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KVUE Review: 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' brings 'limitless potential' to SXSW 2023

The film had its world premiere Friday at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

AUSTIN, Texas — The creators behind the new fantasy film "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" said they wanted to show that the genre can be fun. And they succeeded.

In a Q&A following the film's world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on Friday, directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley said they wanted to show another side of fantasy. They said audiences have seen serious fantasy franchises like "Game of Thrones" and "The Lord of the Rings," and they wanted to capture the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons (DnD) itself – having a laugh and a good time with your friends.

With their film, they do just that. 

"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" – starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Regé-Jean Page, among others – never takes itself too seriously. But it also never feels too silly or like it's poking fun at its source material. 

The creators are clearly both knowledgeable about and fond of the game – they said as much themselves during the Q&A –  but they also set out to make a film that everyone could enjoy. It's full of Easter eggs for the diehards, but anyone can play along.

Taking inspiration from what the creators called the "limitless potential" of the game, it's hard to predict what's going to happen at any given moment in the film. Every scene is a roll of the dice, while still fitting into a cohesive story – just like a good campaign.

In every way, the film is a blockbuster spectacle and it knows how to use the tools of the trade to its advantage. While CGI can sometimes feel excessive in big-budget hero films, with something like DnD, it just makes sense. How else would you turn a character into an owl-bear? Seeing how the film will use its technology is part of the fun.

Overall, "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" has everything you could want in a fantasy-comedy film: well-rounded and well-acted characters, tight jokes and, of course, some very cool fight scenes. But more than anything, it's just fun. 

We highly recommend gathering your own bunch of misfits and catching it when it hits theaters March 31.

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