{"id":31726,"date":"2024-04-24T09:28:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T13:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/?p=31726"},"modified":"2024-04-24T09:28:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T13:28:34","slug":"review-dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/review-dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Dungeons &#038; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_31726\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"31726\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Honest Trailers | Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves\" width=\"805\" height=\"453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dbzqvg61m1E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">M<\/span>aybe I&#8217;m just old and jaded, but after watching the 2023 movie, D<em>ungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves<\/em>, I couldn&#8217;t figure out why the film wasn&#8217;t in WalMart&#8217;s $5 bin rather than on the racks at $15. This is from a fan not only of fantasy novels and movies, but someone who actually played the game back in the &#8217;70s and has played most of the computer knock-offs since. But the film left me cold. It came across as formulaic, predictable, and flat. Worse, a rather good cast put what seemed to be a merely ordinary effort to make their characters work. How far has Hugh Grant fallen&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Chris Pine, the lead protagonist, was great in the <em>Star Trek<\/em> remakes (movies I&#8217;ve seen at least twice each). He plays a similar role to what Harrison Ford played as Indiana Jones \u2014 the cranky, joke-cracking macho, slightly inept white-guy lead who manages to get trapped yet escapes death every time \u2014 but without Ford&#8217;s panache. He&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dndbeyond.com\/classes\/bard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bard in the D&amp;D world<\/a>, a class in the game with magic and spellcasting, but evidently not in the movie where only once does he do anything magical, and that an illusion spell that doesn&#8217;t work well or for very long.<\/p>\n<p>Michelle Rodriguez, of the <em>Fast and Furious<\/em> film franchise, plays the strong female barbarian companion; somewhat sullen, but loyal, with a heart of gold. As a partner with Pine, they almost make it work, but the chemistry just doesn&#8217;t quite jell and the banter seems too scripted. As the film&#8217;s fighter and warrior, she has the best action scenes, but, frankly, we never feel she&#8217;s in danger even alone against a dozen armed soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>None of the characters have any depth; they&#8217;re all 2D cutouts who make the expected, but gentle quips and wisecracks at the right time. Pleasant enough, but none of them feel complete. Worst for lack of depth is the Druid character, whose story or ability is never explained.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of magic, for a world full of the stuff, the party doesn&#8217;t make as much use of it as you&#8217;d expect. There seems more fighting, running, and swordplay than magic. Sure it&#8217;s &#8216;swords and sorcery&#8217; but I had expected more sorcery. Harry Potter&#8217;s world is more magic-dense. And in an era where films are replete with CGI, I expected more magic pretty much everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>The plot is basically a typical D&amp;D quest with some side quests, villain fights, dungeon crawls, and party-bonding episodes thrown in. While some of the scenes are clever and even a bit exciting, I never got the feeling there was any real doubt they&#8217;d succeed in the end. The fights and chase scenes never quite feel like the characters are seriously in danger. It was like watching a <em>Star Wars<\/em>-inspired film in a fantasy instead of futuristic light-saber-and-lasers setting.<\/p>\n<p>The film isn&#8217;t without its moments of fun. There&#8217;s a fat dragon chase scene, a sneak-into-the-vault quest, a woman-barbarian-against-the-many-guards battle, the graveyard corpse-laugh scene, and a final good-magic-vs-evil-magic finale that are all entertaining, just not enough to make me want to watch it again. Conversely, the 2016 fantasy film, <em>Warcraft: The Beginning<\/em>, I&#8217;ve seen twice and will likely watch again.<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>And there are a lot of things in the D&amp;D film that never get properly explained or fleshed-out. What&#8217;s that Azkaban-like prison and why is it in the Arctic? How did Hugh Grant&#8217;s character go from a minor thief to running a kingdom? How did the protagonists get from the snowy Arctic to the temperate zone after their escape (in just their prison outfits with no weapons)?\u00a0 And what\/where is Neverwinter city and what is it the capital of? Why does the paladin character just walk away mid-film and not have a role to play in the finale? Who are the Thayans and their Emperor-Palpatine-like leader? Why is the fat dragon trapped underground when it can clearly break out? What happened to the people in the cage during the maze game? Who are the lizard and bird people we sometimes see?<\/p>\n<p>It struck me that anyone not already familiar with the D&amp;D mythos would be in the dark about a lot of the references and backstories.<\/p>\n<p>As a family-friendly film, it&#8217;s not violent (as it might have been), and there&#8217;s no real romance in it; just friendship (nothing even suggesting sexual attraction). The CGI is competent but unexceptional. It&#8217;s well-produced and looks good, although minor characters feel even less real. It&#8217;s not a bad film, just not outstanding or very memorable. I&#8217;d give it two out of five stars.<\/p>\n<h5>Notes:<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>*<\/strong><\/span> <em>World of Warcraft<\/em> is an online computer fantasy game (aka MMORPG: Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) that takes place in a fantasy-based, magic-using universe comparable to D&amp;D. I thought the Warcraft film did a better job at creating characters and plot for the mythos, although it lacked the wit of the D&amp;D film. Both WoW and D&amp;D were inspired by the fantasy literature of authors like J.R.R. Tolkien.<\/p>\n<p>Words: <span class=\"sbs-number-words\">853<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_31726\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"31726\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p>Maybe I&#8217;m just old and jaded, but after watching the 2023 movie, Dungeons &amp; Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, I couldn&#8217;t figure out why the film wasn&#8217;t in WalMart&#8217;s $5 bin rather than on the racks at $15. This is from a fan not only of fantasy novels and movies, but someone who actually played the game back in the &#8217;70s and has played most of the computer knock-offs since. But the film left me cold. It came across as formulaic, predictable, and flat. Worse, a rather good cast put what seemed to be a merely ordinary effort to make their \u2026&#8230;&#8230; click below for more \u2193<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[213,7,420],"tags":[1952,562,423,254],"class_list":["post-31726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-and-the-arts","category-film","category-pop-culture","tag-dd","tag-fantasy","tag-film-reviews","tag-movie-reviews"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":528,"today_views":1},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31726"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31739,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31726\/revisions\/31739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}