The subplot of the Red Wizards makes the entire film more dark
I just finished mesmerizing myself in this movie 🎥 it's so mind-blowing and funny😁
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” kicks off with this charming rogue, Edgin (Chris Pine), locked up in prison. Right away, you know you’re not getting some grim, dark fantasy. Nah, this one is gonna have jokes, warmth, and characters who feel like people you’d actually want to sit down with over drinks. Edgin is narrating his tragic backstory in the most casual way, like he’s pitching for sympathy, but you can already sense he’s a hustler. He used to be part of this secret order, lost his wife because of a Red Wizard’s cruelty, and now it’s just him and his daughter. That’s when he hooked up with Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), this badass barbarian who’s all muscle and loyalty but has a heart softer than bread inside.
It establishes the tone with that initial scene in prison, in particular, with the comedy of the council being unaware that Edgin and Holga had already made plans to escape. The movie says: it is not a film about pondering anti-heroes, it is a film about misfits that only attempt to do things right whilst continually getting things wrong.
And when they get out? Boom, betrayal hits. Edgin discovers that their so-called ally Forge (Hugh Grant, slimy to the last) has turned them in. Forge is the lord now, he lives well, he raises the daughter of Edgin like he is his own and he basically gaslights her father. That twist hurt. And you can tell how he feels because Edgin does not just desire wealth, he desires redemption; he desires to have back the life he had with his family. And then it came to me that this is not a movie about treasure hunting, but it is about people struggling to mend broken pieces of themselves.
At this point, any heist must have a crew and this is where the fun takes off. We also have Simon (Justice Smith), the insecure sorcerer unable to cast a clean spell to save his life and yet the one who has the biggest heart. We have the shapeshifting druid Doric (Sophia Lillis), who is skeptical of humans (fair, to be honest) but continues to appear before the team in epic capacities. Similar to the time she enters the castle of Forge as a fly, followed by a bird and a mouse and that hunting scene? Wild. It was almost like a viewer observing a real D&D game, dice falling either fortuitously or appallingly unluckily.
The subplot of the Red Wizards makes the entire film more dark. That mopey, dead eyed mage, Sofina, lurking in the background, had me jumpy. Something big is in the works, beyond her aiding Forge to stay in power, and how she merely sneaks around until the end? Brilliant tension.
Then there’s Xenk (Regé-Jean Page). I swear, when he showed up, I thought, “Okay, here’s the overpowered, flawless paladin who’s going to steal the spotlight.” But nope—the movie plays it beautifully. He’s noble to a fault, hilariously serious while everyone else is chaotic, and his scenes balance that “fantasy epic” vibe with comedic gold. The way he just strides in, helps them, and then strides right back out because he’s “too good” for their nonsense? I laughed so hard.
Yet the emotional gut-punches were creeping along. As, when Simon had to become his magic, and his line turns into this little hymn to all the people who ever insecurred themselves. Or Holga—oh, Holga. She is meant to be the muscle but her moment with Edgin’s daughter and even that very embarrassing, heartwrenching moment with her ex-husband (Bradley Cooper in a surprise cameo, that made me laugh) gives her such heart. She is the type of role that stays with you, as she is not just swinging axes but is carrying unspoken pain.
The finale though? Whew. It all goes bang, Forge at the arena, the confusion of the hunt in the maze, and then Sofina pouring her Red Wizard death-magic on the whole city. In this respect it is the honor among thieves that shows itself. They might have taken the treasure, and dipped, but they roll off this ingenious turnabout and redeem the people with the loot. It is the type of a conclusion that catches you unawares. Similarly, when Holga is mortally wounded and Edgin must decide whether to apply one of their magical tablets, a one-shot pill, not to revive his wife, who was the entire point of it all, but to save Holga because she is also family. That broke me a little. There was love, all right, in the crudest sense.
At the finale, you feel as though you have been part of the adventure with them, dice rolls and all. The movie made me laugh, it made me unexpectedly cry and it also gave me this feeling of warmth that is difficult to find in fantasy. It was not striving to be the grittiest, gravest, etc. epic--it was just trying to make you remember how it feels to play a sloppy, unfair game with people you love. And it nailed it.
Honestly? Walking out, I felt lighter. Like I’d been told a story around a table by friends who were just as invested in each other as they were in “winning.” That’s what made it special for me.
