#honor among thieves spoilers

[prokopetz]

"But why did the characters in Honor Among Thieves ally with an obviously evil wizard, then act surprised when she betrayed everybody" buddy, look at their fucking pre-betrayal party comp. A wizard, a wild magic sorcerer, two rogues and a barbarian? They've got no heals, no defensive buffs, everybody except the barbarian has fuck-all for hit points, and stratospheric DPS. I guarantee you their main combat strategy is to have the barbarian tie everybody up in melee, then drop massive AoE damage directly on top of her and hope the rogues make their Evasion saves. This is not a party whose culture is characterised by an excess of caution, is what I mean to say.

[in-search-of-an-exit]

The portal caravan scene was the most unapologetically D&D part of the movie imo

-the creative use of a magic item, not for it’s obvious and intended use

- each member of the party getting to do different parts from buying a painting to using wild shape

- the extreme convoluted nature of all the steps

- being extremely clever but still getting fucked up by bad execution(bad rolls)

-obvious holes in the plan like the guards clearly being able to see all of them working out just cause the other people are way to oblivious (when you get saved only cause an npc rolls a 5)

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

The best thing about the DND movie also is that Jarnathan is 100% the kind of name the DM has to make up on the spot because they forgot to name all the council and the players are asking, so now they're going "John...Jarnathan...."

[judyalvqrez]

there was something really jim henson-esque and campy about how some of the non-human races were portrayed in the new dnd movie that i really enjoyed. they could’ve easily gone the shitty cgi route or just not shown those races up close at all, but no, they said you want a bird man? we’re gonna get you a bird man

[verityblack]

When we finished watching honor among thieves, I turned to my friends and said that I really enjoyed it, and that it was better than the old dungeons and dragons movie.

One friend turned to me and said “they were in the movie you know? In the tournament as a cameo!”

I looked at him very confused because I did not remember this lot being a team in the games but guessed I must have missed them.

Man was fuckin talking about the cartoon.

Like no bro, im talking about the 2000s movie dungeons and dragons,, I have not seen the 80s cartoon. ALSO THAT IS NOT A MOVIE,, that’s a tv show.

[solarflare-s]

thoroughly enjoyed the pretty dainty druid getting to morph into a fuckoff owlbear and beating the absolute shit out of the bad guy

[saintsinthecity]

[cryoverkiltmilk]

*light bulb turns on three days later*

Holga was fixated on a druid wild shaping into a deer BECAUSE SHE'S FROM THE ELK TRIBE.

[nightowlqueen]

(spoilers for literally the entire DnD movie)

Something LGBT was happening here

[dr-lizortecho]

no! But Edgin didn’t lie at the end. He did make all those mistakes. But he promised to bring his daughters mother back and he did. She was just his sister not his wife

[thenopequeen]

Look, I know Ed barely playing his lute is a bit of a departure from expected barding (and not being a horny disaster is more so) but charisma and misdirection is a bard's stock in trade. That last distraction? Man put his whole bardussy into it.

[prokopetz]

I think we need more visions of ancestors accusing you of bringing shame to the bloodline for unconfident heroes. That subplot in the D&D movie was amazing,

I think we need more subplots where the key to self-actualisation is punching an old man in the face.

[in-search-of-an-exit]

Honor among thieves was a lot of fun and the comedy and action were on point, but my favorite part might have been the storytelling involved with Edgin’s development.

We get his backstory right away and it’s the typical death of a loved one dnd backstory but it’s told from his own self aggrandizing storytelling. And even then we have that small shot of him looking at the dragonfly. We as an audience have no idea why that is significant and you most likely forget about it because of the fast pace but it sticks in the back of your mind.

Then we have the next time we focus on the dragonfly and it cuts to his dead wife, and it appears to be the classic dead wife flashback with the bright sunbeams and nebulous white fabric. We now have a connection between the two solidified but we don’t know it means something yet.

Then in the pivotal point in the second act where the plan seems to be going to fail he has a dream and we have an explanation for the dragonfly as an image. It’s letting go, and not trying to force his life to be how we envisions it. And in this dream it reveals the shot of her from earlier wasn’t some generic image or even just them being in love but part of a specific memory Ed hasn’t wanted to think about. Plus moments later it is revealed how he was even more at fault for what happened and recontextualized a moment from the very beginning.

Finally at the end we don’t need a repeat of the flashback from earlier to know he is going to learn his lesson and let go. All we need is to see that dragonfly and we know what that means. It’s so perfect because it we as an audience feel exactly as he is. We’re remembering that specific memory based off being reminded by the dragonfly and so is Ed.

The dragonfly is a perfect visual representation of a nagging thought, something that floats up occasionally and he has been ignoring for a long time, but finally acknowledges by the end. Plus it is completely diegetic and introduced gradually and not overly telegraphed.

[iffeelscouldkill]

Thinking about how if Zia had known that Edgin was planning to steal the Red Wizard's treasure to better provide for their family - or if she'd known that he was planning to do anything drastic to serve that goal - she probably would have said, "We have everything we need."

And when Edgin is about to leave on the quest to rob the Harpers and get the Tablet of Reawakening, Kira begs him to stay by saying, "We have everything we need."

Something about how one of Ed's overriding flaws, despite his overall desire to do good, is his inability to see that what he has is enough. He can't be content with that - he has to provide his wife and daughter with a better life, even when they're happy. He has to bring back his wife and undo his mistake, even when his daughter is happy. And in the process he almost loses everything twice. (Three times, if you count the near-death of Holga by Sofina's blade). Until he finally realises that they have everything they need, right here.

[fridgewitch]

A moment of silence for Holga and her one true love, the potato.

[californiannostalgia]

for the entire duration of Honor Among Thieves I was shaking in my seat waiting for that funky bard man to cast a spell

alas, he be a Bonking specialist

(maybe if this movie gets a sequel or something I'll get to see some sweet bardic spellcasting? learn Banishment, Edgin. be the badass silly song man.)

anyway it was a great movie, real ingenuity in heist methods and Holga's barbarian combat was so awesome to watch (love me a good heist and combat action)