Tag: based on the game

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES – Review

Chloe Coleman plays Kira, Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga, Chris Pine plays Edgin, Justice Smith plays Simon and Sophia Lillis plays Doric in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

So, it appears that the Spring of 2023 may just be recalled as the season of big movies based on toys (I know BARBIE is still several months away). Well, maybe not toys as much as games. The TETRIS movie is streaming, and that plumbing duo returns next week, but this new/reboot flick harkens back to those pre-video game olden days. It’s not based on a board game (the box office dud BATTLESHIP may prevent another one for a while), but rather the “in-between” era. This is based on the big role-playing game juggernaut that swept the nation about 40 or so years ago. Sure there was a big studio adaptation way back in 2000 and a couple of minor sequels followed. Ah, but now it’s time to start fresh with an all-star cast to “roll the dice” for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES.

The saga actually starts in the prison known as Revel’s End where an escape occurs during a meeting of the pardon review judges. This happens after we hear the tale of the “bard” Edgin (Chris Pine) who fell from grace as a member of the noble spies, the Harpers when his beloved wife was slain by the feared and despised Red Wizards. Luckily he befriends an exiled barbarian, Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) who helps him raise his baby daughter Kira. Soon the duo becomes part of an honorable (no-killing) band of thieves that includes sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith), rogue Forge (High Grant), and his mystic partner Sofina (Daisy Head). Edgin wants no part of a dangerous heist planned by Forge until word leaks out that part of the treasure is a resurrection tablet that would bring back Edgin’s wife. This leads to his and Holga’s capture, imprisonment, and now escape and on the run. The duo journeys to Neverwinter where Forge has been elected the land’s Lord and is raising teenage Kira (Chloe Coleman) with Sofina’s help. Ah, but Forge has poisoned Kira against her dad, then arranges for the duo’s demise. The two evade the chopping axe and dash away to form a new band to return to Neverwinter and take the riches (including that tablet) from Forge’s magically fortified vault. Edgin and Holga reunite with Simon who suggests that they enlist his former paramour, the Druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) for the quest. Ah, but the vault’s spell is too powerful and Simon needs a device to open it. It is an enchanted helmet. With the help of the paladin Xenk (Rege-Jean Page), they retrieve it. But even with this in hand, can this motley crew survive the forces of Neverwinter before the deadly masterplan of Forge and Sofina dooms Kira and all of the realm’s denizens?

And, just who should be considered the “leader” of this earlier mentioned “all-star” cast (though his character would insist on “planner”)? Probably the former Captain Kirk and Amazon beau, Pine as the lovable scoundrel (much like Han Solo), Edgin. Pine projects the needed amount of “daring do” and a big helping of knowing snark, though it’s tempered with Edgin’s deep loss. He’s a thief who has been robbed of his soulmate, but he won’t lose the child born of their love. Pine’s Edgin makes a good comic team with Rodriguez’s often stoic sullen Holga. It’s a splendid physical performance as her body language is close to a fierce coiled animal, one that strikes out with swift, deadly force when pushed. Oddly Rodriguez also gives her a nurturing tenderness as she becomes a big sister/mentor to Kira and later as she is haunted by her own lost love (fabulous cameo alert). Also balancing the comic and heroic is Smith as the often overwhelmed Simon, whose wizardry needs a big boost of confidence, as he tempers expectations (“Magic has its limits!!”). It doesn’t help that his “big romantic crush” is fighting alongside him. Lillis as the equally gifted Doric is more bold and brave, and appears a bit puzzled and charmed by Simon’s flirtation, while she puts up a stern, unyielding front. Though he joins the team briefly, Page seems to be having a lot of fun skewering his heroic heartthrob image as the “too-noble-to-be-true” Xenk (here’s a TV “deep dive as he was almost a swashbuckler take on Tom Sellek’s Lance White on the mush-loved “The Rockford Files”) who is a constant thorn in Edgin’s side. Oh, but he’s not having as much fun as Grant whose Forge always has a twinkle in his crafty eyes as pulls a con on everyone in sight. Who knew that Mr. 90’s Romcom” would age into such an engaging villain? He’s aided by Head as the creepy, sinister Sofina and the assured Coleman as the conflicted confused Kira.

Well, will you be completely lost if you’ve never seen the previous films, the 80s CBS Saturday morning cartoon (look for a knowing nod to it), or even picked up the multi-sided dice? If you’re like me, then not at all. Happily, this is a spirited and imaginative fast-paced all-ages ride that blends more bits of humor with the atmosphere of the LOTR franchise, though it’s blessed with brevity. That may be largely due to the creative duo behind the camera, who also wrote the screenplay from the story by Chris McKay and Michael Gillio. After some terrific recent movie comedies (GAME NIGHT deserved better at the box office), Johnathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (who is also a talented actor, having played the D&D-loving Sam Weir in the adored one-season TV wonder “Freaks and Geeks”) prove quite adept with fantasy adventure (did I mention they worked on the script to SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING), by delivering a witty grand experience, an unexpected charmer. Now there are superb action sequences galore, but some of the comedy bits are just as memorable (all I’ll say is “quizzing corpses”). Really, it didn’t have to be this good, but you’ll be happy it is. One thing that gave me a big smile was the great use of “practical effects”. In most fantasy/SF flicks today, every weird creature is made of pixels. For this, many life-sized creature suits and masks were made by skilled craftsmen and expert puppeteers (much like in the 1980s when the first Conan film started a “B-movie” boom). Mind you, there’s plenty of CGI, but it’s done with style and never detracts. Doric is an expert shapeshifter who uses this gift to spy on the baddies in an amazing chase sequence (she’s also a fearsome fun “owl-bear”). The costumes are eye-popping the locations are lovely. If they can keep up this level of quality, then let’s hope that a new family film franchise is launched by the entrancing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES. Huzzah!


