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Latest Fantasy News: There’s a reason the creatures in ‘Honor Among Thieves’ look so good

Chancellor Jarnathan looked fantastic.

Chris Pine in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Screengrab via Paramount Pictures

With the weekend officially behind us, most fantasy fans have had the chance to feast their eyes on the glory that is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

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The delightful cinematic romp is largely earning praise for its humorous delivery, gripping action, and overall enjoyable nature, as audiences flood to theaters to lay witness to the first-ever DnD film of actual quality. Even the various creatures and races featured in the film are subject to plenty of love from viewers, and for good reason. Many of them were born of an excellent blend of two filming styles, and the care behind their creation shows in the final product. 

Fans are far less enthused about Avatar: The Way of Water. The film’s arrival on streaming is once again encouraging scrutiny, and prompting comparisons to a 1986 sci-fi offering. Star Trek: The Voyage Home has a place in many sci-fi fans’ hearts, but comparing it to the world’s third-biggest box-office winner seems like a bit of a stretch. 

Not quite as much of a stretch as Eragon is currently achieving on streaming, however. The flop of a fantasy film never really got off the ground — despite reasonable box-office returns — but viewers seem to be forgetting that as the flick finds new life on streaming.

Fans return to give Eragon a second chance — for some reason

Saphira
Image via 20th Century Fox

Eragon arrived right in the midst of the YA era of cinema when filmmakers were obsessed with the idea of bringing Young Adult sci-fi and fantasy to the big screen. The movie fit right in with many of its peers at the time, but at no point was it considered a good fantasy offering. Despite this, and the film’s general status as utterly unwatchable, it’s somehow finding new fans on streaming

The Way of Water draws comparisons to one of the worst Star Trek films

Avatar: The Way of Water
Image via 20th Century Fox

The Way of Water‘s streaming debut quickly prompted criticism of the film’s lengthy runtime and bland story, but this pushback was far from equal to the broad reception of the film. It’s one of history’s biggest box-office earners, after all, and continues to rake in cash and prompt conversations as it comes more widely available to home audiences. Despite its excellent theatrical performance, however, the film is getting viciously panned online, where it’s even drawing comparisons to one of the worst Star Trek films. It’s not the groundbreaking work of cinema James Cameron seems to think it is, but nor is The Way of Water equivalent to The Voyage Home.

The creatures of Honor Among Thieves get some well-deserved love

Jarnathan
Image via Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Quite a few spectacular DnD creatures made their cinematic debut in Honor Among Thieves, introducing new fans to Yuan-ti, Dragonborn, and Aarakocra. Ah, Jarnathan, you unfortunate winged beast.

The creatures and races that appeared across Honor Among Thieves‘ runtime are garnering high praise, and for good reason. Many were accomplished using motion-capture puppeteering, a process that yielded some very real-looking additions to the cast. The process used to bring these characters to life certainly looks complicated, but the results are stunning, and make each of the fantastical creatures feel real and right at home in what we hope is set to become a Dungeons & Dragons extended universe.