Diandra Reviews It All- D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves Is A Charm

Watching D&D, I felt warped back to 90s fantasy films that felt bombastically fun and based in the camaraderie between misfits over CGI. Part of why fantasy flicks, like Avengers, work is because people love to see a batch of eclectics work together, even if it means ribbing and fighting each other to death just to win the day. Thus, Honor Among Thieves thrives in taking us into the world of a bunch Medieval Times looking criminals that genuinely believe there is a ¨moral code¨ to robbing.

Led by Chris Pine as Edgin , the movie has a comical setup. The latter has made a HUGE mistake that is troped in the typical, ¨I lost my wife, so I became a criminal¨ theme. Yet, if there is one thing Pine can do is bring out the heart and humor of an arrogant man. You see he and his trusted, sort of love interest (Michelle Rodriguez kicking ass as Holga) were contracted to basically steal a magical object and inadvertently handed it to Sofina (Daisy Head): The Red Witch. In doing so, his daughter gets kidnapped and death and destruction has been summoned to their world. The laughs and cheerful silliness between characters makes you invest in a plot that is basic and effects that have been seen in any The Witcher season. Yet, that is the odd charm of D&D; it does not feel new.

Maybe, it was me or the fact that it IS based on the highly successful board game that has dominated LARPing and nerdom for decades, but there is something refreshingly vintage to D&D, especially when fantasy shows or films are hard to come by without getting cancelled for its expenses. Between HOTD and Sandman, there has not been enough fantasy, compared to the 90s when Hercules and Xena were Sunday morning shows. Yet, there is something so sparkly and invigorating about fantasy characters trying to master magic and past traumas to defeat a charming baddie like, Hugh Grant’s Forge. Hence, Sophia Lillis is a druid trying to control her powers and trust for others, while Justice Smit is trying muster both out of what feels like his imagination. Of course, Regé-Jean Page’s Xenk comes in as a certain dashing rival to Edgin’s leadership and, unavoidably, gives me the Bridgerton shakes.

Written and directed by John Francis Daley, I think D&D is a total win. I was unbelievably entertained by its unseriousness. It was not a moral epic and could even be a little clunky in its storyline and pacing. Yet, it was its ability to be a charismatic mess that invested in the smirks and smarts of its characters that makes you want to see the Paramount spinoff. Looking forward to it!