From the directors of Vacation comes this adaptation of the classic board game that is meant to be fun and fits the bill to a tee.

For years, former Harper Edgin and warrior Holga have been friends through thick and thin in the world of thieving. However, after botching a job thanks to a betrayal by one of their own crew, the two have spent time in prison for two years. Despite getting their pardon approved, they still make a daring escape and soon enough, they have learned another one of their own, Forge, has now become Lord of Neverwinter and that he has told lies to make Edgin’s daughter Kira turn against him.

Forge is in cahoots with Sofina, the traitorous member who is secretly a Thayan Red Witch, the same people responsible for the death of Edgin’s wife and Kira’s mother. Edgin hopes to find the Tablet of Reawakening in hopes to bring his wife back to life. However, he will need a team. He finds help in a former member of his team, a budding sorcerer named Simon as well as a shapeshifting Druid named Doric. Doric joins the crew not for the money, but to save what’s left of her land from the hands of Forge and Sofina. This motley crew of heroes will have to go through thick and thin in order to stop Forge and Sofina before it’s too late.

Based on the greatest classic role-playing board game, two attempts at live action films were made in the 2000s. However, those films have the tendency to lack some charm and spark when it came to the overall execution. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who also co-wrote the film, decided to put their own spin on the game and bring to life the reason why this is considered one of the best games out there: it is fun when it comes to the players being able to play and mess around with their characters and that’s exactly what the cast does here in the film.

Chris Pine brings a duality of sarcastic wit and emotional drama as Edgin, a former Harper (which is a mercenary who helps people in exchange for nothing) who is determined to bring his wife back to life and reunite with his estranged daughter. Michelle Rodriguez’s Holga is pretty much her character of tough-as-nails Letty from the Fast and Furious franchise if she had transported to the fantasy medieval world. She has some pretty good fight scenes in the film even when Edgin tries to help and just finds himself in a bind.

Detective Pokemon’s Justice Smith brings a bit of comic relief to the role of bumbling sorcerer Simon while It’s Sophia Lillis brings a bit of the wisecracking to the role of Doric, a Druid who is also known as a Wild Shape, a shapeshifter. Her escape while spying on our villains Forge and Sofina is quite a highlight of the adventure. Regé-Jean Page’s Xenk is the “prince charming” minus the flowing hair who is a reformed Thayan who uses his powers for the greater good and in a turning point, helps our heroes seek out a buried helm needed to complete the quest.

As for the villains, it is quite refreshing to see Hugh Grant ham it up as former thief turned Lord Forge, who was all part of the plan that is seen in a flashback when Edgin and Holga were taken. However, Daisy Head’s Sofina can be perceived as the real villain of the film as she uses her powerful sorcery skills to not only make Forge the Lord of Neverwinter but has something even more sinister in plan.

 To bring some of the lighthearted humor aside from our hero characters, there’s also a hilarious scene in a cemetery where the heroes attempt to get the location of the helm. There’s also a great reference to the classic 80s cartoon when our heroes and two other groups compete in Forge’s High Sun Games with one of the groups decked out in the costumes from the cartoon itself!

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is exactly what a D&D film should be: something fun in the spirit of the classic game and this cast succeeds in doing just that combining comic wit with some fun action scenes.

WFG RATING: A

Paramount Pictures presents an eOne Entertainment production. Directors: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Producers: Jeremy Latcham, Brian Goldner, and Nick Meyer. Writers: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Michael Gilio; story by Gilio and Chris McKay. Cinematography: Barry Peterson. Editing: Dan Lebental.

Cast: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant, Daisy Head, Chloe Coleman, Jason Wong, Bradley Cooper, Ian Hanmore.