For years, Dungeons & Dragons has been a staple tabletop game that has grown more popular with time as countless players utilize the freeform nature of the game to craft their own elaborate and creative campaigns to roleplay in. While the fantastical worlds that players create usually only live on through their imaginations, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” brings the world of D&D to life through a fantasy film that understands and embraces what makes D&D beloved by its players.  

The film follows Edgin Davis (Chris Pine), a charming thief in charge of a group of misfits for hire who steal from the rich. After a particular job goes awry, Edgin and his strong-headed partner Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) are locked away for their crimes.After breaking free, they find that Edgin’s daughter has been taken hostage by one of their colleagues, Forge (Hugh Grant) who cheated his way into power. The rest of the film follows Edgin’s journey to save his daughter, encountering new allies along the way and contending with a variety of magical beasts and dangerous foes. The cast of “Dungeons & Dragons” entertains throughout the entire film and brings a great level of charm to the film as a whole. Pine’s charismatic energy is present throughout the entire film and is able to provide a strong emotional core for serious moments as well. From Hugh Grant’s hysterical self-centeredness to Justice Smith’s character of an unsure, incompetent sorcerer, each member of the cast helps contribute to the upbeat energy of the film.  

“Dungeons & Dragons” features many classic trademarks of the tabletop RPG, from characters filling specific roles such as the shapeshifting druids and iconic creatures like the frightening Mimic, a fake chest with giant teeth that surprises unsuspecting adventurers. But the film goes beyond just having simple nods to the game by actively having plot beats that make the movie feel like a homebrewed campaign. There are numerous occasions  throughout the film where characters have extremely lucky and unlucky moments that feel like moments where players would have impactful dice rolls. Edgin’s “make it up as we go” personality fits extremely well alongside this as he and the rest of the group improvise and adapt to their situations, much like how actual players in a campaign would.  

The film is also a breath of fresh air when it comes to adaptations since it doesn’t devolve into being overly meta and self-aware of what kind of film it is. It would have been incredibly easy for them to have put in a twist at the end of the film that reveals the entire film was being played by a group of real-life players which would have felt both extremely forced and stereotypical for films of this nature. “Dungeons & Dragons,” however, commits to staying true to its world throughout the whole film and provides an entertaining fantasy film for those unfamiliar with D&D as well as being a love letter to fans of the tabletop game.