I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I’ve always wanted to. I love the idea of creating your own character and collaborating with other players in a fictional world. There’s a sort of magic about the immersive realism of the game, and it’s always attracted me. That’s why I got very excited when I heard about “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” 

The movie follows the story of Edgin (Chris Pine), an honorable spy-turned-thief who ended up in prison for his crimes. He is accompanied by Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a tough woman with a soft heart, and, after they escape prison together, Simon (Justice Smith), a sorcerer lacking self-confidence and Doric (Sophia Lillis), a Druid with the ability to shapeshift into animals. 

I really wanted to love this movie, but only the child in me did. It had humor that was actually pretty funny, beautiful cinematography, likable characters and a really pudgy dragon. But looking at it from a writer’s analytical perspective, it wasn’t great.

I enjoy realistic characters with depth. Even if the plot of a movie is bad, complex characters can save it. But in “Honor Among Thieves,” the only character actually filled out was Edgin. He had a backstory that evoked emotion and motives that were directly affected by it. His character made consistent choices, but he also developed into a less self-centered person by the end of the movie. I liked his character, but the others were a bit more disappointing.

Out of the three other main characters, the only other one to get any semblance of a backstory was Holga, and even then, the backstory had little effect on her character. Half of it seemed to be for comedic effect, and the other half reinforced the “looks scary but is actually a cinnamon roll” trope I see all too often in the media. On top of that, she has no character development. At all. 

Next, there was Simon, who wasn’t confident. That was his only character trait and his only form of development throughout the movie. No backstory, no complex personality. Just really low self-esteem.

And then, we have Doric: my favorite character and the person the movie did the least justice to. In fact, I think she had fewer than 50 lines throughout the entire movie, which made no sense for a main character. She had no backstory, and her only motive was that she wanted to protect her people (which was only touched upon once). Her main purpose seemed to be to turn into different characters to help the rest of the team.

As for the plot — it was OK. It was relatively predictable and not very complex, but it wasn’t necessarily bad either. It reminded me of an “Avengers” movie: a bit shallow, but still enjoyable.

Overall, this movie was funny, had beautiful imagery and provided an epic soundtrack, but its depth was comparable to a children’s movie. Despite all of its flaws, “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”  was still a captivating movie I would watch again, and its cinematography made it a movie I’d be happy to recommend.