‘Who needs Heroes when you have Thieves?’ – is a clever tagline to the movie reboot of the Dungeons and Dragons trilogy (previously released twenty three years ago); Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among thieves. In a movie industry saturated with superheroes and IP driven films, it’s apparent that D&D is Paramount studios’ counter-attack at box office glory whilst launching anew the D&D franchise in the post COVID-19 pandemic era. Question is, will D&D achieve the intended purpose or drown to the bottom of the box office flops? Actors Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis and Hugh Grant feature in a clip placed ahead of the movie screenings thanking the cinema audience for making the effort of coming to the the cinema and watch D&D ‘the way movies are meant to be seen’ rather than stream it from the comfort of their homes. So, is Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among thieves worth the trip to the multiplex? Let’s get into it.

THE GOOD

a. Show not tell

So many intended blockbusters do fault at using expositional monologues to tell us about the past. How characters got to where they are in life or what major plot catalyst occurred way back then to propel the story forward. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein don’t fall prey to this avoidable trap but utilised one of the most significant rules of cinema – Show Don’t Tell!..and it works really well. From the first 5 minutes of the movie, when Edgin and Holga (Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez) face the council and eventually escape, it’s one fantastic visual flash back to another with no expense spared. (One could say the whole movie was a flashback through the eyes of Forge (Hugh Grant) as he too faces the council to plea for his freedom at the end of the movie) Refreshingly there’s no crucial piece of the story that is not shown to leave you wondering what that looked like or hhhmmm, I wish they showed us that instead of this, no sir! We see everything we need to see in this adventure flick and more, which leads me to the next good thing..

b. The Cinematic aesthetic

Production design ✅ CGI ✅ Cinematography ✅ Editing ✅

150 million dollar budget WELL SPENT.

D&D feels grand, epic and a true adventure movie in scale and scope. From incredible action sequences to dramatic quiet scenes flourished with cinematic enviroments, this movie feels and looks good. Many blockbuster movies leave you wondering where the money was spent but not here, you get the sense that the crew had something to prove, this was their baby and indeed they delivered. Maybe some awards along the way? We shall wait and see. So if you were wondering if this a movie for the big screen, yes it is. Wait to be dazzled with overhead moving shots, clever screensaver worthy closeups and lord of rings-like landscape drone frames to quick editing and a fairly good score. James Cameron might need 10 years to evolve cinema, the guys on D&D didn’t disappoint him one bit.

c. The Actor’s Ensemble

Team movies are not an easy thing to pull off, they can either crumble due to behind the scenes egos, imbalanced level of talent and screen time or they can click and make silver screen magic as recent memory serves with the Avengers movies serving a peak for the marvel franchise. The Dungeons and dragons cast leans on each other’s strengths for a bold, funny and acting balanced tale. Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez lead the team with charm and experience as the planner and muscle of the thieving group respectively while younger actors Justice smith, Sophia Lillis and Chloe Coleman lift their own weight while the villain duo of Hugh Grant and Daisy Head do play their parts as required. These are not Oscar performances but this is a popcorn adventure and a thrilling ride worth a watch.

THE NOT SO GOOD

d. The Plot or what it could have been

Putting the witty dialogue and all the other excellent stuff aside, D&D’s plot lacks something vital and that is – High Stakes. The sort of pressure point that drives Heroes into sacrifice and having to save the world. The emotional beats that move you as an audience to care and root for these characters. As an audience, we need to feel that our characters have to do whatever it takes to fight evil, save the girl or achieve whatever goal they set out on. It has to be important, personal and convincing, that if they fail, the consequences are directly dire to them or those they love. Sadly, D&D got bloated with too many stories to check, that writers Michael Gilio and the Jonathan directors failed to put us at the edge of our seats rather delivered a story that sacrificed stakes for casual playfulness and spectacle. Evidently producing a fun movie that has a weaker main plot.

Chris Pine’s character ‘Edgin Darvis’ is a member of the Harpers (an order of peacekeepers) who turns to theft after the death of his wife. He then hesitantly raids a harper stronghold with his team including conman Forge and a Red Wizard, Sofina who is in search of a mystical horn, but Edgin is after the ‘Tablet of reawakening’ a magical relic he could use to resurrect his wife. The group is bursted by the Harpers and Edgin and Holga end up captured while the rest of the accomplices escape. After two years, Edgin and Holga creatively attain freedom from imprisonment and return to find that Forge has turned Kira against her father and Edgin sets off on a journey to repair his father-daughter relationship with Kira and maybe save her from Forge? Simple right?

d (1) Weak motivations

Naturally in such stories, we are accustomed to the protagonist of our story wanting something and the villain standing in their way of getting it. This old tradition of story telling is tested and proven to deliver results. So, who is our protagonist and who is our villain?

PROTAGONIST: Edgin Darvis

GOAL: To repair his relationship with daughter Kira by robbing the Tablet of reawakening from Forge and resurrect his wife?

VILLAIN: Forge stands in Edgin’s way by lying to Kira that Edgin left her for treasure.

The thing is, Kira is never really Forge’s prisoner or in danger at any given moment, she’s just a teenage girl mad at her Dad and confused about the truth on why Edgin was captured. Nevertheless, Forge’s motivation to lie to Kira and keep her away from Edgin is far-fetched and off character. Forge really doesn’t need to keep Kira, she serves him no purpose as a conman. There is no benefit in this endeavour apart from trying to give Edgin something to do. Edgin goes through so much to get back the tablet as his way to prove his innocence to Kira that indeed he was captured trying to resurrect her mother, but in the end Kira doesn’t need the tablet to forgive her father. The macguffin ends up not serving it’s purpose and falls flat even when it’s used to bring Holga back. The emotional beat intended feels cliche and not in a convincing way.

d (2) Disconnected plots

VILLAIN 2 : The Red Wizard

GOAL: To use the curse that destroyed the Thay and turn the people of Neverwinter into the undead army. (To what end? I’m not sure)

Now this is a villain with high stakes, but ultimately her plans have nothing or little to do with Edgin and his team. To the extent that when the theives take Forge’s boat away from him after rescuing Kira, it’s done for Edgin. He has everything he set out to get and the movie could as well have ended with them sailing off into the sunset. Oh wait, we forgot about the a Red wizard after world domination, let’s go back and have a third act action sequence. The disconnect is jarring and an Achilles’ heel to a rather well made movie.

At the end, D&D felt like two movies lumped together. One, about Edgin saving his daughter from Forge and another led by Xenk Yander (Regé-jean Page) with Doric saving Neverwinter from the Red wizard.

CONCLUSION

Dungeons and dragons : Honour among Thieves, is a fun ride with spectacle and dazzle, witty dialogue and a good looking ensemble cast but falls short on threading the story into a 1billion picture. The Jonathan Directors make a case for a franchise launch and your ticket but I will wait to see if this reboot has legs to green light a sequel. Until then..

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