Submitted by Sisiwakanamaru t3_11oe7n0 in movies
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% (211 reviews) with 7.40/10 in average rating
> Critics consensus: An infectiously good-spirited comedy with a solid emotional core, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves offers fun fantasy and adventure even if you don't know your HP from your OP.
Metacritic: 70/100 (47 reviews)
##Reviews:
> If "Game Night" was two filmmakers proving they had serious chops by directing the hell out of what could've been a straightforward comedy, "Honor Among Thieves" is the same duo proving they can wring character and humor out of a fantasy adventure that could've knocked off Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" and called it a day. Instead, Daley and Goldstein have crafted a movie driven by character and wit, a fantasy adventure unashamed to be about how we define love and family.
> “Honor Among Thieves” is built on the edifice of D&D lore, packed with totems and characters and Easter eggs that fans of the legendary role-playing game will drink in with a connoisseur’s delight. But for those, like me, who have spent their lives avoiding anything to do with Dungeons & Dragons, the film is eminently comprehensible and, in its you’ve-seen-it-before-but-not-quite-this-way fashion, a lot of fun.
> At the heart of both movie and boardgame is that deep sense of community and camaraderie, which bonds the quartet of misfits nicely.
>In the spirit of the game, Goldstein and Daley revel in the specificities of their world. They round out the personalities of their characters, pack their screenplay (written with Michael Gilio) with zingy one-liners and cleverly timed asides, and calibrate the action sequences so they rarely feel auxiliary to the narrative. A sense of play pulses through the film, which, with its bracing special effects, detailed production design and propulsive music, seems determined to activate viewer imaginations.
> Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a good heist film. A good fantasy film. A good adventure. And above all else, a good D&D film. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a phenomenal adaptation of fantasy while never prioritizing one audience (those who are TTRPG players and the ones who aren’t) over the other. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves makes my nerdy heart full.
> The Dungeons & Dragons movie, by design, eschews those flavors of bombast for something a little shaggier and a lot more winsome. By echoing the type of anachronistic medieval fantasy movies actually made in the ‘80s—your Princess Brides and your Willows instead of J.R.R. Tolkien or George R.R. Martin—the real magic at work here is a nonstop charm offensive.
> It captures the joy of failing, running away, and coming up with a great solution that somehow just works, which is the real experience of any good D&D campaign.
> In place of strained references, Dungeons & Dragons, which premiered Friday night at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, rewards the game’s fans with a satisfying journey that emphasizes companionship, tenacity, and most importantly, playfulness above all else. In other words, the movie succeeds because it actually manages to capture what makes the game such fun to play.
> “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” conjures its own type of movie magic that proudly stands apart from other fantasy films. The heartfelt story, enchanting characters, dazzling visual effects, and fun-filled nature will allow the film to be a treasured classic. An adaptation of this caliber could be considered a roll of the dice to some, but “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” has already proved itself to be an ironclad winner.
> Throughout the film, there are moments of life-or-death stakes and even jolting jump scares. But this bounce, this sense of play, helps keep things light and fun so that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves might be enjoyed by grown-ups and kids alike. Inclusivity is a major element of the movie, welcoming all kinds of fantasy fans, whether they played D&D or not. If you have, you'll likely yip and cheer as you recognize specific spells, items, and creatures. If you're a level nothing to this world, the script — by Daley, Goldstein, and Michael Gilio — swiftly gives enough context that you won't miss out on the fun.
> When it comes to evaluating the greatness of movies, Gene Siskel was fond of asking if a film was as effective as a documentary of those same actors having lunch. But thanks to “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” we now have a new question: did we enjoy a film as much as we would enjoy a recording of a ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ home game with the same cast? In the case of this movie, the answer feels very much like a yes. And if that’s good enough for Siskel, it’s good enough for me.
> The truth is that the game Dungeons & Dragons is often at its best when it’s at its most ridiculously unpredictable and downright silly. Co-writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and co-writer Michael Gilio attempt to recreate that “we need a plan” structure of the game in a script that feels like it's often making itself up as it goes along. Or pretending to do so. While that’s an ambitious way to approach a fantasy film, it can make for oddly unsatisfying stretches of the final product by eliminating stakes and forcing lightheartedness. Manufactured spontaneity is almost impossible, and too much of “Honor Among Thieves” feels like it’s unfolding with a wink and a nod instead of being legitimately rough around the edges, in-the-moment, and fresh.
> Revelling in its own ridiculousness but finding an emotional core too, this is a wildly entertaining high-fantasy-meets-low comedy. It will leave you prancing your way out of the cinema, lute or no.
> It is the best Dungeons & Dragons movie we could have hoped for. Not only is it a fun fantasy movie, it’s a great adaptation of a gaming session. And it’s an invitation into a new and more visual version of a world dedicated players already love — and that the filmmakers seem to love, too.
> But Pine is the secret sauce that keeps this thing buoyant and fleet-footed, even when the plot turns start piling up. He’s the guy at the center of this ensemble who’s shining but not eclipsing everybody. More than the VFX and the grand-gesture spectacle, he’s the one making this movie fun. Like vintage summer-blockbuster kind of fun.
> Dungeons & Dragons may have a lot going on plot-wise, but the filmmakers imbued the film with a lot of love and fun, and it shows. The film is infectiously exuberant, with kinetic energy that never lets up. Paired with its lighthearted tone, Honor Among Thieves is a wildly good time at the movies.
> What’s most shocking about “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is how little meat there is on these reanimated bones, even with a bloated 139-minute runtime. When a cast of characters runs from plan A to plan B and back to plan A, the constant motion doesn’t allow for much else. Most of this film is “What we do now?” Again, that's fun with friends, less so when you have no control over the answer.