Editor’s Note: The following contains Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves spoilers.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesis the movie version of a Natural 20: a delightful smorgasbord of casting, tone, emotional conventions, and unabashed love for fantasy movies of yore and the tabletop game of the same name (minus the subtitle) that’s experiencing an ongoing cultural resurgence. The theatrical release was met withglowing reviewsand accompanying word-of-mouth buzz, and itsbox office numbers are excellentif not astonishing (go see it! Stop waffling!). An instantly noticeable — and buzzworthy — standout among its many points of recommendation is the film’s use ofpractical effects. In a world so dominated by modern CGI the old-fashioned ways are almost extinct,Honor Among Thieves’preference is a diamond in the rough example Hollywood should follow.
CGI Is an Art Form, but It’s Become Overused
Visual effects (and filmmaking in general) have always been about innovation. From claymation and stop-motion, models and miniatures and matte paintings, to animatronics and prosthetics and in-camera trickery: all in the name of bringing fantastical sights, sounds, creatures, and places to life. Movies mustn’t simply portray something not of our world like aliens or dragons; audiences need to mutually agree with the film to suspend their disbelief. Heck, the tagline for directorRichard Donner’s1978Supermanfilm dared to boast “you’ll believe a man can fly.” Of courseSteven Spielbergdidn’t resurrect ancient dinosaurs forJurassic Park, but when a film leaves you awe-struck over how something unreal looks tangible, that’s when cinema stops existing as a 2D image, comes alive, and breathes.
Computer-generated effects is an art form designed by countless talented individuals who are devoted to their craft andhorrifically overworked in the industry. At the same time, Hollywood’s over-reliance on these tools (because that’s what they are: tools, not replacements for past techniques) has led to predictably dull sights and predictably bored responses. Not every production has the luxury of filming on location or enough budget to fund practical effects, but CGI as the standardized default results in moments that should inspire amazement and are visually soulless instead. With some exceptions aside, theAvatar-esque shock over what worlds can be rendered inside a computer is long gone, at least for this viewer. And when multimillion-dollar movies from multi-billion-dollar companies use a green screen backdrop for the outdoors when they could’ve just, you know, gone outside, it strikes those with CGI fatigue as the easy way out regardless of the reasons for such decisions.
RELATED:Practical Awesomeness: 8 CGI-Free Films With Amazing Special Effects
Practical Effects Have Always Pushed Boundaries
A shared exhaustion with CGI is very likely why it’s a big dang deal whenever a blockbluster employs practical effects by choice (not to mention it’s just a refreshing aesthetic to look at). By returning to basics, films likeHonor Among Thieves,Top Gun: Maverick,andEverything Everywhere All At Oncebefore it are shaking up our collective perceptions of cinema’s inclinations and capabilities — which is half the reason all art, but especially moving pictures, exists. Little filmstrips became feature-length silent stories, silent evolved into “talkies,” black and white exploded into Technicolor domination.George Lucasup-and-formed his own visual effects company (Industrial Light & Magic) so his crew had the resources and freedom to create equipment and filming techniques that didn’t exist before a small group began experimenting onStar Wars: A New Hope. Spielberg insisted on life-sized mechanical sharks forJawsduring a disastrous shoot that went millions over budget but broke box office records worldwide.H. R. Gigerterrified audiences for generations with the firstAlien,which was often a very tall guy in a nightmare-inducing suit.
My personal disinterest in hisAvatarfranchise aside,James Camerondoes nothing by halves. That man practically rebuilt the entireTitanicship to scale for his 1997 epic and then destroyed portions of it with millions of gallons of water. Spielberg saw the tagline forSupermanand said “hold my beer,” again astounding audiences by combining puppeteers withselective CGI inJurassic Park, a filmHonor Among ThievesdirectorsJohn Francis DaleyandJonathan Goldsteincredited as inspirationfor their production choices.The Lord of the Ringsutilized forced perspective, models (“it’s only a model”), and makeup galore.Mad Max: Fury Roadreally flipped those cars and boomed those fiery explosions. Etc., etc, etc.
Reading over that list of trailblazers, what’s another trait those films share? They’re recognized by older audiences and film historians as classics, as iconic, as industry-evolvers. And they’re all still effective, even jaw-dropping, where it counts. There’s hardly a better testament to the work of thousands of artists than for the suspension of disbelief to remain mostly intact. Even humbler-budgeted classics likeThe Princess Bridehave a distinctly ’80s charm that makes the fake bits endearing, or the dated CGI inTheLord of the Ringsdoesn’t matter compared to the rest of its monumental achievement.
The Practical Effects of ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Are Pure Movie Magic
Now, it’s past time to name where credit’s due forHonor Among Thieves. Legacy Effects are to thank for a good chunk of the film’s offerings, a studio that happens to be the same one responsible for Grogu fromThe Mandalorian. Aka, the green space baby puppet that still dominates our universe based on the power of convincing cuteness. Appropriately enough, Industrial Light & Magic collaborated with Legacy on the hybrid designs.
As I watchedHonor Among Thievesunfold, I re-marveled at the art form society takes for granted as a constant part of entertainment existence. I remembered how it felt to wonder “how did they do that?” because I did gape at the personnel, detail, and ingenuity that went into creatingthe adorable Jarnathan’s (Clayton Grover) nine-foot-tall, fully operational bird costume. I internally clapped at thepuppeteers working in tandemwith actors' performances like in the days ofLabyrinthandThe Dark Crystal.I assumed a shot where Doric (Sophia Lillis) flips from one location to the next was blue-screen, only to find it wasswinging walls. (Remember whenInception’srotating rooms were mind-boggling!) The corpseswere costumedto a level of detail I haven’t seen this side of a BBC historical costume drama. The crew collaborated on expansive practical sets. They even pondered over how to film around a Gelatinous Cube!
Don’t take only my word for it, though.Chris Pinerecalled childhood favoriteslikeWillowduring an interview with Collider: “I think in an age of so much computer graphics – and certainly, we have a bunch of that in this – there are a lot of scenes that employ practical, old-fashioned craftsmanship, animatronics, and stuff that we haven’t really seen on film in a long time, and I think that’s really exciting.” In the same interview, his co-starMichelle Rodriguezagreed: “you may just tell the difference. I can’t put my finger on it, but I can tell the difference between [digital and robotic].”
You can indeed. The differences are palpable and substantial, the results immersive. And after knowing how much communal and individual passion was poured into inventing, troubleshooting, and implementingHonor Among Thieves’effects, how can you not yearn for a return to practicality? Practical effects are pure creation captured onscreen, and that’s an electric secondhand feeling. For two hours and some change, the efforts of artists like this have transported us to different worlds for over a hundred years. Let’s keep them employed.
