Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Review: A Good Roll

Is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves worth watching?

Yes. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a genuinely funny fantasy adventure that captures the fun of a tabletop campaign rather than the weight of its rulebooks. The ensemble has real chemistry and the set pieces keep finding playful uses for magic instead of defaulting to bigger explosions. The reservations are modest but real: the villain is thin, the stakes never feel very high, and at more than two hours the film overstays its welcome slightly.

What is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves about?

Edgin (Chris Pine), a bard turned thief, and his loyal friend Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a barbarian with a short temper and a big heart, begin the film in prison. When they get out, they find that their old partner in crime, Forge (Hugh Grant), has done very well for himself in their absence and is now raising Edgin’s daughter. To put things right, Edgin assembles a mismatched crew for a dangerous heist: an insecure sorcerer (Justice Smith), a shape-shifting druid (Sophia Lillis) and, along the way, a stern, literal-minded paladin (Regé-Jean Page).

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the pair behind the comedy Game Night, and it premiered at SXSW in 2023. It is an American production in English, set in the game’s Forgotten Realms, and runs 134 minutes.

A comedy first, a fantasy epic second

Most fantasy blockbusters sink under their own mythology. Goldstein and Daley sidestep the trap by pitching this as a heist comedy that happens to have dragons in it. The world-building arrives through jokes and complications rather than lectures, so viewers who have never rolled a die can follow along while players spot the in-jokes about spells, classes and plans that fall apart on contact.

The best sequences feel like a table of friends improvising. A graveyard scene in which the crew can ask the dead only a handful of questions is a clever comic set piece, and a long chase built around the druid’s shape-shifting is the film’s most inventive stretch of action. Even the dragon is played partly for laughs, which tells you everything about the film’s priorities.

An ensemble that actually likes each other

Chris Pine is ideally cast as a leader whose main skill is talking. He plays Edgin as a charming planner who is rarely the most capable person in the room and knows it, and his self-deprecation sets the tone for everything around him. Michelle Rodriguez gives Holga a gruff warmth, and their friendship, which the film treats as purely platonic, is its emotional anchor.

Hugh Grant has a ball as Forge, playing a coward and a charlatan with the same oily charm he has perfected in his later character roles. Regé-Jean Page makes the most of a short stint as the humourless paladin, whose inability to recognise sarcasm is one of the film’s best running jokes. Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis are likeable, if less sharply drawn.

Where the adventure loses momentum

The film’s affability is also its limit. The main threat is a generic evil sorceress whose plans are more functional than frightening, and because the tone rarely allows real danger, the later action can feel like a series of obstacles rather than a climax. The digital effects are serviceable rather than memorable, and a few detours could have been trimmed without losing anything. This is an easy watch, not a film that lingers afterwards.

Who should watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves?

It suits families with older children, groups looking for a crowd-pleaser, and anyone who likes their fantasy with more jokes than prophecies. Tabletop players will get extra pleasure from the references, but no knowledge of the game is required. The violence is frequent but bloodless and mostly comic, with some creature scares and mild language.

If it hits the spot, try these:

• Back to the Future for the gold standard of the crowd-pleasing adventure comedy, with tighter plotting than this film manages.
• Project Hail Mary, a 2026 blockbuster that also balances big-stakes adventure with a strong comic voice.
• The Odyssey if you want a quest story played entirely straight, at far greater scale and seriousness.

The verdict

Honor Among Thieves is a pleasant surprise: a fantasy franchise film that remembers adventures are supposed to be fun. The villain is forgettable and the running time a little indulgent, but the cast’s easy chemistry and a string of inventive, funny set pieces make it a reliable choice for a relaxed movie night.

Rating: 3.5/5