Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The 6 Best And 6 Worst Things
"Dungeons & Dragons" jumps from the table-top to the big screen with the latest film based on the game — "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves." The film is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign and follows two thieves named Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) who attempt to reclaim a stolen item after being betrayed on their last heist. When Edgin and Holga were thrown in jail after their old ally, Forge (Hugh Grant), abandoned them on their previous heist to help a Red Wizard named Sofina (Daisy Head), they vowed to fix things. So, with a new crew, Edgin and Holga plot a new heist to stop Forge and Sofina's plans and save the people of Neverwinter.
Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein give this D&D-inspired fantasy adventure a fantastic comedic bite that leads to plenty of light-hearted hilarity and memorable moments. From magical mishaps that lead to hilarious outcomes to comedic interactions that'll have audiences in stitches, there are plenty of laughs in the "Honor Among Thieves" adventure. For all the good though, there is also the frustratingly bad that'll leave audiences perplexed and kind of annoyed. So, let's delve into the good and the bad of "Honor Among Thieves."
Best: A teeny, tiny cameo
Although Holga has been separated from her former love for quite some time, she's desperately interested in talking to him again before she and the group go on their new adventure. So, when she sees that their path goes by her exes' home, she takes the opportunity to go see him. Given how big and bulky Holga is as a barbarian, it's hard not to expect her former lover to be a fearsome warrior as well. However, he's a much smaller man — which confuses the rest of the group in a hilarious way.
Even better is that Holga's ex is played by Bradley Cooper in a surprise cameo. The conversation between Holga and her ex is visually hilarious because of their size difference and seeing the woman that Holga's ex is currently with clearly shows that he has a type. Holga's trip back to her former lover might result in some heartache for her, but it does lead to the group getting the Hither Thither — which comes in very handy. More importantly, though, it's a hilarious scene that's easily one of the most memorable moments of the film.
Worst: An early departure
The appearance of actor Regé-Jean Page in "Honor Among Thieves" was set to be a huge part of the actor's rising prominence. Page has quickly garnered a lot of praise for his role in Netflix's "Bridgerton" as Simon Basset and has even been a top name floating around for portraying the next James Bond. Page's appearance in "Honor Among Thieves" is pivotal for the group as his character, Xenk, dishes out some backstory on the Red Wizards and helps the crew find the special helmet that opens Forge's vault. In terms of action and comedy, Page provides both as Xenk with the hilarious banter he has with Edgin and the way he takes down some of Sofina's undead lackeys. Page is the total package as Xenk and it's what makes his short appearance so disappointing.
Shortly after escaping the pudgy dragon and washing up on the shores of a random beach, Xenk announces that he's parting ways with the group. There's almost no reason for him to stay any longer so he hilariously walks in a straight line away from the crew and virtually out of the movie. While it's nice to see him pop back up at the end to arrest Forge, it's super disappointing to see Page out of the movie after such a short stint on-screen. Page was a top-billed name for the movie and he was so great as Xenk, so his early departure is very frustrating and saddening.
Best: Magical record skip
As the group heads into Forge's kingdom to enact their plan and spoil his and Sofina's fun, they hit a big snag. They see a bunch of guards standing in front of the entrance and must find a way around them. The first plan that comes to mind is to have Simon (Justice Smith) project something that'll distract the guards as they sneak past and they choose to project Edgin skipping up to the guards while singing a song. That alone would make this scene totally hilarious since Pine's performance is perfectly goofy, but it gets even funnier.
Unfortunately, things don't go according to plan and the projection starts skipping like a scratched CD. Edgin's projection gets caught repeating the same moment and eventually starts to melt in front of the guards. This eventually gets the group caught and put on the run, but it's absolutely hilarious for viewers. The entire sequence of Edgin's projection falling apart is so bizarre that viewers will be rolling in their seats with laughter. The plan seemed to be pretty foolproof at first, but it turns out that there can even be magical record skips.
