To begin with, let's talk about what a trailer is. It's a commercial for the movie. This generally means that it represents what can be expected from the film itself, but not always. As many YouTube experiments have shown, you can turn a movie into just about anything with just two minutes of handpicked clips, like Stanley Kubrick's classic family comedy Shining. This means that you can usually get an idea of what a movie will be like from the trailer, but you shouldn't trust the trailer either. Scenes are often rearranged and entire conversations are created by stringing together different lines of dialogue with the intention of producing drama or creating a joke. Scenes are sometimes shot solely for the trailer or end up on the cutting room floor before the movie is released. Special effects shots in particular will often change dramatically from trailer to finished film, particularly for an effects-heavy genre film like Honor Among Thieves until release date next year.
To begin with, let's talk about what a trailer is. It's a commercial for the movie. This generally means that it represents what can be expected from the film itself, but not always. As many YouTube experiments have shown, you can turn a movie into just about anything with just two minutes of handpicked clips, like Stanley Kubrick's classic family comedy Shining. This means that you can usually get an idea of what a movie will be like from the trailer, but you shouldn't trust the trailer either. Scenes are often rearranged and entire conversations are created by stringing together different lines of dialogue with the intention of producing drama or creating a joke. Scenes are sometimes shot solely for the trailer or end up on the cutting room floor before the movie is released. Special effects shots in particular will often change dramatically from trailer to finished film, particularly for an effects-heavy genre film like Honor Among Thieves until release date next year.
Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Writers: Michael Gilio, John Francis Daley, Chris McKay
Stars: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page
A quick plot summary based on the trailer: Bard Edgin and his partner in crime Holga stole a magical MacGuffin for someone. That someone turned out to be evil and can now unleash the greatest evil the world has ever seen (considering this is set in Faerûn, which has seen multiple Gods rampage in events labeled "Splitting" or "Cataclysm", this is an exaggeration or some incredibly serious shit is about to go down). Edgin and Holga team up to fix the apocalypse they accidentally helped start with the help of the sorcerer Simon, the druid Doric, and the paladin Xenk. Shenanigans ensue involving multiple dragons, the Red Wizards of Thay, and the Lord of Neverwinter Forge Fitzwilliam (although earlier material had his name as Forge Fletcher).
My first and biggest complaint (and the only one I brought up on social media) is the lighting. I know it's become standard to use flat, standardized lighting in movies to make post-production effects work easier, 3D conversions, and just because it's easier to shoot without complex lighting setups. But it makes the movie look flat almost like a TV show rather than a movie that should have the budget and time to have the right lighting setups for each shot. As I said before, this is a trailer and the film is over half a year since its release, so it can be fixed in post-production with a final step in color correction.
Probably the most common criticism I've seen outside of the online TTRPG community is the use of a light remix of Led Zepplin's "Whole Lotta Love". The song doesn't quite fit the idea of a fantasy action adventure... but Chris Pine's character is a bard, so the theme of the song fits the stereotype... Personally, I'm not that worried For this. It's common to edit a song trailer for timing reasons, and studios have chosen to use popular music instead of treating it as a temporary track. It is highly unlikely that the film's score or soundtrack will feature the song, except perhaps in the opening or closing credits.
Watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Trailer
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