Michael Bushee

This movie is one of the most fun, energetic, gleeful, and earnest films I've ever seen, and definitely the most enjoyable movie I've seen in years. It's not the best movie by anyone's definition, but I was smiling the entire time. If you've ever played the tabletop game, prepare to enter familiar territory, because much like your friends around the table, this movie isn't taking itself too seriously. The characters are earnest, bumbling, and tropey, the plot is more an excuse for various setpieces, and the CGI isn't trying to look too real. The tone is continuously irreverent, schmaltzy, energetic, and joyful, all at eleven, the entire time. Every moment felt like the people behind it were having a blast, and that is never a bad watching experience. Honestly, I don't think the movie would have been a better watch if they had taken a bit of it seriously. Daley and Goldstein, alongside writers Chris McKay and Michael Gilio, injected a sense of pure glee into the film without ever letting it turn into a parody, even if occasionally it descends into the best elements of farce. The visuals were a treat, especially the overfed dragon Themberchaud and the various spells being thrown about. The dialogue was fast, doofy, and charismatic, without much in the way Marvel-style quips or ironic detachment. It's also funny, properly funny, in a way few movies I've seen recently manage. The emotional throughlines for the various characters are played to the hilt, letting the audience know that, just because the writing is irreverent and the plot silly, there's a heart here, and it's the people in it, whether it's the characters in the world or the knights of the game table. One of the highlights of the movie has to be Hugh Grant's character, Forge Fitzwilliam. Grant is clearly having too much fun playing this sleazy, mustache-twirling fat-cat conman, and he elevates every scene he's in. Another, surprisingly enough, is the choreography, both in combat and otherwise, which elevated the action far more than I was expecting. Whether it was Rege-Jean Page's swordsmanship against the Thayan Knights, Michelle Rodriguez going full barbarian every chance she got, or Justice Smith's surprisingly kinetic spellcasting, it was a joy to watch people play to their strengths, and to watch them flail against their weaknesses, keeping the characters grounded in the tone of pen and paper, Cheetos and Monster, dice and friends. In short (too late), Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an absolute love letter to the beloved tabletop RPG, and more importantly, to the experience of playing it. We need more movies just trying to have fun, to bring some laughs and joy to big screen fantasy.