting for me was the online promo featuring Daley and his Freaks & Geeks co-stars Martin Starr and Samm Levine playing D&D. Have you had the honor of seeing that?

James: I have! Those who know me might think the “punk” episode of Freaks & Geeks would be my favorite (I mean, come on, Daniel brings home a copy of Black Flag’s “Damaged” for chrissakes), but it’s actually the one where they play D&D. Who doesn’t love Carlos the Dwarf? I think that episode, even more so than Stranger Things, exemplifies what it’s like to play the game, and when you couple that with the new movie, you get a pretty well-rounded idea of what you might be in for if you ever decide to sit down at the table.

Edwin: One more thing about the movie: it’s kind of wild that the central quest to free Edgin’s daughter and resurrect his dead wife is probably the least interesting about this film — and yet it doesn’t really matter. Basically any quest will do as an excuse for such entertaining action and comedy. But it did make me wonder if that detail is indicative of most D&D campaigns as well.

James: You nailed it. The specifics of the quest are unimportant compared to the adventure you have along the way. In a long D&D campaign, it’s not uncommon for the original reason for adventuring to become lost on the players over time. The side-quests, roadblocks, and helpers the gang encounters (like Xenk, an obvious heroic NPC) are laid out more or less like nearly every D&D campaign since the ’70s. You might think this would get repetitive, but the possibilities for adventure keeps us coming back every time.

Edwin: I bet! And even with as much as the filmmakers pack into Honor Among Thieves, I imagine it’s such a rich universe that numerous cinematic stories are possible. As for this first such endeavor under Lords Daley and Goldstein, I give it a B-plus.

James: I think they’ve struck on a formula that works and am looking forward to much more exploration of all the great stuff I grew up with. I’m settling on an A-minus for now, but I could see that easily ticking up a notch with subsequent viewings.

Originally published by ASHEVILLE MOVIES.