I grew up on fantasy, hearing stories about dungeons and dragons: the first book my father ever read aloud to me was J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, the first series I truly read for myself was Brian Jacques' Redwall books, and for years, I heard tales about this game my dad had played with his brothers, their college friends, and some of the guys in their church following college. He told stories about how his brothers created Dwarf Fighters with ridiculously high strength, who battled Orcs and Goblins and various other foes, and described their excitement when he decided to increase the hit points of some Orcs and said, "These are Uruk-hai!" When I got to college, I jumped on the chance to experience these stories for myself, playing the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons with my RA's younger brother and several hall mates before landing in a group playing the 3.5 edition that eventually would evolve into the gaming group I played 5th edition with after college. Nowadays I mostly play Pathfinder 2nd edition, but I'm familiar with a lot of the iconic spells and locations and even some of the lore of Faerun, the world where Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is set.
I do feel that I need to put a disclaimer here: I am a gamer, familiar with the source material, and a huge fan of table top roleplaying games (ttrpgs). Honor Among Thieves, while a very good movie (spoiler: I have nothing but good things to say!), is not necessarily a good example of a ttrpg film, and in my opinion, that's great. What it is a good example of is one sort of story that could be born from the experiences of a group at a table, playing a ttrpg, and as such, I'm not going to be addressing anything to do with rules, ttrpgs, or even rules, because this is a Fantasy tale, not a gaming tale, and boy oh boy did Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley do a wonderful job of telling an epic fantasy story using familiar tropes rooted in shared experiences around the table.
First things first: the story is a strong one, though it turned out to be less an epic quest of six heroes seeking treasure or navigating party dynamics, as one might expect from a D&D movie and the trailers for this film, and is instead a much more intriguing tale of a few adventurers who have been so fixated on what they think they want that they’ve missed what they actually seek. There are themes of redemption of family and the claiming of one’s destiny, peppered with plenty of laughs, fight sequences, magic, and iconic Dungeons & Dragons monsters and spells, monsters like the Displacer Beast, Mimic, and Gelatinous Cube, and spells like Time Stop and, of course, Counterspell. Secondly, the special effects are incredible - between spells, costumes, wild shapes, and epic landscapes, the movie really delivers. When you have an amazing world with dragons and shapeshifters and magic, it’s a great chance to really flex the FX muscles, and the film delivers in a big way. Third, there are some incredible stunts - Michelle Rodriguez goes head to head with at least five enemy combatants by herself, she and Chris Pine fall a fair distance from a very high tower, and the group has a number of visually impressive fights.
And finally, each of the castings lands incredibly accurately. I was already excited to see Hugh Grant as a Rogue, as he’s well established as a charismatic and charming fellow; I had little doubt that Rodriguez would deliver in the role of of the Barbarian, as she has had a great career in fairly action-oriented roles like the Fast & Furious series and Machete; and I assumed Pine would be able to play the Bard quite well, as he’s known for leading roles and charm, and his good looks certainly help convey the Bard’s charisma. Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Regé-Jean Page are all relatively new to me, but each fit their role incredibly well: Smith is great as the Sorcerer, grappling with both his family roots in magic and confidence in his own abilities; Lillis plays the Druid with wonderful commitment to both environmental and values of freedom, and the loyalty to the community that accepted her; and Page plays every trope of the Paladin particularly well, from his combat prowess to his no-nonsense commitment to the values of Good. Even Daisy Head was a fantastic and enigmatic addition to the cast, as the mysterious wizard turned villain.
Everything I’d heard from those in the ttrpg community said the film was a sort of love letter to the possibilities of D&D and ttrpgs in general, and I agree with them. Supposedly the cast did play the game during shooting, and though the film changed directors, writer, and studio several times, Daley and Goldstein used the event to further shape the final product. I know the game is popular with various actors and other celebs - Joe Manganiello is famous for the gaming table in his basement, which has boasted a ton of well known players from Tom Morello to Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss; Vin Diesel has starred in at least one film inspired by a D&D character; and some have even built side hustles off the hobby - actor Matthew Lillard, known for his role in the first Scream as well as Shaggy from Scooby-Doo in two live action films as well as all animation since the original voice actor’s retirement in 2009, has a company called Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse with four good friends - the company is named after two of their D&D characters. In much the same way the third season of The Big Bang Theory brought a wave of new players through mentions of the game, bringing it somewhat into the spotlight as I went to college, perhaps the first and only time I’d heard of the game in pop culture other than listening to my dad and various other adults tell stories about their experiences in the game, I believe Honor Among Thieves will invite a new generation of players to the table and I can only hope that those already seated will gladly create space for new storytellers who have been enthralled by the visuals and characters of this fantastic movie.
Rorshach Rating:
Mental Health Moment: The film’s story has a lot of good moments which you could pull from in order to explore an interaction around mental health, but one of my favorites is when Pine’s character, Edgin, is trying to convince the rest of his party to not only stay with him, but also encourage them in a moment of desperation. To do so, he not only has to own the fact that he’s been lying to them (and us) the whole time, but he also has to come clean and explain how he’s been lying to himself. Sometimes in order to address a negative behavior or other problem, you have to be honest with yourself and take an honest look at whether and how you’ve been contributing to the situation facing you, and come clean with yourself so that you can begin to heal.
If you or someone you know is reading this right now and struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message, or tweet at us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the suicide lifeline at 988. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!
Victims and Villains is written (and produced) by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey and others, and edited by Cam Smith. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is property of Paramount Pictures and Entertainment One. We do not own nor claim any rights.
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