SXSW 2023 Review: 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'

AUSTIN, Texas (WOAI) — The filmmakers behind “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” which had its world premiere on the opening night of South By Southwest last Friday, clearly understand how popular the fantasy genre is right now. From “The Lord of the Rings” to “Game of Thrones” to “House of the Dragon,” shows with, well, dragons are a surefire crowd-pleaser.

But one thing those movies and TV shows are notably missing is humor. “Honor Among Thieves” Directors and co-writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who also collaborated on the great comedy “Game Night” in 2018, seem like good choices to remedy this. At the premiere of the film at SXSW, Goldstein and Daley emphasized they made the film for everyone, not just fans of the 50-year-old role-playing game. It appears they have succeeded, at least as far as the premiere crowd was concerned.

The titular thieves in the film are led by Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine), a former do-gooder who turned to a life of non-violent crime after the death of his wife at the hands of a Red Wizard of Thay. His literal partner in crime is Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez), a disenchanted barbarian exiled from her people. Together they platonically co-parent Edgin’s daughter Kira, who was just a baby when her mother was killed.

The extended members of their crew include a so-so sorcerer named Simon (Justice Smith) and a rakish con artist named Forge (Hugh Grant) who tips Edgin off to a magical score that can bring his dead wife back to life. However the heist goes wrong, and Edgin and Holga end up jailed, while Kira is left in the care of Forge.

Two years pass, and Edgin and Holga engineer their escape, only to find Forge is now the Lord of Neverwinter and in league with the Red Wizard Sofina (Daisy Head). Forge has turned Kira against Edgin, and orders his former partners killed. With Edgin’s wit and Holga’s strength, they escape, and work to put together a team—including Smith, Sophia Lillis’ Doric, and Regé-Jean Page’s Xenk—to take down Forge and Sofina and resuce Kira.

“Honor Among Thieves” is infused with a light, sarcastic sense of humor that helps the rather formulaic plot hum along nicely. While the script drops references to classic D&D elements for diehards to pick up on, it doesn’t require any real knowledge of the game to understand what’s going on. The somewhat ramshackle nature of the plan in the movie evokes the make-it-up-as-you-go-along conceit of the game, but it doesn’t always make for the smoothest viewing experience. Still, with Chris Pine’s dedication to the humor and elements lovingly borrowed from sources like Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” movies, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” should win over seasoned dungeon masters and civilians alike.

Grade: B

“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” opens in theaters March 31.