Guardians of the Dungeon

"The Marvel Formula" has become something of a derogatory term in recent years. However, there is a reason glib, self-aware, banter loving heroes embarking on straight forward quests that juggle grand stakes with humour has been the dominant box office flavour for over a decade. Done well it works, and Dungeons and Dragons : Honour Among Theives does it better than the mouse house has in years.

The story is a simple one, a rag tag bunch of thinly drawn but likeable miss fits must pull of a heist to rescue the estranged daughter of their (by default) leader. Chris Pine shows he can do the humorous action lead as well as either of the Marvel Chris' and Michelle Rodriguez does stoic warrior as well as you would expect with the two having good chemistry as long time friends/partners in crime. They are joined by Justice Smith's mediocre magician and Sophiia Lillis as a human sceptic shape shifter, the two also making up the obligatory romance story. The main antagonist is former friend Hugh Grant, who continues his streak of having a great time and knocking it out the park, although he is just a front for a much more sinister, and genuinely pretty scary villain.

The movie has some exhilarating action scenes and the effects look great, creating such an over the top hi fantasy world without making it look ridiculous is no mean feat. Where the film really shines though is in its humour, with Honour Among Theives leaning far more into absurdity than the usual effects heavy blockbuster dares. At times things are pushed to almost Monty Python levels of surrealness and while not every joke lands there are some real laughs to be had. Rege-Jean Page is only involved in a small part of the film but steals the show as a Paladin character that could have walked straight off the set of The Mighty Boosh.

I don't know if this is what avid D&D fans were looking for in an adaptation but it would be pretty hard not to have a smile on your face watching and while a hefty budget means Paramount may struggle to turn much of a profit this time out they've surely sown the seeds of a new franchise.

8 villainous turns out of 10 Hugh Grants

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