Film adaptations of the fantasy role-playing board game Dungeons & Dragons are nothing new in Hollywood. After several failed theatrical attempts and a gaming license fiasco that almost resulted in a class action lawsuit, the intellectual property has found new footing in the Paramount Pictures movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Unfortunately, the movie is preceded by a less-than-savory reputation. To such an extent that many moviegoers have grown cautious of dipping their toes in the D&D waters yet again just to have their hopes squashed. After all, it’s hard to forget New Line Cinema’s Dungeons & Dragons from 2000 which fell so firmly flat on its face that it earned a sour Rotten Tomatoes score of no less than 10%.
Be that as it may, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has returned to turn the hands of time and revitalize the court of public opinion. The movie currently sits pretty with a Rotten Tomatoes freshness score of 90% and critic reviews that blow its predecessors out of the water.
The real question, though, is whether Honor Among Thieves bridges the gap between the first film series and this one, or if the 2023 movie is a reboot with a brand new storyline. Let’s get into it.
Does Honor Among Thieves pick up where the 2000s left off, or is it a reboot?
Who are we kidding? This is Hollywood we’re talking about; the industry is to reboots as dragons are to fire. Of course Honor Among Thieves is s a reboot, and thank goodness it is. Were the film tasked with cleaning up the mess the previous films left behind it would be just as disastrous.
One of the biggest selling points of Honor Among Thieves is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sporting the kind of playfulness found in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Honor Among Thieves is a slate wipes clean for the fantasy game, one that comes with new storylines, new villains, and new and improved visual effects.
This is intentional, as Paramount’s next step for the franchise is an eight-episode series set to premiere on its streaming platform Paramount Plus, according to Deadline. It’s not been confirmed by Paramount Pictures whether Honor Among Thieves will tie into the television series, but according to Inverse, it won’t.
Either way, Honor Among Thieves is the fresh blood Dungeons & Dragons needs to not only survive in this new era of entertainment but thrive. If Honor Among Thieves is any indication of its success rate, it just might stand the test of time.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves premieres in theaters worldwide on Friday, March 31. You can check out our review of the film here.