Review of 'Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves'

Imprisoned bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) describes his story as a Harpers, an order of peacekeepers, to a parole board. His wife Zia (Georgia Landers) was killed by a red wizard. Barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) manages to pull Edgin out of his despair, helping to build a life for him and his daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) by turning to theft accompanied by inept sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith), con artist Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant) and his mysterious companion Sofina (Daisy Head). When seeking to steel the “Tablet of Reawakening” to bring his wife back to life Edgin and Holga are captured and sent to prison. Having told his story the two escape the parole board to find that Forge has become lord of Neverwinter with the help of Sofina, now revealed to be a red wizard. Forge has convinced Kira that her father had abandoned her for riches then turns Edgin and Holga over to Sofina…

A much better “Dungeons and Dragons” film than the original from 2000, this instalment sees the introduction of wise-cracking Edgin character played by Chris Pine at his charming and witty best. This could have been too much but the humour is injected perfectly into the story without damaging it's integrity. The rest of the characters are played quite straight, leaving the jokes to Edgin, which works quite well and makes the film very enjoyable and highly watchable. The story is easy enough to follow with interesting characters with an incredibly powerful baddie in the form of the red wizard Sofina. Refreshingly, it is never entirely clear which way the story will turn. Of course, this is a story of redemption, a kind-hearted father winning back the affection of his daughter, unfairly turned against him.

The special effects are utterly believable with imaginative characters and huge carefully choreographed action sequences. Dungeons and Dragons fans should be happy to see familiar characters brought to life on the big screen with such care and attention. The battle arena in particular is quite brilliant in it's execution though, admittedly, fails to entirely deliver the menace that we would expect - Treasure chests with cartoonish chomping teeth? Come on!

A fun and enjoyable fantasy that never lets up and never fails to impress with imaginative characters and set pieces.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2024-07-07

Directed by: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Year: 2023

Length: 134 minutes

Genre: Fantasy

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2906216/