‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ review: Shockingly good

The new movie “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” has no business being as good as it is. 

It’s a reboot of a garish aughts movie trilogy that received atrocious reviews — The Post awarded the first film zero stars — and that few people saw and even fewer remember. 

And the source material, the role-playing game “Dungeons & Dragons,” is famously confusing and impenetrable to outsiders.

Chris Pine, hardly a hitmaker, is the star.

None of those dings usually spell “winner.” But maybe that’s why “Honor Among Thieves” is so likable.

It’s an underdog about underdogs. 

Thankfully, you don’t have to know anything about the meticulously detailed game — its Wikipedia page is about as readable as the green lines of code from “The Matrix” — to fully enjoy the goofy and reasonably clever “Honor.” 

Our colorful band of thieves are led by Edgin (Pine), a so-called planner and lute player, and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez, surprisingly hilarious), a warrior who was booted from her tribe.

Their goal is to snatch the Tablet of Reawakening, an enchanted rock that can bring Edgin’s wife back from the dead.

The rogues are captured during their robbery after being double-crossed by shifty friend Forge (Hugh Grant), who steals not only the tablet but also Edgin’s young daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman).

The duo escapes prison, and with the help of a shy, mediocre wizard named Simon (Justice Smith) and his ex-girlfriend Doric (Sophia Lillis), who can transfigure into animals, they set off to rescue Kira and bring down foppy Forge.

What “Dungeons and Dragons” gets right that so many proliferating group-of-superheroes movies get wrong is that every character has a rich backstory that the script commits to — rather than settling for the cast being a collection of traits in search of an all-powerful object. 

Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein also co-wrote “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and have brought that knack for fleshed-out, lovable supporting characters along. 

Holga could easily be a simple badass who punches and delivers punchlines, but a solid chunk of the story is devoted to her (very funny) breakup with a former beau.

Meanwhile, Simon (the talented Smith is the low-key star of seemingly every action movie now) contends with being the embarrassing shame of his magical family line.

While Grant’s Forge is a touch too silly, he’s paired with the evil, terrifically creepy Red Wizard Sofina (Daisy Head).

She reminded me of the Childlike Empress from “The Neverending Story,” but gone bad. 

Another memorable cameo is made by Regé-Jean Page (“Bridgerton”) as Xenk, a powerful fighter with a steely, Vulcan-esque disposition.

It’s a hilarious, self-aware performance that has the vibe of a fantasy-themed shampoo commercial.

Other tickling sequences have the group on the run from an obese dragon or bringing a graveyard of dead soldiers back to life, while only being able to ask each one five questions.

That bit clearly takes inspiration from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and its talk of swallows and shrubberies.

But the movie is not a 100% comedy.

“Honor Among Thieves” is a useful reminder of something that’s been forgotten in the age of dense film universes and ultra-violent action films: Light-hearted adventure movies like “The Princess Bride” remain the perfect vehicle for humor, romance, fights and special effects.

When done properly, as “Dungeons & Dragons” is, they give audiences a full-bodied experience that’s hard not to like.