Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opened in Japan on 31 March 2023. As someone who played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (aka AD&D or ADnD) as well as computer games (like the Gold Box series, Eye of the Beholder, and even a MUD set in the Forgotten Realms) from this franchise and read the novels (such as Dragonlance), I was all hyped out about this new movie. Before the movie was released, I got myself a pre-sale ticket, which came with a packet of bath salt as a gift. I wonder why bath salt...
The movie opened on a Friday, but I was not able to squeeze it into the schedule, so I ended up watching the movie yesterday on its second day in Japan.
When the movie started, "TOWA" flashed on the screen, and "吹替翻訳" (dubbing translation) appeared on the bottom of the screen. I was like, "Wait! Did I booked a ticket for the dubbed instead of subbed version? Oh no!!!" Well, my fears were immediately confirmed because the characters in the movie started speaking in Japanese. But in the end, I found the Japanese dubbed version to be really enjoyable too. Still, I want to find time to watch it again in English.
(I later realised that the movie is only available in the dubbed version at the nearby theatre. I will need to travel a bit further for the original English version.)
The movie itself is like a D&D adventure module. It starts with a quick recap of the two main characters' back story, something you would expect when starting a new adventure after rolling up your characters. This is followed by the adventure proper, and at the end, a "rewards" scene that goes through how the adventure ends with the adventurers being rewarded.
Unlike recent Hollywood films that try to be overly conscious about diversity and political correctness, this movie makes use of its original story in a fantasy world to weave in diversity in its cast. For example, using wood elves in the story allowed casting of non-white people, since wood elves have darker complexions.
The story is very much about completing a D&D quest, and like a D&D adventure module, which is first and foremost a game, it is about having fun and being enjoyable. It doesn't try to make you cry. It's doesn't have a social message to convey. All it seeks to do is let the audience have an enjoyable time watching the movie and laughing along with it. There's even a cameo by the characters from the 1980s D&D cartoon series. It made me feel like reading the original Dragonlance trilogy again. It was almost as if the production team sat down and played a D&D module, recorded down what their characters did and said, then turned that into a script.
It
also uses mechanics that is familiar to those who have played D&D
or AD&D. Spells like lightning bolt and meteor storm are
recognisable, you immediately know one of the main characters is a bard
from the lute, and anyone who has heard of the Forgotten Realms knows
about the Harpers. The Red Wizards of Thay, Neverwinter, the Underdark,
references to Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, Elminster, the cold Icewind
Dale, and more--as someone who has adventured extensively in the
Forgotten Realms through the Forgotten Kingdoms MUD
and read tons of books from this campaign setting (such as the Drizzt
Do'Urden series), it all felt like home. Even though it was the Japanese
dubbed version of the movie.
Time to go back to Faerûn! 😉
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