Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - A Stroke of Bardic Inspiration

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a 2023 American live action film based on the Forgotten Realms setting of the tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons. It has no connection to the previous D&D film trilogy consisting of D&D 2000, Wrath of the Dragon God, and The Book of Vile Darkness.

In 2013 Warner Bros. Pictures teamed up with Sweetpea Entertainment, who had worked on the 2000 film, to produce a script for a new Dungeons & Dragons movie. The project was held up for two years by a lawsuit over who possessed the film rights to D&D - Hasbro or Sweetpea. Hasbro argued that the rights had reverted back to them because Sweetpea had not made a movie based on D&D since 2000, and the the TV films (Wrath of the Dragon God and The Book of Vile Darkness) did not constitute proper sequels. In 2015 the two companies settled the case with an undisclosed arrangement. The project then shifted from Warner Bros. to Paramount Pictures sometime around 2017, switching writers and directors several times. Filming finally began in April 2021 in Iceland and Northern Ireland with a crew of 60-70 people.

Credit Music: Wings Of Time (by Tame Impala)

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.

 

Summary

At the arctic prison, Revel's End, in Frozenfar, a thief named Edgin Darvis (human bard) makes a case for his pardon before the Absolution Council. He used to be a member of a peacekeeping order called the "Harpers" until the "Red Wizards of Thay" murdered his wife in an act of retaliation against the group. With a daughter named Kira to feed, he turned to theft to make ends meet, eventually teaming up with Holga Kilgore (human barbarian), Simon Aumar (half-elf sorcerer), and Forge Fitzwilliam (human rogue). During a raid on a Harper stronghold with their latest client, Sofina, an alarm is accidentally triggered by Edgin when he tries to filtch a "Tablet of Reawakening" - an item capable of reviving one deceased person. Both he and Holga are captured while the rest of the group escape.

Jarnathan the aarakocra (left) has become a beloved, meme-worthy character (Clip 1 and Clip 2). Aarakocra are typically 'Neutral good' in alignment, making him a good choice for balancing out the biases of the other council members. His race is also one that hates confinement and would therefore be more sympathetic to someone in a 'cage'.

Unaware that a pardon has been granted, Edgin and Holga make a hasty escape on an aarakocra. They travel to the city of Neverwinter where they learn that Forge has become a Lord and has been taking care of Kira. Over the last two years though, Forge has convinced Kira that her father abandoned her for riches. Forge also secretly worked with Sofina (a Red Wizard) to have Edgin and Holga captured. Sofina tries to have Edgin and Holga executed during their visit to Neverwinter, but the duo escapes and plots to rob Forge's treasure vault of the Tablet of Reawakening to prove their innocence to Kira.

 
They manage to track down Simon who suggests recruiting Doric (tiefling druid), whose forest community (the Emerald Enclave) is fighting loggers sent by Forge as retaliation for questioning how he came to power. Doric infiltrates Forge's castle as a fly and learns that the gladiatorial High Sun games, which had previously been banned, have been reinstituted. The vault holding items of value to be used as bets on the games are protected by Mordenkainen's arcane seal - an incredibly powerful magic that can only be broken by an equally powerful mage or by an artifact known as "The Helm of Disjunction".

The group travels to the Evermoors cemetery to ask the fallen Uthgardt Elk tribe (Holga's ancestors) buried there, via a speak with the dead spell, what became of the helmet after the Battle of the Evermoors. The body of Ven Salafin reveals that a Thayan named Xenk Yendar (human paladin) had retrieved the helmet from his corpse. Holga's cousin had fought at Xenk's side in the deserts of Anauroch, so she vouches for his character. They locate Xenk in the nearby village of Mornbryn's Shield in the Savage Frontier, where he tells the party of the Red Wizards and their leader Szass Tam's takeover of Thay, which turned the populace into undead.

Xenk is basically the DM's overpowered player character that shows up for the quest and departs once it is complete. A certain scene with Xenk and a boulder was also entirely improve from the actors.

Xenk offers to help the group, but only after they swear on a Harper's book to distribute the stolen riches amongst the Neverwintan people. The party is led through the Kryptgarden Forest to an entrance to the Underdark (a vast subterranean network). The group slips passed intellect devourers (walking brains) to reach the hanging ruins of Dolblunde, an old gnomish city. Simon accidentally sets off a trap, collapsing the bridge they needed to cross over. However, Holga paid a visit to her ex-husband Marlamin (a halfling) before the trip and brought his walking stick - a Hither-Thither Staff. Using the staff, the group is able to create a portal from one side of the bridge to the other. After retrieving the helmet from its hiding place, the group is beset by a band of Thayan assassins sent by Sofina. The fighting awakens a slumbering red dragon known as Themberchaud, who gives chase to the group. The assassins are eaten while the party escapes through a hole in the wall.

