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So they’ve taken something created a good few decades ago when entertainment technology was not what it is today; a shared recreational activity that remains popular but is often written off as a little sad and unexciting by those probably a little too superior to give it a go themselves. Still though the resulting movie has proven the early detractors wrong by actually turning out to be a solid and fun night out at the cinema for all. Yep, it’s 2003 all over again only then it was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and now it is Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.

The difference is that this is not the first time that this material has been adapted to the screen and if anything the previous attempts only heightened the concern over this one. The 1980s cartoon was fun but the movie trilogy that ran from 2000 to 2012 is not fondly remembered. In fact you’d be forgiven for not knowing there was a trilogy. The original, starring Jeremy Irons, totally bombed and remained the only one made for cinemas.

Until now that is. This film is not a continuation of what came before though, rather it is a reboot almost certainly born of pop culture’s renewed interest in D&D following the significant role it plays in Netflix’s ongoing adventures of Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Nancy, Steve, Robin Joyce and Hopper. (For reference the shadowy evil figure in this film is a general of Vecna who gives his name to the ultimate evil in that show.) Pixar’s Onward also uses a lot of the same mythology – if you’re wondering where you’ve heard of gelatinous cubes before there’s your answer.

Where this succeeds compared to its predecessors is that like Pirates of the Caribbean, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Like those people that play the game in real life, the narrative places a group of friends together – linked by some shared interests, and puts them through a series of quests. These adventurers are all highly likeable and their predicaments easily enjoyable. Unlike Curse of the Black Pearl, that was lead by a very distinctive performance by Johnny Depp and supported by everyman Orlando Bloom, here our entrance into the story is through the main player Chris Pine. He is the one we are most likely to identify with and it is those around him that carry the various skills that get them through each mission. Without anyone to equal Depp, this perhaps does not have the impact of that first Pirates film, but it stands to have greater longevity as Depp’s schtick actually got quite tedious three movies in. Around Pine are Michelle Rodriquez as a barbarian warrior, Justice Smith’s wizard, Sophia Lillis’ shape-changer and Regé-Jean Page as a galant knight, and each has highly engaging characterisation.

The script, by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein who also wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming, Vacation and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and direct here as well, is witty but it is brought alive by that cast. Also appearing is Hugh Grant who frankly needed to ham it up just a little bit more but this is still another notable film in his interesting post leading man career, which can be divided neatly as everything before and everything after The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.

Crucially there is quite a lot of heart here too, more than in those Captain Jack Sparrow movies. I am sure there will be more of these films, they stretched the last Dungeons & Dragons series out to three, so this one should be able to run for a few more. It is fair to say that stranger things have happened but in this case it is literally because Stranger Things has happened.

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The Ripley Factor:

This is an effective ensemble piece and Rodriquez and Lillis are both key to that. Sophia Lillis was the best thing about It Chapters One and Two, (two films that also exist because of the success of Stranger Things) but she may be a little underserved here. Occasionally she is left to just run behind the others. Still, there is plenty of opportunity to do more with all of these characters in the future. Failing that they should put her at the centre of a Manimal reboot.