Worst: Edgin's uselessness
Of everyone in the new crew, Edgin is by far the most useless. Holga's strength and prowess with weapons make her the group's fearsome warrior; Doric's (Sophia Lillis) ability to shapeshift into animals makes her the group's deadly Swiss Army knife; Even for Simon's troubles with magic, he's still a pretty good sorcerer to have around. Edgin is basically just a bard who doesn't carry around a weapon and is a chaotic planner. In battle, the best you're going to get is him standing behind someone and bashing them on the head with his lute. Other than that, he's pretty useless.
Sure, Edgin embodies the adventurous spirit of the group and keeps them together through his admirable ability to never give up. However, it would be nice if he did something more than crack jokes and rely heavily on someone else to save the day. There was a time when he was a better warrior as a Harper, but those days seem long behind him. In times when his team is struggling in big fights, it's hard not to feel like Edgin could be doing more than what he does and it's what makes his uselessness frustrating.
Best: Interrogation of the Dead
There's a scene with Edgin talking to a corpse to find out where the helmet is (that's been played throughout the trailers) and it's absolutely hilarious. Simon is able to resurrect a corpse with a talisman so that the group can ask them five questions. Once all questions have been asked, the corpse will go back to being dead — never to be resurrected again. If you've seen the trailers, you know Edgin's first attempt goes poorly as a lot of questions get wasted and they are given no information. Thankfully, the group interrogates more corpses making for one of the funniest sequences in the film.
With each corpse they interview, they get closer to finding out what happened to the helmet. However, they're dealt with hilarious obstacles that are great to see play out. From corpses' stories ending early because they died too quickly in battle to Edgin having to ask awkward questions just so the corpse can go back to being dead, this sequence delivers tons of laughs. It's even fun to kind of figure out what happened to the corpse based on the obvious injury they have and the way the crew leaves one corpse alive is incredibly funny. Although it might seem like "Honor Among Thieves" spoils one of its funniest scenes in the trailer, there's much more for it to make it a total gut-buster.
Worst: Doric's workaround
The Games that Forge resurrects is built up to be this dangerous and deadly tournament of heroes throughout the film but ends up being almost nothing. The tournament was apparently so deadly and disastrous that it was banned for years until Forge brought it back and there were times when no heroes come out alive at all. So when the group ends up being put into the Games to avoid a quick death at the hands of Sofina, it seems like they're completely doomed. At first, it seems like they're going to be slaughtered by the Displacer Beast that's hunting them until Doric comes up with an escape plan.
Doric uses the Gelatinous Cube she came across earlier to get the team out of the maze and away from the Displacer Beast. She tells everyone to jump in and leaves enough of herself out of the cube to turn into a snake and escape to pull everyone out. While it's nice that the crew is able to escape the tournament mostly unscathed, it's disappointing that we only get to see the first round of the Games. With how much it was built up throughout the film, the actual showing of the Games is vastly underwhelming and feels incredibly anti-climatic.
Best: An epic final fight
When the time comes for the group to face Sofina, they do everything they can to take her down and it results in one epic final fight. Doric attempts to rip Sofina to shreds as an Owlbear and the two tussle in the streets. Holga and Edgin put up a decent fight given that they don't have magic before rolling through the city in a bubble that Sofina puts them in. Simon and Sofina even get into a Western-style duel that sees them use magic hands to beat each other up. Ultimately though, Sofina has the upper hand and nearly defeats them all in a brutal fashion.
As Sofina once again uses the time-stop spell to freeze everyone in place, it seems like they're surely about to die. Thankfully though, Simon is able to negate the spell in time and Kira (Chloe Coleman) even throws the magic-negation cuff onto Sofina's wrist to drain her of her power. Sofina being weakened allows Doric to grab her as an Owlbear and hilariously toss her around like a ragdoll until she dies from being crushed by debris. "Honor Among Thieves" doesn't disappoint with its finale and lets everyone take a stab at fighting Sofina through some swift and varying action.
Worst: Forge's cruel intentions
It's made pretty clear early on that Forge is not a good guy. He abandons the group during their last heist and partners up with Sofina to gain ultimate power and influence over Neverwinter. It's not uncommon for thieves to betray one another, but Forge is eventually shown to be much more evil and cruel. Forge knows that Sofina's plan is to turn the people of Neverwinter into her undead army and simply plans on leaving them by sailing away with the riches he stole. So, even though Forge knows that the people most loyal to him are going to die, he's just going to leave them for his own gain.
