#michael gilio

[moviemosaics]

Monkey's Magic Merry Go Round

directed by Aidan Leary, 2024

[babadork]

[adamwatchesmovies]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

We’ve come a long way from 2000’s Dungeons & Dragons. Not only in terms of special effects but also in terms of performances, storytelling and most importantly, fun. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a blast. There’s humor, memorable characters brought to life by a great cast and an energy that makes you feel like the people on-screen are part of your circle of friends. It truly captures the feeling of a session played with your buddies.

After escaping from prison, bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) and barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) set out to find Edgin’s daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman). She’s been deceived into believing her father has abandoned her. To prove he was imprisoned for “the right reasons”, Edgin has to retrieve a Tablet of Reawakening - trying and failing to steal one is what landed him in prison. With the tablet, he can bring his late wife back to life and his family will truly be whole. The nearest tablet is in a vault in Neverwinter. To get it, Edgin and Holga need to assemble a team.

This film’s got a great cast. Some names, you’ll recognize. Some, you won’t. Hugh Grant plays Forge Fitzwilliam, an ambitious con artist/rogue, Bradley Cooper has a small role as Holga’s ex-husband and Justice Smith is Simon Aumar, a half-elf sorcerer whose magical skills… are hit-and-miss. You probably won't be familiar with Sophia Lillis, who plays Doric, a tiefling shapeshifter, but she'll have your attention after this. It’s a pretty steep competition for who wears this campaign the best but I’m going to hand the award not to the ever charismatic Chris Pine or to Hugh Grant (equally charming) but to Michelle Rodriguez. Most recently, we've been seeing her in the “Fast & Furious” films, where the theme of "family" is emphasized endlessly. What that franchise built over 10 films, “Honor Among Thieves” manages to do in one. Holga and Edgin are not romantically involved but she’s basically Kira’s surrogate mother. Although she never says how much the little girl means to her (that would be very un-barbarian-like), you feel it, particularly during the film’s conclusion. This movie makes you care about its characters effortlessly. Think about that. This movie has all sorts of races and half-races, wild monsters, crazy locations, spells and other things that make it as different from our world as possible. Yet, the characters feel like real people, the kind you’d be delighted to follow on another adventure once this one wraps up.

The screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio (the first two also serve as the picture’s directors) has an episodic feel. I mean that in a good way. For our heroes to accomplish their main quest, they have to complete a bunch of smaller side quests, each leading into the next while revealing a conspiracy brewing in Neverwinter. The stakes build atop each other as the team learns to work as a unit and their tactics become increasingly inventive. There are plenty of jokes along the way but the film still takes itself seriously. By this, I mean that “Dungeons & Dragons” doesn’t make fun of itself or its audience. The humor comes from the world and its citizens. To them, all of this is normal. A magical spell allowing you to talk to the dead is neat but not mind-blowing, so it’s easy to take for granted. If you or I got a hand on that spell, we’d be super careful not to waste it. Them? Nah.

We’ve seen many movies over the years that have felt like a long campaign someone played and thought was so great it deserved to be turned into a movie. Rarely have any of them felt like an adventure you wanted to be involved with. This quest? by the time it’s over, you’ll feel like you were part of the ride all along. As a heist movie, it’s great. As a comedy, it has laughs to spare. As a fantasy film, it's got cool creatures, engaging lore and a smart take on its mythology. At the box office, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" didn’t make nearly enough money to earn itself a sequel, which is a real shame. For now, I guess I’ll settle for the after-credit scene. (August 19, 2023)

[movie-titlecards]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

My rating: 7/10

Very true to the actual TTRPG experience, while also being extremely entertaining to watch. Docking it half a star for the whole "walking fat joke dragon" thing, though, that was just... not great.

[vintagewarhol]

[moviesframes]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley

Cinematography by Barry Peterson

[cinesludge]

Movie #73 of 2023: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

[stuff-diary]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Movies watched in 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023, USA/Canada)

Directors: Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley

Writers: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley & Michael Gilio (based on a story by Chris McKay & Michael Gilio)

Mini-review:

I hadn't seen such a fun, old-school fantasy adventure in a while. All the characters are charming and the story moves at brisk pace, so the viewer is never bored. Also, the cast has great chemistry and their rapport always feels natural. I love a good heist movie and, on top of that, if you add a complex, well-built fantasy world, it's even more enjoyable. To be honest, my knowledge of the D&D world is fairly limited, so I got a bit lost whenever they started mentioning races, classes, etc. Thankfully, there are not many moments like that, so everyone can enjoy the movie without worrying about not understanding what's going on.

On the technical side, the movie is very well-made. The costumes, the make-up, the sets and the CGI are all really good, and they help you immerse yourself in the movie's world and story. I think anyone who likes fantasy and adventure stories will enjoy this movie, so make sure to watch if you are that type person. Anyway, I would like to see more movies about these characters and their world, so I hope things turn out well in the box office.