Thank you to Paramount Pictures for inviting me to an advance screening of the new Dungeons & Dragons movie before it officially begins its run at theatres on March 31st. This live action adventure flick based upon the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for language, fantasy action and violence. I found Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves to be a fun dungeon crawler romp that balances including elements of the Forgotten Realms to satisfy diehard game players with comedic overtones aimed to amuse mainstream audiences.
This new film has the whimsical vibe of the Saturday Morning Dungeons & Dragons cartoon that those of us who grew up in the '80s remember with gleeful nostalgia. Those cartoons utilized Dungeons & Dragons mythos to establish the setting for the show's adventures; but viewers didn't need to care about the roleplaying game to appreciate and enjoy the tv series. It was just a bonus if you liked both!
Similar to the cartoon, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves utilizes the rich history of the game to tell a story that most anyone who is looking for a couple of hours of cinematic escapism watching an action movie will find entertaining. In fact, the cartoon's inspiration on Honor Among Thieves producers is evident as the animated series' characters make a cameo in the film. Though, I have to say the live action portrayal of Bobby, Hank, Diane, Eric, Hank, Presto and Sheila was much better portrayed in a 2019 car commercial by Renault. That being said, this Dungeon and Dragons movie was fantastic enough to support future additions to a movie franchise that hopefully includes an actual live action adaption featuring the adventuring party from the cartoon. If Hasbro can transform Transformers into a blockbuster movie franchise, they are off to a good start in replicating that success with Dungeon and Dragons.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a campy movie filled with humorous moments, nicely choreographed fight sequences, and impressive special effects that is meant to have audiences laughing and cheering on its heroes while enjoying a big bucket of buttery popcorn. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously nor is it a dark, brooding horror film. It is meant to provide an entertaining experience by eliciting laughs, cheers and sometimes jeers within the theater without people worrying too much about the plot but rather having them appreciating being along for the ride with the film's charismatic cast.
While rated PG-13 from this dad's perspective I'd say this film is suitable for a family outing to the movie theater with kids as young as elementary school aged children. Parents should be aware though that there are some scenes that could be scary to young viewers involving death and the "undead." Plus, the villainous Red Wizards in the film are menacing! This is a film though that for the most part kids, teens and adults can all appreciate making it an especially nice movie for the whole family to see together.
Honor Among Thieves features a band of characters portraying the Dungeons & Dragons classes of Barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez), Bard (Chris Pine), Druid (Sophia Lillis) and Sorcerer (Justice Smith). More misfits than heroes, these outlaws are just trying to steal back the normalcy of life that has been taken away from them and inadvertently become tasked with stopping a monstrous plot to destroy the world as they know it. A mysterious Paladine uplifts this motley crew of thieves to unlock the honor that lurks within them. On the run from both lawful authorities as well as minions of an evil wizard, this band of thieves big score is becoming heroes.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval for the simple reason that I left the theater with a smile on my face having enjoyed seeing it. Simply for being an example of fun and funny Hollywood magic, Dungeon and Dragons Honor Among Thieves is worthy of your time and treasure to see it in a movie theatre. Catch it while you can before this film disappears from big screen showings. Oh, and if you go see it while the film is showing in theatres stick around for a mid-credit scene.
Directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves stars Chris Pine (Star Trek / Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse / Wonder Woman), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar / Fast & Furious), Justice Smith (Pokemon: Detective Pikachu / Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Sophia Lillis (Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase / It), Daisy Head (Netflix's Shadow & Bone) and Hugh Grant (Love Actually, Paddington 2). The movie has a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes. For more information, visit dungeonsanddragons.movie
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