Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Year: 2023

Actors: Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pine

Duration: 134 min

Prior to imprisonment, bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) served in the Harpers, an order of peacekeepers (sworn to defend the oppressed and fight tyranny), until his wife Zia (Georgia Landers) was killed by disciples of a Red Wizard he had arrested. With Zia's death, Edgin abandoned his oath. Edgin took to drinking heavily and that's when he met Holga. Holga was a resident of Rock Bottom and was cast aside by her tribe for falling in love with an outsider. Holga took pity on Edgin and took him and Kira in. She saw Edgin like a brother. Holga and Edgin turned to theft to fund their survival. Kira grew up in this atmosphere.Accompanied by barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez), Edgin attempted to make a new life for himself and his daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) by turning to theft, teaming with amateur sorcerer Simon Aumar (Justice Smith) (a half-elf wild magic sorcerer who is the descendant of Elminster Aumar, a notable wizard), rogue con artist Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), and Forge's mysterious acquaintance Sofina (Daisy Head). While raiding a Harper stronghold, Edgin attempted to steal a "Tablet of Reawakening" to resurrect his wife, but he and Holga were captured while their accomplices escaped. Simon was unable to stop Sofina's magic, which was too powerful for him. Edgin entrusted the Tablet to Forge and asked him to keep Kira safe.After two years' imprisonment in arctic Revel's End, the pair, unaware they have been pardoned, escape to Neverwinter and learn Forge has become Lord there after its prior lord fell mysteriously incapacitated. Forge has been taking care of Kira, convincing her that Edgin's selfish greed led to his arrest. It is revealed that Sofina is a Red Wizard and together they orchestrated Edgin and Holga's capture. Forge had told Kira that Edgin was after the Tablet of Riches, but Edgin clarifies that it was the Tablet of Reawakening. Forge refuses to hand over the Tablet to Edgin. Kira does not believe Edgin.Sofina attempts to execute Edgin and Holga, but they escape and decide to rob Forge's vault and bring Kira home during the upcoming High Sun Games, needing the tablet to prove their innocence to Kira and resurrect Edgin's wife. Forge tells Kira that he gave the Tablet of Riches to Edgin and he left.The gladiatorial games had been banned, but Forge re-instituted them, promising that the games would bring tourists and money. Edgin and Holga track down Simon to help; he suggests also recruiting Doric (Sophia Lillis) (a Tiefling druid raised in the Neverwinter Wood by a wood elf enclave), a druid whose forest community is fighting forced logging ordered by Forge. Doric agrees to help Edgin as there is no one else willing to stand up to Forge.Shapeshifted into a fly, Doric infiltrates Forge's castle, finding the vault has magical defenses from Mordenkainen, which Simon cannot disable. Simon believes a magic relic, "The Helm of Disjunction," could disable them. It's a helmet that disables all nearby enchantments. The Helm went missing ages ago. They travel to an old graveyard to ask Holga's ancestors where to find it. Simon resurrects the dead with a talisman long enough for them to answer five questions each. The corpses reveal they gave the Helm to Xenk Yandar (Regé-Jean Page) (a paladin who narrowly escaped Szass Tam's "rise to power" in Thay and as a result, "ages more slowly than a normal human"), a paladin who fled his country, Thay, when Szass Tam (Ian Hanmore) (a powerful Red Wizard and the ruler of Thay) turned Thayans into an Undead army. Not being asked enough questions, one corpse is left "alive".Xenk agrees to help the group when he realizes that Forge has made an alliance with the Red Wizard. He suspects that Tam is up to something. Currently, Tam's powers do not extend beyond Thay and that is what he wants to change. After forcing Edgin to swear to distribute any gained bounty to the people, Xenk guides the group through the Underdark to retrieve the Helm. With the help of a teleportation staff obtained from Holga's half-ling ex-husband, they find the relic but are attacked by Thayan assassins sent by Sofina. Xenk fights off the assassins and helps the group escape from the obese red dragon Themberchaud before departing.Simon has trouble mastering the Helm's power as the Helm refuses to allow Simon to wield its power. Simon blames Edgin as he says that he told Edgin that this plan is not going to work. The group loses their morale, and everyone wants to quit. Edgin narrates that he stole Red Wizard's treasure and didn't know that they marked it. He led the Red Wizards right to his own doorstep and his family paid the price for it. Edgin says that he cannot quit. They decide to use the staff to enter the vault during the games. But the portal opens into a stone wall and Doric tries to dig a hole into the wall to get through as a worm. Edgin decides to enter the vault through the front door and attacks the castle with Holga and Simon. Simon gets to the door of the vault and successfully attunes with the helmet to open the magically sealed door.Simon and Holga infiltrate the magically sealed door but find the room empty except for a magical trap. Doric infiltrates the location where the treasure is stored, and it is under the arena. Sofina, disguised as Kira, subdues Edgin. The group is captured and forced to participate in the games but manages to escape the stadium. Doric discovers Forge has loaded the treasure onto a boat and is preparing to flee. The group cannot figure out what Sofina gets out of the deal, if Forge is escaping with all the loot. The group steals the boat for themselves and rescues Kira from Forge, who threatened Kira's life.As they escape, the group realize Sofina organized the games to draw a massive crowd and turn them into an Undead army using the same curse that destroyed Thay. The group returns, transporting Forge's stolen riches out of the boat with the teleportation staff and spreading them across the city by hot-air balloon, drawing people out of the stadium before Sofina's spell takes effect.Enraged at her defeat, Sofina attacks the group, but Simon manages to master his magic and nullify Sofina's time-stop spell, allowing Kira to use an invisibility pendant Edgin and Holga gave her as a child to place an anti-magic bracelet on Sofina. Sofina is killed when attacked by Doric in owl-bear form and then crushed by falling debris, but Holga is fatally injured. Edgin uses the tablet to bring her back to life, accepting that he wanted to bring back his wife only for his own sake while Holga had become a true part of their family. Doric signals openness to a relationship with Simon.Restored, the old Lord of Neverwinter declares the team heroes of the realm. Xenk sends Forge to Revel's End, where he spectacularly fails to escape as Edgin and Holga did when his pardon was denied.

Genre: Action   Adventure   Comedy   Fantasy