The D&D Movie (Honor Among Thieves)

 So, I've now seen the new D&D movie (Honor Among Thieves) and have to say that while not great I enjoyed it. 

The best thing, I thought, was how it hit the right balance between making an adaptation recognizably true-to-its-original on the one hand, and providing newcomers with what they need to know on the other. A good example wd be naming and identifying creatures (owl bear, displacer beast, gelatinous cube). 

Certainly it's far better than the three previous films to bear that name (gone and well forgotten). And Hugh Grant fared better than the hapless Jeremy Irons: here the villain does not so much chew scenery as glory in the Harry Mudd-ness of it all.

While it deserves praise for capturing the flavor of D&D, the best thing about this film is the cast. Surprisingly, it's the women who fare best: the tiefling druid delivered the best performance, closely followed by the barbarian and paladin, with the sorcerer and bard (the star of our show) lagging a bit behind. 

So, on the whole, a success. Personally I'd cut the opening twenty minutes or so, which cuts back and forth between past events and the present right when our story shd focus on getting going. But maybe that's just me.

I'm surprised the credits don't include a line acknowledging Gygax and Arneson (or Arneson and Gygax, depending on yr preference). The only person credited here known for his work on the game is the late Kim Mohan, here labelled 'Loremaster'. By this I assume he must have played some role as a resource for the film folks, to answer any questions about how something they wanted to do in the movie wd work in terms of the game.  There were also two WotC folks, unknown to me, who I assume worked as liason between WotC and the filmmakers.

Finally, it came as quite a surprise to me that the august New York Times wd feature a fairly straightforward review of the film. We've come a long way since fantasy in general and D&D in particular only got written about when it cd be cast as a wink-wink these silly people sort of thing. Now it's so mainstream that it appears on things like those Valpak coupon things that come in the mail (see below). 

Thanks to friend Matt F. for the link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/movies/dungeons-and-dragons-movie-guide.html?unlocked_article_code=XtwCiReUXMHfMcl7IV5_uVDJFbMOJytgA2Xq_M8XpHR9KFQ28nynyMuKbwK-KjTv-kfJn5_vee2_0axS_oBgNSKvm9uFvav-v6OI_yfT8Fqfq3Od-qBg5SPQgEReqQnCbFAbAH8LmW_2M_NP89M2V0N1xagb-848VLBoKFpGCyn_AHeQyn6n7ilWMCAZMEmrjiDDW7oxfEWX2mqp5RO_DdgrLbL3ZQuoesYi4mSVoa3-eA239lQKaOcbwGVHGZ410n1kdDvMu-ber80E8FZl5GWW4esA1ofrymcqXH5b1ymoFILUcQgqACwXb6QaTY4b8WbHnTzSY1cP7l_RAGdE2Be_USOkV1K8Kw&smid=url-share

--John R.

--current reading: THE LAST BOOK OF JORKENS