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Paramount’s Most Underrated Crime Fantasy Is Climbing Another Streamer’s Charts 3 Years Later

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Only once in a while does a truly great fantasy film come out, and tragically, for one essential crime story, it went tragically underwatched at the box office. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had absolutely everything going for it, if only people actually went to the theater and watched it. Never before had there been a live-action movie that perfectly exemplified the feeling of playing a D&D campaign while also not expecting anyone to have to know the rules to enjoy it.

Stranger Things had already made D&D appealing in the eyes of Hollywood, and a true translation of the game was the logical next step. Honor Among Thieves follows Edgin, a single-father bard who turns to crime to raise his daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman). Chris Pine is at his best as the leader of a ragtag group of thieves in a story that just happens to have fantasy elements pulled from D&D lore. Directing team John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldestein implement the charming mechanics of the game in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming. At its heart, Honor Among Thieves is more than just a D&D game. It is a hidden gem of a fantasy film, all about character.

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‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Is A Fantastical Found Family Story

All the great fantasy narratives have one thing in common: character is king. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves wouldn’t be nearly as charming or engaging without the lovable characters powering the story forward. Edgin has one of the most relatable character motivations, as everything he does is to protect Kira from harm. He amasses a ragtag crew to perform heists when something goes terribly awry.





















































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Which Lord of the Rings
Character Are You?
One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed

The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.

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The Fellowship Has Spoken
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The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.

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Frodo

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Gandalf

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Legolas

⚒️
Gimli

👁️
Sauron

🪨
Gollum

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You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don’t have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.

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You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.

You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.

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Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.

You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don’t do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.

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You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you’re not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.

You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.

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He and the admirable brawler, Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), are sent to prison but escape with the hope of winning back Kira’s trust. The story is ultimately a tale about family set in a fantastical world. Edgin has to contend with his guilt over not being a model father. His obsession with bringing his dead wife back to life supersedes what his daughter’s real needs are, a conclusion that the entire movie builds toward.

Honor Among Thieves is a heartfelt redemption story that is made even better by its tone. Self-serious fantasy films are about a dime a dozen, but this narrative houses its story about family in a hilarious way that D&D fans can enjoy. The main drive of the story surrounds Edgin bringing the band back together for one final score.

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Is the Best Fantasy Heist Film

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves works on several levels, but its rewatch value is dependent on a hilarious twist on the heist genre. Edgin must devise a plan to win his daughter back, and through a series of wacky happenstances, he can only do this by pulling off a robbery. He enlists his previous cohorts, which include a Barbarian, a Tiefling druid, and the worst sorcerer of all time. This setup appeals to many D&D players because of how much it aligns with real campaigns. These devised backstories are typical of an enjoyable campaign that often veers into straight-up comedy.

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Hugh Grant is also a standout in the heist fantasy as Forge, a con man who throws the main party for a loop. After doing so many rom-coms in his career, Grant is genuinely hilarious as a character who swings to the other side of the spectrum. Like his villainous role in Heretic, Grant pulls off a morally complex character while contributing some of the best line deliveries of the entire film. This all coincides with the final set piece of the haphazard crew pulling off a heist while also endangering their lives.

Honor Among Thieves picks up where great adventure films like The Mummy left off. Humor, fantastical elements, and crime are all at play in a story that is finally gaining traction. Viewers who missed it the first time around – or returning fans who simply can’t get enough – can stream the underrated film on Pluto. The free-to-stream platform is perfect for finding treasures that didn’t get their due the first time around. This one in particular is just as funny and engaging as it was in 2023 when it first premiered.


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Release Date

March 31, 2023

Runtime

134 minutes

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Producers

Nick Meyer, Brian Goldner, Jeremy Latcham

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