While it might not be too surprising to see Forge betray people since he has quite a history of that, this is a whole new level of evil for him. He's literally going to let thousands die just so he can take his power and wealth elsewhere and it adds another despicable layer to his character. Regardless of how charming and hilarious Grant's performance is as Forge, this is an all-time low for Forge that makes his character immensely vile.
Best: A better use
Although the idea of everyone coming together to beat Sofina would seem like a happy moment for this group of adventurers, things quickly turn somber when they see that Holga was stabbed by Sofina's blade. Because Sofina's blade is imbued with Red Wizard magic, Simon can't cure Holga of the blade's power and will die. It's a tender moment that leaves viewers with a heavy heart due to the mother-like role Holga has in the team and the tears flowing down Kira's face. The final moments of Holga, Edgin, and Kira singing a song together really solidify the family-like bond they've developed and is a fitting way for Holga to pass on.
However, her death doesn't last long as Edgin decides to forgo using the Tablet of Reawakening on his wife and use it on Holga instead. With Holga really being more of a mother for Kira, Edgin decides to do what's best for his daughter and resurrect Holga. It's an incredibly heartwarming moment that acts as fulfilling progress in Edgin's character arc and keeps this loveable bunch of adventurers intact. Holga's resurrection is a genuinely emotional note for the film to end on and is a great way the film melts viewers' hearts as it heads towards the credits.
Worst: Simon's clumsiness
Simon struggles with his confidence and magic abilities throughout the film and he's easily one of the most purposely frustrating characters the film has to offer. Most of the time, Simon casts more doubt on the group's adventure than on successful spells and his lack of confidence is apparent to everyone. His spells often backfire in unexpected ways and he barely knows what spell he's casting when he's doing them. Simon is also incredibly clumsy with how he destroys the bridge before Xenk finishes his speech and plays his own role in making the conversations with the corpses more complicated.
Maybe it's his youth or the pressure he faces from his prominent lineage of sorcerers, but Simon desperately needs a confidence boost to make him less of a clumsy "Debbie Downer." Luckily, he's able to have a moment of growth when he's able to confront his ancestor and attune with the helmet. He even finds the guts to really ask Doric out at the end of the film. So, maybe Simon will be a little better in a future adventure, but here, he's a klutzy sorcerer who acts as an internal obstacle for the team.
Best: Doric's shapeshifting
Doric's ability to shapeshift into different animals makes her a key part of this team and often gets her out of trouble. When the group first meets her, she's tearing treacherous knights apart as a hulking Owlbear and instantly proves herself to be a valuable member of the team. From there, Doric shows that she can shapeshift into a wide variety of animals — which makes her very versatile in fighting and escaping.
After being caught by Sofina as a fly, Doric turns into a bunch of different animals to escape pursuing guards — including a hawk, a rat, a common housecat, and even the highly requested deer. There's a moment where she transforms into a worm to slip through a crack in some concrete and her ability to turn into a snake comes in clutch when she has to escape the Gelatinous Cube. Doric quickly becomes the most valuable member of the team because of her ability to turn into animals and it also makes for some of the thrilling and visually impressive aspects of the film.
Worst: Not so heroic
Although Edgin promises Xenk that he would give the riches that Forge is stealing to the people of Neverwinter, he initially chooses not to live up to his word. At first, the group is set to leave on Forge's boat shortly after taking him down and never return to Neverwinter again. While it would make sense for common thieves to do this, Edgin and his gang have shown that they can be so much more. So them just leaving without keeping their promise makes them less than heroic. Also, the fact that they're leaving while they know that Sofina is likely going to turn everyone into her mindless slaves also doesn't paint them in a heroic light.
Eventually, after seeing that Sofina is casting her deadly spell over Neverwinter, the crew decides to turn around and live up to their promise to Xenk by hilariously dumping Forge's riches across Neverwinter. However, it's not enough to make anyone forget that they were totally about to abandon everyone and possibly let Sofina's dreams about having her own undead army become a reality.