Movie number 16 of 2023
The Movie: Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves
The Cinema: Hoyts Victorian Gardens
Stars: 3.5
Balm for the fried brain is what I go for on a Friday night when I have nothing better to do. And Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves fit the bill tonight, especially after hearing a review of this on morning television the other day. Need something light, a little bit funny, with a great heart and fabulous effects. This is it.
Do you need to know anything about the Dungeons and Dragons game? No.
Do you need to engage your brain to watch this? No.
Is this pretty to look at and a guilty pleasure for somebody who won't freely admit to liking action movies. Yes.
Is it worth going to just for the cast? Absolutely.
It's a journey film, centered around Edgin (Chris Pine), a disillusioned Harper (D&D term I believe), a thief who has lost his wife to a Red Witch attack. In the pit of his grief, he's looked after by Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), who takes care of both him and his young daughter Kira. Edgin then arranged a group to start to live life like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. They also do the odd renegade job, with fledgling wizard, Simon (Justice Smith) and an elf-like druid creature, Doric (Sophia Lillis). The last job, where they are after a magical relic, lands them in prison for a few years. One of their band, Forge (Hugh Grant) taking care of Kira in the interim.
When Edgin and Holga escape from prison, the task is then to gain back Kira and her confidence in her father. In the mean time, Forge has been harbouring the red witch (Daisy Head) who is about to unleash all sorts of trouble on Forge's kingdom and the group at large.
I won't say any more - it's far to convoluted to explain, but in the run of the film, it's easy to understand.
For a time-filler, this was great. The effects are fantastic and worth the ticket price alone.
It's also a funny film, with plenty of laughs interspersed in the action. The scene with the reanimated corpses is hilarious. The script is pacy enough for you to suspend disbelief and enjoy the film.
My one small beef is that Hugh Grant is now playing to a type. Sure, he's funny, but it's getting a bit old.
There's also some wonderful cameos. Rege-Jean Page plays Xenk, another Harper (like Edgin) who helps the band in their travels. There are blink and you miss them cameos from Bradley Cooper and Terry Crews.
Sure, this is a fantasy action film, I went in with low expectations and came out happy. There's something for everybody. The fight scenes would be enough to keep your teenage boys happy, but they storylines, in the same vent as The Princess Bride, gives this a bit more dramatic and comic kudos.
I was pleasantly surprised by this. It was the perfect Friday night chill out movie. Good for a few laughs and great effects.
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