Dungeons & Dragons - L'onore dei ladri

I heard some rumblings that this one might be better than it's early year release date and it has easily become my first real surprise viewing of the year and I think it deserves to be ranked amongst some of the best fantasy films in the genre. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a fantasy film with a journey/heist at its center that takes a likable group of thieves (really just misunderstood heroes) through imaginative locations, encountering creative characters/creatures, and giving us some memorable action set pieces with castle chases and even pudgy dragon fights. Calling it a Guardians of the Galaxy for the fantasy genre is a bit simplistic, but it's also not that far off. Another way to put it would be that this is to Lord of the Rings what Shrek was to Disney Princess films. The director/writers here were the writers from 2018's Game Night so that might help give you a clue as to the layered humor to expect and also hope for a juicy Jesse Plemons role in a future sequel.

Three things make this fantasy-action-comedy stand out to me. First, it's just a fun story to watch filled with actors who genuinely feel like they are enjoying their roles. Chris Pine gives a charismatic lead performance here that brings a lot of comedy and still finds some strong dramatic notes. Pine plays the character a bit like if Jason Bateman had been cast as Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy instead of Chris Pratt. There's a moment Chris Pine breaks into a song and it's not just played for laughs - it's meant to be for levity and it really works. Hugh Grant, like in Paddington, gets to sink himself into another smarmy villainous role and there's even a delightful little surprise cameo that had me rolling. Second, the film is bursting with creative imagination and features plenty of practical effects to pull it off. There's lots of real-life locations, practical builds, and costumes mixed in with stages/CGI to ground the film. Also, you never feel like they over rely on magic just for the sake of getting some CGI moment into the trailer. Finally, the relatively simple stakes of the film, recapturing a lost family, are refreshing for such a big blockbuster. Sure, they backdoor a bit higher stakes during the overstuffed finale (some trimming and focus would have really helped to nail the landing here) but it's light and takes a backseat to the family stuff. On one hand, it's heartening to have only one entry here and just let this story and world be a one off. On the other hand, they've developed such likable characters and such an interesting and fun world that it would be a shame not to revisit it. If that's a problem, that's a pretty good one to have.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves: Great fun! I'm not familiar with the game but you get great dragons both fierce human (and otherkin) eaters and down at heel alms seekers. Chris Pine is OK as an ex-Harper and present thieve, but a good hearted one. Michelle Rodriguez is much more convincing as Holga Kilgore, a barbarian warrior who would put Xena in a lesser league. My favourite member of Pine's posse is Sophia Lillis as Doric, a tiefling druid and shape-shifter who can turn into an owlbear as well as other critters. A richly imagined fantasy world with quests, battles and magic replacing science. Hugh Grant has a supporting role as a conman who always has a plan to make his schemes even more devious, ,he is hilarious; Daisy Head is Sofina, a sorceress who enables his schemes..Armies of the undead and talking corpses are actually amusing. Don't know what true blue fans will make of it but I loved this heist/quest adventure which has great effects. Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Gilio. 8/10.

There Are No Spoilers in this review.

D+D is what the adventure-comedy/fantasy genre needs to take notes from. In a world saturated by superhero films and remakes/retreads of old favorites, this was a breath of fresh air. It was fun, funny, and generally entertaining. The characters made sense, and the funny parts weren't focused on awkward or cringe situations that are totally unnatural, unlike most modern films.

The casting of Hugh Grant here is inspired. He's been doing some tremendous work in all of the films he's been in lately, and it is awesome to see him taken seriously as an actor beyond just his old rom/com days. He's good as a villain, and the rest of the story plays off of him very well here. Likewise, the main cast all does a great job playing both for and against type.

Admittedly, I don't know D+D lore, so I don't know how well this satisfies true fans, but I think it works well as a basic story/film. It reminds me a bit of Firefly/Serenity- a not too serious take on a well-worn genre that manages to do a lot more right than it does wrong.

My 'Dungeons and Dragons' knowledge isn't very vast, but I have always really liked the idea of it, despite never playing the game, so, I decided to see 'Honour Among Thieves' on a somewhat of a whim, I felt like going to the cinema, this was playing, I heard good things, so, I thought why not.

This film was an utter surprise, my expectations were rock bottom, I thought it would be passable at best, but, instead I got one of the best blockbusters I have seen in years.

The film follows a thief called Edgin, played by Chris Pine, as he gather a crew to rescue an old artefact.

In a landscape dominated by some of the most abysmal of blockbusters, 'Honour Among Thieves', stands out as, while nothing exceptional, it showcases a level of filmmaking quality usually absent in these types of blockbusters, especially in DC and Marvel's recent efforts. There feels like there is genuine passion here, an effort to make something visually distinctive, it actually feels like a filmmaker's vision.

The script, while riddled with clichés and some pacing issues, is surprisingly tight, and most importantly: funny and engaging. This film has several great laughs, but more surprisingly some genuinely impactful emotional beats, which the comedy never intrudes upon. Its characters are all distinct and memorable, they don't feel like cardboard cutouts of film protagonists.

The cast are also great, and have great chemistry, Chris Pine in particular surprised me with his fun and charismatic performance.

In short, 'Honour Among Thieves' is by no means perfect but it is a throughly refreshing and fun blockbuster that felt lost to time, I would recommend to D&D fans and non-fans alike, it's a real winner that I would love to watch a sequel to.

A reboot of the board game property (after the disastrous 2000 release) currently in theaters. Chris Pine, a thief, & Michele Rodriguez, a warrior, are on a quest to retrieve a magical doodad which will resurrect his wife who passed years before which put the caring of his daughter, Chloe Coleman, in the care of his once partner, Hugh Grant, now a de-facto leader of a village. Grant has a red witch, Daisy Head, at his beck & call but what he doesn't realize Head & her ilk are using his largesse to inflict a red mist which will put the populace in thrall (living zombies) to their cause. Pine soon recruits a problematic mage, Justice Smith & a shape shifting Owlbear, Sophia Lillis, to his scheme (w/added panache from Rege-Jean Page) to right his past wrongs before Head gets her way. Not taking the material seriously is a huge boon to this film's success & a lot of the acclaim should go to John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein (they made the Vacation sequel w/Ed Helms, co-wrote Spider-man: Homecoming & Game Night) who could in lesser hands make this a turgid bore but by instilling a healthy dollop of humor make this fantasy for the uninitiated a lot of fun.