3.5 Out of 4


DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES is now playing in theatres everywhere

UNCHARTED (2022)- Review

Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) look to make their move in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED. photo by: Clay Enos

So getting those winter blues, stuck inside for days due to the weather (and lingering travel restrictions) making you a bit stir crazy? The perfect “cure” might be a virtual “vacay”, namely a globe-spanning adventure starring two actors representing the “next-gen” of action heroes. Hey, one of them is still dominating the box office (and probably playing in the auditorium next door or down the hall). But this is no mere travelogue “romp”. It’s an adaptation (and a hoped-for new franchise). Another comic book, maybe a novel, or perhaps a classic TV show? Get with it Gramps’, this is a computer game that hopes to make as big a splash as Sonic did two years ago. Rather than a CGI speedy critter, here’s the tale of a team who’ll face any danger in their quest for gold and glory hidden in territories still UNCHARTED.

Much like another beloved action franchise, this movie’s opening sequence has the intrepid Nate Drake (Tom Holland) in seemingly unescapable peril until…a flashback. We then meet him as a teen when he and his older brother Sam try to raid a museum in the dead of night. Try is the operative word as the two are hauled back to the orphanage. Before Sami s sent off to “juvie’ he promises Nate that he’ll keep in touch, then disappears into the night. A dozen or so years later adult Nate is mixing cocktails and tossing off historical explorer nuggets as he relieves spoiled “trust funders” of their trinkets and cash. But somebody’s on to his “game”: worldly “collector” Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wallberg). He approaches Nate and tries to recruit him into his plot to grab to golden jeweled crosses that would unlock the lost treasure of Magellan. Nate’s not onboard till Sully reveals that he worked with Sam. Actually, they just need the cross that’s part of a big “high-end” auction nearby (Sully insists he’s got the other one). The duo sneaks into the swanky event and are immediately spotted by the slinky Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), Sully’s rival and a ruthless retriever for multi-billionaire Santiago (Antonio Banderas) who believes the treasure is part of his family legacy. After the auction ends in chaos Sully and Nate are on the run, first to meet up with a shady operative in Barcelona, Chloe (Sophia Ali), leading to an all-out showdown on a Pacific island. Can the lowly trio get to the loot before Santiago and Braddock’s army scoops it up?

Aside from its gaming roots, this film’s biggest ‘draw” may be Holland, fresh off of last year’s biggest box office hit (now the third biggest domestic B.O. of all time). Here he brings the same infectious energy and boyish charm as Peter P., but offset with a devious, rascally grin as he breezes off with “ill-gotten booty”. That’s tempered with his sense of loss and longing to reunite with his mentor, older sibling. Part of that role is taken up by Wahlberg whose Sully oozes with layback cool mixed with lots of snark, as he tries to suppress a grin as Nate reminds him of his early blunders. Both actors can pull off the dapper and the dirty inherent in their roles. Always looking suave is Banderas who now seems to be the “go-to” guy for the sinister international mastermind (much as he did last year in THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD). Well, at least he’s not stroking a cat as he reveals his nefarious schemes. One of those listening in would be Gabrielle who makes Braddock both sinister and sexy, an exotic dangerous beauty who will “kiss you deadly” without a moment’s hesitation. On the flip side, there’s Ali as Chloe who has tart chemistry with Nate, though she can’t quite be fully trusted since her past with Sully has made her much wiser…and wiley.

The action sequences are strung together with a manic pace by director Ruben Fleischer, who has jettisoned the subversive satire of his ZOMBIELAND films for gravity-defying (and physics-ignoring) set pieces to keep kids glued to their seats. Unfortunately, these CGI-enhanced stunt exercises are exhausting and eventually monotonous as the film tries to “top” itself and forgo more character development to keep moving to the next exotic locale. Plus the three (!) screenwriters should know better than to namedrop Indiana Jones and Jack Sparrow which reminds the audience of much-better adventure extravaganzas. Holland’s tossed around here as much as the wallcrawler, but he, like most of the characters, may just be made of pixels as they bounce back quicker than the Looney Tunes troupe. At least Indy had some “mileage” as Nate doffs his shirt baring a chest free of scrapes and bruises. And like most thrillers, they don’t know how to wrap things up as they sprinkle in mid-credits “bonus’ scenes to tempt us with future sequels (oh they surely hope). Aside from the future software exploits, this will probably end the big screen capers of Nate and Sully. It’s a shame since Holland and Wahlberg have an easy-going rapport. They’re deserving of a better outing than this “kiddie-spin” (aside from the patricide and some throat-slitting) on the modern swashbucklers that’s more uninspired than UNCHARTED.

2 out of 4

UNCHARTED opens in theatres everywhere