The D&D movie: nat20

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DD and I went to see Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves today! I originally wanted to go with my TTRPG group but the earliest date we could find was in three weeks and I was too impatient for that. Fortunately I loved it so much that I definitely want to go see it again :D

That was so much fun. I don't remember the last time I had this much fun watching a movie. I didn't have any spoilers, I hadn't even seen the trailer, which was great. I'd just heard that it was entertaining, but I didn't have that high expectations either, and I was completely surprised how much I enjoyed it.

It worked wonderfully as a movie in general, as a fantasy/action/heist movie, and as a D&D movie. You didn't need to understand any of the references but there are so many of them. I've never played a D&D campaign set in the actual canon world so I only knew most of the places second-hand, from things like TAZ, while DD has actually played campaigns that visited those places and it was great to see them. I recognized the races, of course, and specific monsters and spells and some things that I think were easter egg jokes – they might not have been but I think the odds are pretty good.

It was clearly made by people who love D&D very much and know exactly what makes it work. It felt like a D&D campaign, and I mean that in the best way. Many of my favorite moments were when the characters were confronted with an obstacle and figured out a clever way to deal with it, I could almost feel the excitement around the table and see the resigned/proud/equally excited face of the DM. And it managed the balance of not taking itself too seriously while at the same time being completely earnest and heart-felt. Even when you 100% knew what was coming because that's just how those tropes work that didn't cheapen the moments.

…okay I think I'm in danger of overhyping this, it's not perfect, but I loved it a lot. The plot complications and the traps and enemies and the moments you absolutely knew that someone had rolled either a nat 1 or a nat 20 were so good. The setting and the world and the costumes and the music were very good, they didn't especially stand out but they did exactly what they were there for. The fights were varied and exciting and fun, and I liked the characters and the plot as well.

I really liked Ed and Holga together, they and Kira are a great family, and I liked Simon and Doric too. And the paladin! He was so very much an honorable paladin that the party find hard to relate to and who had a very specific role to play and he played it beautifully, including a great fight – and then he left them because of course he did.
I thought all the characters were just the right degree of "classic" examples of their classes. The young sorcerer who struggles with his charisma stat, the silver-tongued bard with a tragic backstory (I bet he's a bard/rogue mix and that's why he doesn't seem to have much magic), the tiefling druid who looks a bit like an elf and wildshapes into an owlbear that was so cool (I like the theory I saw that she's a homebrew variant who got a buff to her wildshaping abilities in exchange for having barely any spellcasting), and the gruff barbarian with a heart of gold (who was exiled from her tribe because she chose her halfling husband but they later divorced.) Forge and Sinfonia were great villains too, they both had clever evil plans of their own and it made sense that they worked together.

It's the kind of movie where I would enjoy reading fic for it, there's some canon divergence scenarios that could be very interesting and fun, but at the same time I'm satisfied with the movie itself. I already look forward to seeing it again.

Comments

[merit]

I agree! It was just a genuinely enjoyable movie with some fun magic and action scenes.

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I think my favorite magic was the owlbear-wildshape, but it's very hard to choose. The staff is also up there. I laughed at "the smell of fresh cut grass" - no idea if that was intentional or not, still funny ^^

[cephy]

I had basically the same reaction - so much fun, loved the nods and how clear it was that the makers knew D&D and weren't just making a generic fantasy movie (may have gone a bit wild when I recognized one of the other teams in the tournament, because holy crap that was a nostalgia take - also when I realized that the tournament maze itself was based on 5' squares, because of course it was)... but yeah, even if you didn't know the basis it was still a solidly entertaining movie :D

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How did I not make the connection with the arena floor squares! *facepalm* Beautiful.
I didn't recognize the other team in the tournament either but in that case it's because I actually don't know them I'm 99% sure ^^

[cephy]

One of the other teams was the tv cartoon D&D crew from the 80s, that I grew up watching religiously, so I was thrilled :D

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That's cool! I expect the fics with the two parties meeting are already being written :)

[nonesensed]

Agree! This was such a fun movie, D&D knowledge or no - I'm so glad they allowed it to be a fun "popcorn movie", with humor and action as well as the occasional emotional moment. Very fun and extra excellent for the stealthy Easter Eggs they sneaked in, like the 80s Cartoon party and the Critical Role reference. Plus, the actor who plays Simon chose to add sign language to all his spells as their somatic component which is I think is extra neat <3

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It's such a great take on somatic components! I'll have to pay more attention next time I watch it :)