On the Sea of Swords, Xenk departs from the group so that they may "rise to the occasion" instead of relying on his abilities. Simon tries and fails to attune to the Helmet of Disjunction, causing a rift in the group as their plan seemingly falls apart. They eventually make amends and form a new plan to get into the vault by attaching a portal to a painting of the famed writer Volothamp Geddarm. Through a combination of their skills they are able to sneak the painting onto an armed wagon delivering treasures to the vault, but during the opening of the High Sun Games, they discover the painting has fallen flat on the floor, making the portal impossible to use.

"Magic chooses who wields it, and it does not suffer fools." -Elminster Aumar

The party splits up, with Edgin leaving to find Kira while Simon and Holga attempt to attune to the Helmet once more. Simon is successful, but finds the vault empty. Meanwhile, Doric crawls through a gap in the painting portal as a worm, exiting into a treasure room aboard a boat. Evard's black tentacles (a spell) unexpectedly entrap the entire group but Edgin convinces Forge and Sofina to throw them into the High Sun arena. Alongside other participants, they run through a large shifting maze filled with mimics and a displacer beast (shifting cat). By jumping into a gelatinous cube they are able to ride it down to the lower floors the next time the maze shifts. The party hurries to the docks in time to stop Forge, recuse Kira, and steal the boat for themselves. However, the sight of Sofina invoking the "Horn of Beckoning Death" to turn the stadium spectators into undead convinces the group to turn around.

The main character cast from the 1980's Dungeons & Dragons animated series make a cameo appearance in the arena.

Using the Hither-thither Staff, the party empties the boat of its riches, raining the loot down from a portal on a hot-air balloon. The spectators quickly vacate the stadium to collect the riches, leaving Sofina with no one to turn. Furious, Sofina assaults the party in the city streets using the animated statue of a metallic dragon. When that fails, Sofina tries using a time stop spell which Simon counter-spells. Then Kira, using a Pendant of Invisibility, stealthily attaches a magic-suppressing cuff (used on contestants in the games) to Sofina. The now helpless Sofina is mauled to death by Doric in owlbear form. Holga, however, had been stabbed in the heart with Sofina's deadly Red Wizard blade - a death no cleric can reverse. Realizing that Holga had been like a mother to Kira, and that reviving his wife would be more for his own benefit than for anyone else, Edgin uses the Tablet of Reawakening to bring Holga back to life.

Final Thoughts

Honor Among Thieves had a lot of heart where it mattered, and it knew when to be serious and when to joke so that the serious stuff never felt cheap or unearned. The plot itself is unremarkable, but works because of its compelling character interactions and their silly shenanigans. And while the characters often joked or were made to look silly, they were never disrespected or treated like a joke. Simon in particular, who despite his many amusingly bungled spells, is always encouraged and supported by those around him. The absence of a forced romance, especially between opposite gendered friends co-parenting, was surprisingly fresh. It's clearly established that Holga has a 'type' (short stature) and that Edgin values her as a friend and ally but never as a potential partner. I wish more blockbuster movies were brave enough to do something like this. Holga meeting with her ex. was another highlight and a great example of Honor Among Thieves' writing and character development. The scene starts off as comedic, but then transitions into a heartfelt discussion between two adults with a lot of respect for one another finding closure and going their separate ways in life.

The production quality itself was a bit of a mixed bag. CGI for background monsters such as the axe beaks, rust monsters, and lizardfolk looked really good, while the prosthetics for non-humans was a little more iffy. The hobgoblin and gith (seen briefly) looked alright, but then you have characters like Doric who, if she had not been given a tail, I never would've pegged for a tiefling. Her horns could easily be mistaken for druid antlers, and the lack of demonic features (red skin, fangs, hooves, glowing eyes) just made her look too much like a regular human. I love the use of practical effects for the beast races. The aarakocra and dragonborn costumes were very convincing looking until they started moving, then the rubberiness of them ruined the illusion. And I hate to be so critical of a production trying to make the most of a limited budget while still appealing to fans, but there are furries with more convincing fur-suits than the tabaxi (cat people) in this movie. That said, it's clear that a lot of care and love by people who understand D&D went into this production. I wouldn't say that it is a 'must see' flick, but Honor Among Thieves is definitely a solid production that both fans and casual viewers can enjoy.

Have you seen the Honor Among Thieves feature film? What were your thoughts on the movie and how does it compare to your tabletop sessions? If you haven't seen it, do you plan to?

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