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The cinema film “D&D – Honor Among Thieves” has now been running in theaters for two weeks. We went to the cinema for you and report whether the film lives up to its name.
Honor Among Thieves: Plot
In the film, a group of thieves led by the main character, the bard Edgin Darvis, attempts to find an ancient artifact to resurrect Edgin’s murdered wife. She was killed by the Red Wizards of Thay as part of a retaliatory action because Edgin, as a member of the Harpers (a D&D faction dedicated to maintaining balance in the world), helped arrest some of the Red Wizards. To obtain the artifact, the group must overcome various dangers and even defeat old companions. Does the group achieve their goal? That won’t be revealed here.
Honor Among Thieves is the first good Dungeons and Dragons film
Overall, the film is an entertaining and successful adaptation of a typical D&D story. The group consists of Edgin, the barbarian Holga, the wizard Simon, and the druid Doric, showcasing various classes from the D&D universe in the film. It’s particularly noteworthy that each character gets time to apply their own abilities, giving viewers a quick impression of the figures’ strengths and weaknesses. I was also pleased to see some of the most well-known D&D monsters in the film – such as the Owlbear, a creature with the body of a bear and the head of an owl.
For me personally, it was also important that the film reflected a typical D&D story well – the film definitely succeeded in this. More or less, the film could be played exactly in this form. The characters’ abilities, such as the druid’s ability to transform into various animals or Simon’s use of different spells, are sensibly used to advance the story in the film. This should also make it possible for viewers who aren’t familiar with the D&D universe to get an impression of the classes. Additionally, the film also succeeds in incorporating typical quest elements well – such as gathering additional information or using certain items – while also creating funny situations, for example when the group questions fallen warriors on an old battlefield through a spell and doesn’t always ask the right questions. Finally, I also enjoyed the decisive battle at the end. This clearly showed the characters’ desperation, which can also arise in a real campaign when all figures use their most powerful weapons to strike at an opponent and the boss still remains steadfast.
However, I also noticed things that could be improved. At times, the development that certain film characters undergo didn’t always seem clear to me. For example, this affected the relationship between wizard Simon and druid Doric. The film also doesn’t always succeed in illustrating why the group makes which decision – in a real game of D&D, however, decisions are sometimes made spontaneously, which makes this criticism point rather negligible.
Overall, D&D – Honor Among Thieves is a successful film that has the potential to get even more people excited about D&D. I’m curious whether another film will appear in the future – I would definitely watch it!
If you want to read another review of the film, feel free to check out Jonas’s review of Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves.
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