Is ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Enjoyable for Non-Nerds: An Investigation

thewrap.com:

opens nationwide. And with it, countless viewers who have never played the tabletop role-playing game, first published back in 1974, will be introduced to a fantastical world full of magical creatures, dangerous dungeons and daring wizards.Chris Pine stars as a bard and former spy who gets together with some other thieves (among them: Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis) to exact some delicious revenge on a former partner (Hugh Grant).

The movie debuted at Austin’s South by Southwest Film Festival to a rapturous response and the reviews from critics since have been just as strong.But the question remains: can someone who has never rolled a five-sided dice get as big a kick out of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” as a level-five mage?

Read on to find out:It’s pretty dorky. The movie has a lovable Renaissance Fair aesthetic and a smart script by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio; there are plenty of references to the original game and its litany of characters and lore, plus a ton of monsters (some created in the computer and others made with the rubbery charm of something like Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth”).

In fact, the dialogue is laced with shoutouts that only the most advanced player will comprehend.Actually, no.The dialogue is delivered with an accessibly contemporary style and you get the sensation that, no matter how many items or spells the dialogue references, that it doesn’t totally matter.