Honor Among Thieves is an absolute must see. Directors Jon Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, along with their cast, did fantastic jobs at capturing the feel of a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign. Going in to the movie I had my reservations, worry that the best scenes were revealed in the trailers like so many movies have done in the past, worry that it would either be too campy – a big part of why the 2000-2012 D&D trilogy did so poorly – or too serious, and worry that this would be a blasé fantasy movie slapping the D&D name on the front to draw attention. If you’re the kind of person that needs a D&D movie to adhere strictly to the rules as written in order to enjoy it, this movie isn’t for you. Frankly I don’t believe it would be possible to make a good D&D adaptation without making some of the changes Daley and Goldstein made.

The story follows Edgin (Chris Pine) a bard, and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) a barbarian trying to reunite with family they lost in the events leading up to the movie’s beginning. Edgin is bound to let nothing stand in the way of being reunited with his daughter and finding a way to bring back his deceased wife. My only complaint is that 100% of magic spellcasting is reserved exclusively for the sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith) who has trouble performing unless under extreme pressure.

This movie felt like a proper D&D campaign that had been adapted for the big screen. The comedic timing was great as were the easter eggs to things like Critical Role, and the 1980s animated D&D cartoon. Throughout the whole thing I found myself constantly comparing what just happened to interactions I’ve had with other players and the Dungeon Master (DM) in my own games. Whether you play D&D or not, if fantasy movies are something you enjoy, I think you’ll find this enjoyable as well. I give this a solid 10 stars, I am looking forward to buying a copy when the DVD hits shelves so I can enjoy bloopers, deleted scenes, and hopefully voice over commentary.

Some spoilers below:

Having to choose between bringing back his wife and saving the life of an extremely close friend near the end was a good touch. The after credits scene seeing the antagonist attempt and fail at escaping the prison in the exact same way Edgin and Holga successfully escaped from at the start of the film was a good chuckle, and Simon’s accidentally destroying an intricately made and trapped bridge that they needed to cross in order to find what they needed for their mission made me think of all the times as a DM where I would spend hours creating something only for the players to destroy it in mere minutes and have to find their own workaround.