David Farnor | On 28, Aug 2023

Director: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Cast: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Daisy Head, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page
Certificate: 12

“I make plans.” “You’ve already made the plan. “If the plan fails, I make a new plan.” “So you make plans that fail?” “No.” That’s the sound of Dungeons & Dragons heading to the big screen once again – and if it doesn’t sound like what you’d expect from a film based on the tabletop role-playing game, that’s exactly why it works.

The long-running RPG has enjoyed soaring popularity in recent years, but it’s not well known for its accessibility to newcomers. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves does the logical thing for an unlikely live-action feature film adaptation – the last one was a forgettable trilogy that began in 2000 – and undermines that reputation as much as possible. The result is a romp that’s designed to be as mainstream as possible.

It follows Edgin (Chris Pine), a thief who thinks he’s suave but mostly comes across as slippery. We meet him as he’s trying to escape prison, along with warrior sidekick Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), in the hope of rescuing Edgin’s daughter, Kira. She’s been raised by con artist Forge (Hugh Grant), who has become Lord of Neverwinter, thanks to a deal with an evil Red Wizard, Sofina (Daisy Head), and – after betraying Edgin and landing him in prison – has been lying to Kira to turn her against her father.

What ensues is a quest to retrieve a string of magical MacGuffins, each one enabling the next step in a chain of magical mysteries and impossible puzzles. Underpinning each set piece, though, is some solid world-building that mixes monsters and lore with a surprising amount of backstory and character.

That’s in no small part due to the cast, with Pine dialling up the incorrigible charm without losing the vulnerability of a wounded parent, while Michelle Rodriguez balances her knack for action with convincing chemistry between the two partners. Hugh Grant, meanwhile, continues to excel in his late-career comic relief, blustering his way through his own web of lies with an increasingly amusing desperation – a lighthearted counterpart to Daisy Head’s intimidating villain. In between them all, Justice Smith is gently cute as a would-be wizard, who just wants to impress Sophia Lillis’ no-nonsense druid, while Regé-Jean Page steals every scene he’s in as a straight-faced paladin, Xenk.

Together, they have just the right balance of seriousness and silliness, allowing each other to send themselves up and undermine events whenever they threaten to get too heavy, without turning everything into a self-aware nod and wink – the jokes here aren’t at the expense of the story, concept or characters, but slot into the world, puzzle-solving and all, with a seamless sincerity. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein – who co-penned the script with Michael Gilio – pull off that balancing act with aplomb for two hours and 14 minutes, chucking in fights and special effects with wit and energy. The result is a fantasy romp that doesn’t break new ground, but makes familiar ground as effortlessly entertaining as possible. Roll the dice for another go please.

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