Dungeons and dragons is a beloved multimedia franchise, featuring works in books, video games and comics, as well as the latest film, Dungeons and Dragons: honor among thieves. However, all these fantastic works come from the same source: a pen and paper role-playing game created by Gary Gygax. In the heart of each Dungeons and dragons feature is this dice-driven pastime shared by several friends at a table, each putting their own creative spin on a rich and imaginative story, all under the watchful eye of a dungeon master. Dungeons and dragons has always been an experience as variable as the people who enjoy it, with no two tables enjoying the game in exactly the same way.
The new movie from Paramount Pictures, set in the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons and dragons, brings characters, creatures and settings from the beloved role-playing game to life on the big screen for a wide audience. While there are certainly some in the audience who have never held a 20-sided die, or who only know Dungeons and dragons like that game they play stranger things, chances are the majority of the new movie’s audience has actually sat down with their friends to have some amazing adventures of their own, which is why it’s a big challenge for the movie to capture the true spirit of a game of D&D.
With outstanding performances from the entire cast, excellent writing, and enough shout-outs and references to fill a campaign, Dungeons and Dragons: honor among thieves has been a huge hit with audiences, including longtime fans of the game. Here’s what the movie got right about this popular pen-and-paper pastime that helped make it such a critical success.
The characters
For any Dungeons and dragons Be it a book, an actual gaming session or a movie, the main part that carries the most weight is the main cast of characters. As a film adaptation of the classic role-playing game, Honor among thieves features characters that don’t feel like typical high-fantasy heroes, but feel exactly like player characters in a real one D&D campaign. Each one is unique and brings a very different attitude to the story they are all a part of.
Some contain complicated and detailed backstories that might take up a small novel, while others might not have much characterization prior to the actual story. The way they interact with the world and each other indicates attitudes ranging from silly to extremely serious and everything in between. Even a certain interaction between Michelle Rodriguez’ Holga and Rege Jean-Page’s Xenk, in which she comments on his stoic and earnest demeanor, comes across more as genuine player commentary than dialogue between the characters.
This is an absolute win for the movie when it comes to bringing the game to life. Dungeons and dragons players all bring dramatically different approaches to their games, as they all have different expectations and motivations for playing. Some want to write detailed and intricate stories that they can experience firsthand, while others are just there to roll as many dice as possible during combat encounters, and thus won’t write much about their character’s history and motivations. The choice to actually depict this in the movie was an excellent choice that appeals to many fans.
The narrator
Dungeons and dragons players know that the path from the start of a campaign to the final goal is anything but linear. Reaching the story’s conclusion over several sessions of play is a long and winding process based on the success and failure of every plan the players devise, and often each step seems almost completely detached from the larger plot of the game. the story. This is something that is masterfully portrayed in the film and is an element that brings the story as a whole into clearer focus.
While it is more common to associate each step of a story in some way with the main goal, Dungeons and dragons campaigns deviate in almost tangential ways to provide players with opportunities to explore smaller or more personal plot threads, while also gaining the skills, experience, or MacGuffins necessary to complete the main story objective. Where these plans go is determined by the success or failure of each move, and the movie follows this pattern.
As explained by Chris Pine’s Edgin Darvis, there is a plan, and if that plan fails, they make a new one. Over the course of the various acts, each character has moments that pay off in later moments, which is a hallmark of good screenwriting, but also of a good dungeon master who takes notes and records player actions in later moments of the game. When the story plays out like this in the movie, it’s satisfying for moviegoers as well as for the players in the audience who also experienced it firsthand.
The tone
With few exceptions, no game of it Dungeons and dragons is a very serious matter. The narrative elements of any given game are certainly treated as seriously as they need to be depending on the individual campaign; however, the things that come between the main story moments are almost always a mix of references, player-driven hijinks, and general weirdness. As an important part of most D&D games, this is also a part of the game that the movie absolutely does well.
This is not a gritty, extreme film in which darkness, despair and fear are central. Despite the high stakes, really evil adversaries work in the background, and even dark backstories for some characters, the movie does a great job of balancing the serious with the silly. Between plot-enhancing moments, there are moments of genuine levity between characters, clever references to D&D lore, and even moments where the world itself makes fun of the characters – much like a mischievous dungeon master might mess with his players.
None of this detracts from the quality of the story or lowers the sense of stakes, but rather serves to make the movie a much more enjoyable experience. For every sadistic and evil undead wizard with world-conquering ambitions there’s a reference to the arbitrary rules surrounding a piece of magic, and for every murder plot there’s a sly nod to the game as a whole. The result is a fun and enjoyable experience that not only tells a good story, but also has a lot of fun along the way.
The heart
The most unique aspect of Dungeons and dragons is the collaborative storytelling, where a group of people come together and share a truly unique adventure with their friends in a way no other pastime can match. The game is slightly different for each player, with a draw specific to them. Depicting that experience in film is a task that seems almost impossible, but Honor among thieves brilliantly represents many of the game’s most crucial elements.
Rather than trying to tell an epic, high-fantasy adventure in a serious way, this movie embraces the fun, sometimes chaotic nature of the table game. The characters aren’t generic fantasy cutouts, but rather actual depictions of what a player character might look like on screen. Storytelling brings out a world that is dark and dangerous, but can also be fun and entertaining at the same time. This is a D&D movie written by fans and lovingly delivered to fans.
Few media in the past have ever been depicted Dungeons and dragons, or even the fantasy genre in general, in such a way. With this brilliant presentation of what the game can be, fans new and old alike gain a kind of visibility and validity that has historically been scarce in popular films and television. This is a self-aware, loving take on the game itself, rather than the fantasy DNA it was based on, and that’s something that’s as satisfying as it is refreshing.